Dark Chocolate Almond Caramels

I was so bored last night and felt that if I did not do something I would die, so, naturally, I made caramel bon bons. These little, almond flecked, melt in your mouth caramels made with dark brown sugar (to give it a more pronounced flavor) are as good of caramels as I've ever had. If you want to try them with pecans or walnuts, I am sure it would be great as well.

You will need:

1 C Dark chocolate(optional)

5 C. Dark brown sugar

3/4 C. Milk

1 C. Almonds(chopped)

1/2 C. Butter

Mix together the butter, milk, and brown sugar cook on high stirring constantly till every thing is melted. Add the almonds and mix them in thoroughly. Cook till at soft/firm ball stage you can test this by dropping a bit of caramel into a bowl of cool, clear water and seeing how it forms, it should feel like a laffy taffy. Now comes the hard part remove the caramel from the heat and let it cool in an oiled pan till you can touch it but it is still very hot get a big bowl of ice cold water and wet your hands. Form the caramels into any shape you want then place them in the bowl of water. Once they start to keep their shape well remove and place on a greased pan to chill. If desired melt the chocolate in a double boiler and dip the caramel in the chocolate and cover them in powdered sugar. Enjoy!

~Z

P.S. The forming process is messy, so wear an apron.