Snacking at the nurse’s station

After a long break from work, my first day back was last week and I wanted to share something yummy with all of the fantastically fabulous people I work with. Almond bark it was, and it was a HIT! I had people asking for the recipe all day, and it’s really simple. So I thought, why not share it with you all. It’s a scrumptious and simple thing to make in a crunch, and a crunchy way to celebrate the winter months when your all huddled around the table in the nurse’s station.
Almond Brittle:

You will need: one frying pan, two cups sugar, 1 1/2 sticks of butter, vanilla extract, and almonds (as many as you would like to add!). Everything will need to be poured out onto a strip of tin-foil.

Directions: Put butter and sugar into frying pan with heat on medium. Stir constantly. This takes a while, but you’ve got to keep it moving. As the butter and sugar melt together, you will see it turning brown. Keep stirring as it turns into a liquid, clear-ish brown in color. When the consistency has smoothed out a bit (even if there are a few sugar chunks left), throw in (gently!) the almonds.  Keep stirring to cover all the almonds with the liquid sugar. 

Stir until the sugar turns a deep clear-brown color and is fairly fluid. Be careful of getting it too hot, the sugar will bubble and spit out at you!  When all the almonds are covered and the sugar has reached it’s melty-est state, add a few drops of almond extract. You will see everything get a little hotter, a little bubblier, and a little melty-er (yes, this is my professional culinary language I am using).

When you feel like everything is covered well and the consistency is fluid, pour everything onto the foil, working to pour evenly to avoid clumping of the almonds on top of each other.  Use a fork or spoon to flatten out the mixture. Let cool. Once completely hardened, break into pieces and enjoy! Well, share with co-workers and enjoy!