Almond Butter Chocolate Bar

01 · Ingredients

What you will need

Chocolate Base

70% dark chocolate

Good quality, any brand you trust

350 g

Natural almond butter

No salt, no added oil · stoneground preferred

35 g

Inclusions & Finish

Almond flakes

Raw, unblanched · toasted before use

60 g

Fleur de sel

Or any quality flaky sea salt

2 g

Pure vanilla extract

Optional · alcohol-free

2 ml

â—ˆ Almond butter is held at exactly 10% of the chocolate weight. This preserves the chocolate's structural integrity, temper stability, and clean snap while delivering a distinct, rounded nuttiness. No cocoa butter is used in this recipe — at 10%, the almond butter integrates cleanly without requiring additional fat adjustment.

02 · Method

Step by step

Toast the almond flakes

Preheat your oven to 160 °C (fan) or 170 °C (conventional). Spread the almond flakes in a single, even layer on a baking tray lined with parchment paper — make sure they are not piled on top of each other, as uneven layers toast unevenly. Place the tray on the middle rack and roast for 7–9 minutes. At the 5-minute mark, open the oven and give the flakes a gentle shake or stir to ensure even colour on all sides. Watch them closely from this point — they go from pale to over-toasted quickly. Pull the tray out as soon as the flakes turn pale gold and smell nutty and fragrant. Slide the parchment off the hot tray immediately onto a cool surface — leaving them on the hot tray will carry-over cook them further. Allow to cool completely before using.

Colour cue: pale gold, not amber or brown. Overly toasted almonds develop a faint bitterness that competes with the chocolate's origin character.

Melt and temper the chocolate

Melt your chocolate to 44–50 °C using a bain-marie or microwave in short bursts, stirring between each. Once fully melted and smooth, temper it using your preferred method — seeding or tabling — until it reaches the correct working temperature of 31–32 °C for dark chocolate.

Temper gives you gloss, snap, and clean mould release. A correctly tempered chocolate will set firm and shiny within 3–4 minutes on a palette knife test.

Warm the almond butter

Gently warm the natural almond butter to approximately 30–32 °C — the same temperature as the tempered chocolate. This is important: cold almond butter dropped into warm chocolate will locally shock the temper and cause streaking or bloom. A brief warm water bath or low microwave pulse (10 seconds, stirred) is sufficient. Stir it well to ensure it is smooth and homogenous with no oil separation.

No cocoa butter is required at 10% inclusion. The almond butter integrates cleanly and the chocolate's own fat structure remains stable.

Mix in the almond butter

Add the warmed almond butter into the tempered chocolate and stir gently with a spatula until fully mixed with no streaks. Keep the stirring slow and easy — no need to rush. Add vanilla extract if using. Once smooth, fold in three-quarters of the toasted almond flakes and mix through.

Fill the moulds

Pour the chocolate into your bar moulds and tap the mould on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Scrape the top level. Scatter the remaining almond flakes on top, press them in lightly, and finish with a small pinch of fleur de sel on each bar.

Polycarbonate moulds give the best gloss and release. Silicone works too but gives a slightly duller finish.

Set in the fridge

Place the filled mould in the refrigerator and let the bars set for 20–30 minutes. Once fully set, flex the mould gently and the bars should pop out cleanly.

Your bars are ready

Once out of the mould, your bars are ready to eat, pack, or gift straight away. No waiting required.

AlmondButterChocolateBar