Blitzens Chewy Amaretti & Almond bites for the grown-ups

Poor Blitzen......why should Rudolf get all the attention? I wanted to devise a little treat for grown-ups over the Christmas period. These Apricot, Amaretti, Almond squares are based on the kiddies Rocky Road. They're chewy thanks to the Rolos & have a little crunch from the addition of Maltesers. I've just upped the anti and given them a little twist and a touch of sophistication for the adult palate. Just leave out the Amaretto if serving to children and perhaps use milk chocolate instead of the bitter dark.

Really easy to make as there's no baking required just a few hours of chilling in the fridge.  They will be perfect with coffee after Christmas lunch instead of the usual Mince Pies or After Eight mints.

Ingredients

200g/7oz good quality 70% solid Dark Chocolate (I used Green & Blacks)
3 tbsp. Golden or Corn Syrup
150g/5oz unsalted butter
2 tbsp. Amaretto liqueur (optional)

Melt all of the above in a large bowl over simmering water. Remove from heat as soon as it's all melted & combined.

100g/3½ oz dried apricots chopped
75g/ 3oz flaked almonds
100g /3½ Amaretti biscuits lightly broken
a packet of Rolos slice them in half
130g approx. 4oz White Maltesers

line a 9"/23cm tin with baking parchment

Reserve around a third of the melted chocolate mixture
Reserve around 20 Maltesers & half of the chopped apricots for the top

Add all the dry ingredients to the melted chocolate and mix well together
Pour over the remaining reserved chocolate
Decorate with the remaining apricots & Maltesers and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight
use a really sharp knife to cut into 20 equal squares.
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge they should keep for at least a week.
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