Chocolate Almond Clusters

I recently bought one of those huge almond bags from Costco, and realized that I needed to step up my almond- consuming game, cuz they weren't going away fast enough.  So I figured why not make this a good way to satisfy my nearly-ever-present chocolate craving? Ladies, I know I'm not alone on this one.  Chocolate and I are in a war, and chocolate likes to win the battles.  So I thought, why not at least justify  losing a little bit, by sneaking in some healthy almonds? Ya, sure, why the heck not.  So this recipe is intended to satisfy that chocolate craving, and they are already in portioned sizes, so you can grab one cluster and feel good about not over-indulging yourself, but still keeping that chocolate craving at bay.

3 cups whole, raw almonds
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4-1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
27 cupcake liners

Lay out cupcake liners in baking sheet, set aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay out almonds on a separate baking sheet. Roast almonds in oven for 10 minutes. (this helps to bring out the flavor in the almonds, so they present a good contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate)

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips, stirring constantly.

Once chocolate is melted, add cinnamon and vanilla. The extract will make the chocolate sort of chunky again, so add milk to brink it back to a smooth consistency.

Add almonds and stir to coat almonds.

Pour almond mixture by the spoonful into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full.  

This should fill about 27 cupcake liners.  To be extra cute, you could add sprinkles or powdered sugar, etc, and give them to people.  But I was just making them for my husband and I. (more chocolate for meeeeeee!)

Place baking sheet  in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to harden the clusters.

Once clusters are hardened, store in a gallon freezer bag and place in the freezer. Then, when you want some chocolate, just take a cluster out of the bag and munch away!

**Note: If you are putting these in the freezer, make sure to let them sit out for a few minutes before you start eating them,  Otherwise they will stick to the liners (unless you are using wax liners).