This original recipe garnered a first prize in our county fair in 2025.
Year after year I had imagined entering; last year I was finally able to organize registering and lay out a plan for Chimp to complete items so they’d be ready on judging day.
We have given away enough bags of this candy over the years that I had hopes for a good reception. When Chimp brought our entries in, the category organizers exclaimed over its distinctiveness. After the judging, one of Chimp’s colleagues checked the exhibit hall for us and sent back a photo of it with a first prize ribbon.
I’ve previously shared a cashew and white chocolate version of this candy. As I mentioned in that post, it’s halfway between a chikki, which is a candy brittle with no or very little fat, and a toffee, with a substantial amount. Because the proportion of butter is less than a toffee, it cooks up fast – the active stirring time is about twelve minutes – but it still has those pleasant toffee notes. It’s great for gift-giving, as it can be turned out quickly. It’s ideal for mass gift-giving as there’s no interim waiting-around time as with baked goods. It contains no corn syrup. One batch will make enough for four 6″ x 9″ (15 x 23 cm) treat bags.
Prize-Winning Chocolate Almond Brittle
Equipment
- half-sheet pan
- wooden spatula or high-heat silicone spatula
- small offset spatula
Ingredients
- Butter for greasing
- 450 g sugar
- 57 g butter
- 3 g salt
- 9 g vanilla
- 1/2 t almond extract
- 200 g sliced almonds
- 255 g semi-sweet chocolate chips Ghirardelli or Guittard strongly preferred
Instructions
- Nota bene: This recipe needs constant attention, moves quickly, and involves extremely hot sugar that requires careful handling, so it’s necessary to have everything prepared in advance.
- Grease a half-sheet pan (460 mm x 330 mm, 18” x 13”).
- Grease the tines of a pair of forks and set aside.
- Prepare a heatproof surface or put trivets or hot pads in place on which to set the half-sheet pan in such a way that it will not shift or tip.
- Set out a silicone spatula and table knife.
- Measure the remaining ingredients.
- Place the sugar and the 57 g butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet. Place the skillet over high heat. As the sugar melts around the edges, begin stirring the sugar and butter. Stir constantly as the sugar melts. It will form clumps before melting; if necessary, use the table knife to knock any clumps off your stirring utensil and back into the pan.
- The sugar will caramelize, changing to a light brown syrup. This will take about ten minutes. The moment the last grains of sugar disappear, turn off the heat.
- Add the salt. Protecting your hand and standing at a safe distance to avoid syrup spattering, add the vanilla and almond extracts. The extracts will crackle violently. Swiftly pour in the crushed almonds. Turn the heat back on, and set it to medium.
- The almonds will bring the heat of the mixture down, and it’s necessary to bring it back up before forming the brittle. Begin stirring the crushed almonds and the syrup together.
- When the almonds and syrup are completely incorporated, increase the heat to medium high and cook, stirring, until the mixture is quite fluid.
- When the mixture is fluid, turn off the heat.
- Pour the mixture onto the half-sheet pan. Working quickly, take the forks in hand, and spread and pull the mixture to cover as much of the half-sheet pan as possible.
- When the mixture is spread, sprinkle the chocolate chips over it evenly. Let the chips stand a few minutes to soften. When they've melted sufficiently, use the offset spatula to spread them over the surface of the brittle.
- Allow the brittle to cool to room temperature, which will take a couple hours. When it has cooled, break it into pieces by hand.
Leave a Reply