Monday, June 15, 2009

Almond Bon Bons




1 1/4 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup organic almond butter or peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (optional)
1 cup quality chocolate chips

Grind almonds in a blender until texture resembles a course meal. A few larger chunks are fine. Be sure not to grind too long or you will make almond butter. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, warm syrup and almond butter over low heat until well blended and smooth. Remove from heat and add ground almonds, salt and ground flaxseed. With a sturdy spoon, stir until well combined and mixture sticks together and begins to form a ball.

Make one inch balls by hand and place on wax paper. Your hands will get greasy.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. If using a microwave, use 20% power for 2 minutes and check. An additional minute at low power may be required. The chips will hold their shape. Stir with fork. If about half of the chips appear to have melted, keep stiring until all of the chips are melted. This may take a couple minutes. By keeping the chocolate's heat low, the cocoa butter and chocolate solids are much less likely to seperate and the chocolate will remain in temper.

If using a double boiler, be very careful not to let any water come into contact with the melting chocolate or it will sieze. Over low heat, stir constantly until 3/4 of the chips are melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth.

Using a fork, dip the balls in the chocolate one at a time until throughly covered. Place in airtight container on wax paper and allow to set for approximately one hour. Serve cold or at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. These taste best when they are very fresh, but will keep for a week or more.

Makes approximately 30 balls.

3 comments:

TP said...

Um, YUM!

expediency101 said...

So, when you say "high quality chocolate chips," I assume that means semisweet, not milk-chocolate; but "high quality"?! Can you be more specific? Like, Ghiardelli versus Nestle?

Cindy Rowland said...

Nestle: no. Ghiardelli or other loveliness: yes.
Personally, I make it with milk chocolate. But I left it open to interpretation since I think it could go either way.