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.