Toasted Almond Covered Truffles

It's been so long since I've posted! With a friend visiting from out of town and Valentine's day, I was busy planning other things. But now I'm back with a delicious treat.

When you're doing the starch free diet, tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.) have a lot of uses. This is a really simple recipe for making delicious chocolate truffles. I decided to cover ours in toasted almonds, but you could also cover your truffles in cocoa powder, a plain chocolate coating, or home made sprinkles (I'll teach you how to do this soon!). This recipe needs to chill in the fridge for awhile, so you'll need to plan ahead for when you want to eat them.

Toasted Almond Covered Truffles
makes 20-30
3/4 cup heavy cream
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tablespoon almond extract (you could also use vanilla, but I would up the amount to a tablespoon)
1 cup chopped toasted almonds

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, then stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the butter and the almond extract, then strain into a bowl and let cool. Cover and chill for 6-8 hours or overnight.
2. To toast your almonds, spread out finely chopped almonds onto an ungreased baking sheet in a single layer. Make sure they're chopped to the same size so that they'll toast evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, checking on them so that they don't burn. Let cool before you roll your truffles.
3. Line a large baking sheet with wax/parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scooper or two teaspoons, form the chocolate mixture into 20-30 balls and place on the paper. This might get messy, so be prepared! Chill if the mixture becomes soft.
4. Roll the truffles in the toasted almonds, covering completely. Chill well wrapped, for up to 10 days.