Cocoa-dusted almonds ~ a healthy success!

All you need to make your own cocoa-dusted almonds.  Photo from Happy Healthy Mama.

A couple of months ago, friends invited us over for supper.  After a delicious meal, my friend brought out some amazing cocoa-dusted almonds to enjoy with coffee.  What a treat!  Mr. T and I had never tasted them before, and we surely did enjoy them.

Later, I spotted cocoa-dusted almonds in the bulk food section of our local supermarket, but I am just too frugal to buy them.  I went on an internet search to see if I could find a recipe for these treats without the use of refined sugar.  Sure enough, I found this one: Cocoa-Dusted Almonds which required only four ingredients.  I had been given a large bag of whole almonds by my sister-in-law and had been using them in trail mix, etc, and I was pretty sure there were a couple of cups of almonds left in the bag that I could use for the recipe.

The only problem has been that the weather has been just too hot and humid and I haven't wanted to turn the oven on.  This morning, however, the weather was nice and cool and I turned the oven on to make granola.  I decided to go ahead and make the cocoa-dusted almonds.  They turned out perfectly.  Just like the purchased ones my friend had served.

The only caution I have is to be sure you do as the recipe instructs and use parchment paper to line the baking sheet.  I was out of parchment paper so I used foil -- and the nuts did tend to stick a bit.  Also, my almonds did not seem roasted enough after ten minutes, so I think I cooked them for around fifteen, stirring every three or four minutes.

What a deliciously healthy snack!  They would make a wonderful kitchen gift, too.  I will be making these again!