These Almond Roca Cookies are an easy spin on the classic candy! Buttery, almond shortbread topped with milk chocolate and toffee bits. Cut these into triangles for a pretty presentation!
If you’re looking for a stunner of a cookie that’s as pretty as it is delicious, then look no further. Almond Roca Cookies are a spin on the classic toffee candy! I’ve taken all the flavors of Almond Roca and made them into an easy, and approachable cookie recipe.
If you’ve love the buttery, sweet toffee but are nervous about making candy at home, keep reading. No candy thermometers, no boiling sugars…just simple cookies that you don’t even have to portion out!
What Is Almond Roca?
If you are unfamiliar with Almond Roca, it’s a simple, nostalgic candy. Think buttery, toffee coated with milk chocolate, and topped with ground almonds.
Almond Roca is actually a brand name. And the difference between Almond Roca and traditional toffee is Almond Roca is buttercrunch, which is toffee coated with chocolate and crushed nuts.
So essentially Almond Roca is the brand name for buttercrunch! Who knew?
What Ingredients Do You Need?
The beauty of this recipe is the simplicity. Not only do you use everyday ingredients, the ease of prep is quick and foolproof.
Here’s what you need:
- Milk Chocolate. I used Hershey’s chocolate bars because they’re easy to find, and melt beautifully!
- Toffee Bits. Since we’re not making candy, I’ve topped the chocolate with toffee keeping in line with the whole buttercrunch theme!
- Butter. I prefer salted, as I don’t add any more salt in the recipe.
- Egg Yolk. Just the yolk is needed in this recipe. It adds richness and it aids in binding the dough.
- Granulated and Light Brown Sugar. You could use all light brown sugar too if you really want to amp up the caramel flavor!
- Almond Extract. This is to add that almond flavor. You could certainly use vanilla extract if you don’t prefer almond extract, or don’t have any! If you do use vanilla, use 1 full teaspoon. I find that almond extract is a little stronger than vanilla and you don’t want to overpower the buttery cookie!
- All Purpose Flour.
Making these almond roca cookies couldn’t be easier. Here’s how you do it:
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Mix your wet ingredients together. In a stand mixer use your paddle attachment to combine the butter and sugars. Then add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix for 30 more seconds.
- Add the dry ingredients. Set the mixer to low and add in your flour. Mix until combined and the dough is a stiff ball.
- Shape and bake. Press the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden and the center is almost set.
- Add chocolate. As soon as the cookie crust is done baking, sprinkle chocolate pieces on it and let the residual heat melt them. Spread the melted chocolate with a spatula.
- Add toffee and/or nuts. Sprinkle your toppings onto the melted chocolate before it sets.
- Cool and enjoy. Allow the cookies to cool, then cut into triangle pieces and dig in!
What If You Don’t Have Toffee Bits?
Of course these cookies are adaptable! You don’t have to stick with the “Almond Roca” theme. As a matter of fact, I made a version of these in my book and turned them into a Praline Cookie! But here are some other ideas:
- Sprinkle with chopped nuts instead of toffee bits
- Leave them plain with just milk chocolate!
- Drizzle white chocolate on top of the milk chocolate for a pretty presentation.
- Instead of toffee add sprinkles for a fun pop of color!
- Add some flaked sea salt for a salty/sweet treat.
Oh yes, absolutely. These cookies make a large batch…48 cookies, depending on how you cut them. And they’re certainly a perfect cookie for a holiday, gift, or party platter. BUT if you just have extra cookies that you want to save for later, freezing them is the way to go! Here what you should do…
- Bake the cookies from start to finish according to the recipe directions.
- Once cooled and cut into pieces place them in a large airtight container, or zip top bag.
- I like to separate the layers with parchment paper to prevent them from rubbing against each other too much. You don’t want to knock off the toffee bits.
More Almond Recipes You Might Like:
Print
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These easy cookies are a spin on classic Almond Roca candy! Buttery shortbread topped with milk chocolate and chopped almonds!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk, lightly whisked
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 8 (1.55- ounce) Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
- 1/3 cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat to 350°F.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter, granulated, and brown sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla and mix for 30 more seconds until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until combined. Dough will form a stiff ball.
- Press the dough evenly onto un-greased cookie sheet to 1/4- inch thick .
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until edges are golden and center is almost set.
- As soon as you remove the pan from the the oven, sprinkle the broken Hershey pieces evenly on top and the heat of the cookie will melt them.
- Using an off-set or rubber spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly on top.
- Sprinkle the chopped nuts or toffee onto the melted chocolate. Allow to cool and the chocolate to set. You can also place it in the refrigerator to speed the process up.
- When completely cooled, cut into triangle pieces.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freeze for up to 30 days.
This is an updated post of a recipe I published in 2010.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 112
- Sugar: 8.3 g
- Sodium: 53.3 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.6 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 17.5 mg
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Cookie sheets come in different sizes. Size for the almond roca cookies?
10×15 for this one 🙂 But the size of the pan doesn’t matter so much as the thickness of the dough. But of course, yes you need enough space 🙂
Hi Shelly, these look great! Just wondering what size cookie sheet you use? Thanks, can’t wait to make them. I love Almond Roca!
I used a 10×15 pan 🙂