I went for a run this morning for the first time in a long, long time. A real run, not on the elliptical but outside, with Leia. It wasn’t very far and it wasn’t very fast, but it was a run, even if my lungs nearly exploded and my legs were red and itchy in protest the whole entire time (is that normal? Didn’t seem normal?). I used to run daily, and I loved it. I used to think four miles was a short run 🙄 I’d say I’m not sure what happened, but I know exactly what happened — sugar, cookies, cupcakes… I spent my time baking instead of running and while it’s definitely paid off now that I’m blogging full time, since I have a little more free time now I definitely want to get back into running, and maybe some of the slightly lighter snacks that I used to enjoy… Like, say some dark chocolate almonds.
Sea Salt & Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds from Trader Joe’s were one of my favorite snack splurges back in my running days. They were also expensive, but they were so deliciously addictive I never seemed to mind. Recently the genius idea dawned on me to make my own dark chocolate almonds (especially since I hate going to Trader Joe’s — the store is wonderful but trying to get into the parking lot at the closest one to me is more difficult than solving a labyrinth I swear). They’re incredibly simple and use just four ingredients… which are right there in the title. Sea salt. Turbinado sugar. Dark chocolate. Almonds. Doesn’t get much easier than that, does it?
In case you haven’t used Turbinado sugar before, it’s a brown sugar with large coarse granules. I buy Sugar in the Raw brand (which you should be able to find right next to the regular sugar in the grocery store), and often use Turbinado sugar to top off my muffins and favorite galette recipe. Here it’s paired with sea salt for a crunchy, sweet and salty treat. You can sprinkle on as much of each as you’d like, but I always, always opt for more sugar than salt (shocker, right?).
I toast my almonds before coating them in chocolate. I prefer the texture, taste, and crisp snappiness of them when they’re toasted, but you can skip that step if you feel so inclined. Tip: when buying almonds, buy them in bulk. Use leftovers to make homemade granola or my granola bar recipe! Toasting them is easy, though, just pop them in a 350F oven and turn them every few minutes. Enjoy!
More Recipes to Try:
Caramel Popcorn Candied Walnuts Candied Pecans Cookie Mix in a Jar
