Cocoa Roasted Almonds

So my mom brought me some cocoa roasted almonds when she shared some Christmas goodies with me this year (thanks mom!).  Needless to say, I devoured them and almost thought about hiding them from my company to hoard them for myself.  So when my little bowl of almonds was empty I started looking for some recipes to make them myself.  What I discovered was that a few people have been disgusted that something as simple as almonds covered in cocoa end up being made with so many extra ingredients that no one but scientists can pronounce!  I tried their recipes and thought I would experiment a little bit more... what I came up with is a delicious and super simple way for you to get that super addictive cocoa roasted almond at home with just a few ingredients, all of which you know and love.

2 T honey
1 t pure vanilla extract
2 T water

1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 T flour
dash of cinnamon
1 heaping cup of almonds (raw or roasted)

1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
2. Mix the honey, vanilla and water in a bowl or measuring cup.
3. Mix the cocoa, powdered sugar, flour and cinnamon in a resealable plastic bag.
4. Place your almonds into the wet ingredients and stir to coat completely.  You may want to put your almonds through the wet ingredients in batches to make it easier.  Use a slotted spoon (or your hands) to scoop out the almonds and drain excess liquid and put almonds in cocoa mixture.  Once your almonds are all in the bag of cocoa, shake them up until they are completely coated.
5. Use your hands, or another slotted spoon, to take the almonds out of the bag and place onto the prepared baking sheet.  You don't want a lot of extra cocoa powder on your baking sheet, but some is no big deal.  Bake in preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes if using roasted almonds, bake for about 15-20 minutes if using raw almonds.  I would just pull out one almond and taste-check it to test for 'doneness' :)  Stir your almonds about halfway through baking.  Remove almonds and let cool. Enjoy!

This recipe will make a heaping cup of roasted almonds and is easy to double -- you don't need to double the wet ingredients, just the dry.  I discovered that the trick to these is that you need extra of the cocoa mixture so that the almonds are completely coated.  If  you don't have enough the whole batch gets sticky and turns out kinda goopey.  If this happens to you, I recommend tossing your almonds in a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar to help them get a little cuter.