Almond Roco or When you know it's Christmastime around here

You know it's Christmastime around here when the only item coming out of my kitchen is Almond Roco and lots of it. 

I originally received this recipe from my late Godmother when she brought it to a Christmas party. I immediately fell in love with it, asked her for the recipe and have been making it ever since. Due to it's uniqueness, this has become a staple holiday gift for co-workers, teachers, friends, etc. 

 

original copy received from

my Godmother

I realize the recipe title is a misnomer as almonds is not listed as an ingredient. I once heard it called Cracker Candy which is probably a more appropriate description of this delightful combination of butter, sugar, saltines, chocolate and walnuts. If you google “Cracker Candy Recipe” you will find many similar recipes under many names.

Over the years, I have played with the original recipe I received, substituting white chocolate or Hershey's Kisses for the semi-sweet chocolate, substituting shredded coconut for the walnuts or skipping the walnuts altogether. The variations listed under notes/variations at the end of this post are the ones which I have found successful and make annually.

I hope you have as much fun and success making this as I have!

Semi-Sweet Almond Roco

with walnuts

Almond Roco - like Cookies

1 - 1 1/2 sleeves saltines
1 cup or 2 sticks butter plus extra for coating aluminium foil
1 cup sugar
2 cups or 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts  

Place oven rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminium foil. Butter it. Line it with saltines.  Depending upon the size of the cookie sheet this could be anywhere between 1 - 1 1/2 sleeves of saltines. 

In a 1 quart saucepan, melt 1 cup or 2 sticks butter over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup sugar and bring mixture to a boil while stirring constantly, about 3-5 minutes.

Pour butter/sugar mixture over saltines and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle 12 oz. chocolate chips over it.

Let chocolate melt 1 minute and then spread across saltines using back of regular-size spoon.

Sprinkle chopped walnuts over chocolate and cut it immediately using pizza cutter.  Once again, depending upon size of cookie sheet and like/dislike for walnuts, this could be anywhere from 1 - 1 1/2 cups walnuts. 

Place tray in refrigerator to cool. Once cooled, peel off foil, break apart and enjoy.

Notes/variations:

-- Cookie sheet size should be about 15" x 10". One with an edge all around (like a jelly roll pan works best)

-- Use heavy duty aluminium foil. This will make process of peeling off foil easier.

-- Use butter. Margarine or any kind of butter/margarine mix will prevent Roco from solidifying correctly

-- For White Chocolate Roco, substitute 10-12 oz. bag of white chocolate chips for 12 oz. chocolate chips (ghiradelli white chocolate chips or Trader Joe’s white chocolate chips work best)

-- For Milk Chocolate Roco, substitute 11 oz. bag of Hershey Kisses for 12 oz. chocolate chips. This is approximately 72 Hershey Kisses.

Ginger Nut Clusters or Giving Thanks

For the past several Thanksgivings I've received and accepted an invite from maternal cousins to spend Thanksgiving with them. As the holiday name implies, I give thanks for the invite as they live less than 30 minutes from me and with our busy schedules this is one of the few opportunities during the year we get to see each other.

Being epicures who love sweets and being raised to never show up empty-handed when invited as a guest, I wanted to bring something unique they would enjoy and wouldn't spoil after a week: Ginger Nut Clusters.

This recipe came to me via my girlfriend, Sally, who for over the past decade invites friends and family to her house the day before Easter to make candy. As noted in her 2011 blog post, this process has evolved from just peanut brittle to such delights as toffee, buttercreams, Oreo cookie truffle, etc.

Needless to say this was such a huge hit with my cousins that I taught two of them how to make these and have brought them for Thanksgiving and other gatherings hosted by them ever since. I have to say I am grateful to know exactly what to bring and give thanks to Sally for introducing us all to this great recipe!

photo courtesy of Crafts, Cavies and Cooking

Ginger Nut Clusters

This is a 1 ½ batch version of the original recipe. My estimate is this will make 30-50 clusters depending upon how large they are shaped. The version of the recipe I received contained a mixed of weighted measure and unit measure ingredients. As most cooks will use one or the other, I am including both which does make the ingredient list look a bit messy.

9 oz. White Chocolate or one 10 oz. package white chocolate chips (Trader Joe's White Baking Chips recommended)

5 oz. Graham Crackers or 1 sleeve/package of graham crackers

4 oz. cashews or 1 cup cashews

1.5 – 2.0 oz Candied Ginger, chopped or ¼ cup candied ginger, chopped

9 oz. Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate 1 – 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line two 15” x 10” cookie sheet(s) with wax paper or parchment paper.

Break graham crackers into a gallon size ziploc bag. Add cashews and ginger. Mix.

Melt white chocolate either in the microwave on in top of double boiler. If using double boiler, removed melted chocolate from boiler and add graham cracker mixture. Combine until mixture is coated with chocolate. Place teaspoons of mixture on cookie sheet (s). Chill until set, approximately 1-5 hours or overnight.

Melt semi-sweet/dark chocolate either in the microwave on in top of double boiler. Dip top half of clusters into chocolate or use spoon to pour chocolate on top of cluster. Return to cookie Sheet. Chill until set. Serve.