December 8, 2011

Homemade Gift Week: Cocoa Almonds {Naptime Webisode}

Homemade Gift Week: Don’t forget to enter below to enter the Duda Farm Fresh Giveaway for a Meyer Lemons, a $25 Williams-Sonoma giftcard and a KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer in Majestic Yellow. Entry rules below, click here for contest introduction.

For this webisode I am demonstrating how to make delicious cocoa almonds. They make fantastic holiday gift and are incredibly simple to make during naptime or whenever you have a free moment. Today I am making them while my daughter is at school! To give them as gifts I like to package them up in clear plastic bags or to-go containers lined with parchment paper. Everyone loves them this way and they make a great holiday party nibble.

Cocoa Almonds

Don’t forget to enter to win the tote of Meyer Lemonds and $25 Williams-Sonoma gift card below. All entries will also be considered for the KitchenAid Mixer Grand Prize giveaway!

kitchenaid mixer

Many thanks to my current blogging sponsor: Red Mittens and her Chewy Gooey Monster Cookies

Rules for Homemade Gift Giveaway & KitchenAid mixer grand prize!:

1. Leave a comment sharing what your favorite homemade edible gift to give or receive.

2. Subscribe to The Naptime Chef newsletter (upper right hand corner) – I’ll check!

3. Become a fan of The Naptime Chef on Facebook
4. Visit Duda’s website and tell me what recipe you would like to try to make using meyer lemons (use the ‘Older Entries’ link at the bottom of the page to view even more recipes). Leave a comment telling me which recipe.

5. 1 Extra Entry: Share the link to this post with your friends on Facebook and link to @TheNaptimeChef Facebook fanpage

6. 1 Extra Entry: Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter and link to hashtag @TheNaptimeChef

7. 1 Extra Entry: Follow me on Stumbleupon and stumble this entry by clicking the green thumbs up.

8. 6 Extra Entries: Share the post about this article from my Facebook fanpage to at least 10 friends to help The Naptime Chef get to 4,000 fans by New Years! (I can see who shares what, so I will note when you share!)

9. Weekly winners will be announced on Sunday December 11th at 7:00am ET, Sunday December 18th at 7:00am ET, and Monday December 26th at 7:00am ET. The GRAND PRIZE drawing for the KitchenAid mixer will be announced on December 30th at 7:00opm.

10. All winners will be selected by Random.org. Each week the contest for the Meyer Lemon Tote and $25 giftcard will start fresh. Entries from the previous week will not be considered. The grand prize drawing pool will include all entries from the start of the contest on December 5th at 7:00amET through December 29th at 9:00pm ET.

Disclosure: I received the same products the winner will receive. The items were generously donated by Duda Farm Fresh Foods but the opinions and recipe expressed are entirely my own.

Recipe

Cocoa Almonds

Ingredients

 13 ounces unblanched almonds
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup water
¾ cup cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spread the almonds out on a lined cookie sheet and toast them for 15 minutes in the oven, or until fragrant and golden brown.

2. Carefully put the almonds in a large saucepan with the water and sugar and turn the heat to medium. Bring the sugar water to a boil and stir the almonds continuously until the water has dissolved and the almonds are coated in sugar. Immediately remove them from the heat and spread them back out on the lined cookie sheet to cool for two minutes.

3. Place the almonds in a heatproof bowl and toss them with the cocoa powder, adding more if necessary and stir everything until the almonds are evenly coated with the cocoa powder.

Naptime Notes

Naptime Recipe Serving ideas

To package these for gifts try placing them in a clear plastic treat bag and tying it with a pretty ribbon. Or, package them in a take-out container lined with parchment paper.

Naptime Stopwatch

20 minutes total

 

Naptime Reviews

Everyone loves these pretty gifts and they are especially great for hostesses!

 

 

7 Responses to “Homemade Gift Week: Cocoa Almonds {Naptime Webisode}”

  1. Errinfiend says:

    Shared this recipe on Facebook!  I love cocoa almonds. 🙂

  2. […] If you still have lots of names to cross of your gift list, try whipping up a big batch of these cocoa almonds, then divide them up into little clear plastic treat bags tied with a festive holiday ribbon. Kelsey Banfield says these almonds “make fantastic holiday gift and are incredibly simple to make” in about 20 minutes. (The Naptime Chef) […]

  3. laurel says:

    Homemade Christmas Cookies!!! YUM!!

  4. […] 1. Cocoa Almonds: These simply sweet chocolate candied almonds are perfect for last minute gifts. They take less than ten minutes to make and look wonderful packaged simply in clear plastic bags. […]

  5. Carmen says:

    I always have to make homemade caramels and truffles for Christmas

  6.  Yummy! These home made cookies when wrapped in a clean nice box can be given away as a holiday gift.