Trader Joe's - Chocolate Almond Horns - December 23, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Chocolate Almond Horns
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 3 oz. (95 g.) / 9 oz. (255 g.) total container of 6 cookies
Calories: 380 calories in 2 cookies
Cost: $4.49 total container
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, in Palo Alto, CA

Nothing pleases me more than finding delicious new chocolate items that are also gluten-free.

Many traditional recipes for sweet, almond flour cookies, macaroons and marzipan omit (wheat) flour. So, I was hopeful that I could find chocolate and almond cookies with no gluten ingredients. And so it was with these Chocolate Almond Horns from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA).

Sugary sweet, chewy-soft, golden brown, covered in sliced almonds, and partially dipped in bittersweet chocolate, these cookies channeled the ghost of marzipan cookies from childhood. I stopped eating gluten/wheat in 2002, so it's been many years since I nibbled on almond croissant or bearclaws. These two crescent-shaped horns were just as satisfying as any breakfast pastry or bittersweet almond cookie that I can remember.

Couple two Chocolate Almond Horns with a hot beverage of your choice, sit by a fire, listen to (or play) some music -- and you have a great prescription for holiday contentment.

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week. 

Noman Love and Laderach chocolates - December 22, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Norman Love Confections
Roasted Almond
Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $ 2.00 (estimate) for 1 piece
Purchased from: Dolce Amore, San Francisco, CA

2.) Laderach Chocolatier Suisse (I was told)
Almond
Good+
Weight: .8 oz. (22.6 g.) (estimate) for 2 pieces
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $4.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: Dolce Amore, San Francisco, CA

I sampled four different chocolate + almond combinations today.

The first two were almond chocolate truffles that I purchased recently at a coffee and chocolate shop called Dolce Amore (San Francisco).

There were no visible almonds in the Roasted Almond Truffle. I'm assuming there was almond butter incorporated into the creamy center. The second chocolate was quick good, but may not have been gluten-free. It may have contained a wafer layer.

The compact establishment carried chocolates from Norman Love (Ft. Myers, FL), Laderach Chocolatier Suisse (Switzerland) in an attractive glass display case, as well as Illy coffee.

Scattered throughout the Dolce Amore shop were tiny people figures. It was fun to look around carefully and to find them perched in different locales.


The last two chocolates were almond toffees from a woman I'll call "Madame S." Both almond toffees, the second batch was infused with espresso flavoring, and both were very good. The maker is not ready to sell these publicly yet, but I enjoyed these all the same.

"Madame S"
3.) Almond Toffee
4.) Espresso Almond Toffee
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. for both toffees
Calories: 150 calories (estimate for 1 oz. serving
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift