Christmas is just a few weeks away. 19 days to be exact if you are counting down like my children are. I just love this time year, the excitement and anticipation are high along with extreme gratitude to God sending His son.

I always like to make this time of year extra special. We are celebrating the birth of our Savior after all! We have a few traditions around our house and one of those traditions is baking Christmas treats. Or maybe I should just call it candy.

Either way, a candy that is top of my list are Sticky Paws! Have you ever had them? They are a layered treat of almonds, caramel and chocolate. Williams Sonoma is one of the original makers of them. However, how quickly we tend to eat these treats we have moved into a more cost effective method…making them ourselves! I think they taste even better than the store bought ones.

I prefer to use almonds with sea salt, I think the salt adds an additional flavor depth that put them over the top delicious.

Sticky Paws {Caramel Almond Clusters}

Ingredients

1 11oz package of caramel squares, unwrapped
3 Tbs heavy cream
whole almonds
chocolate almond bark 5 rectangular blocks

Instructions

In a pot on the stove over medium low heat, combine heavy cream and caramels squar3s. Stirring occasionally until mostly melted. Then begin to stir constantly until fully melted.
Remove caramel from heat and allow to begin cooling
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form almond clusters using 5-7 almonds for each cluster
Using a spoon pour caramel over each cluster of almonds. Place the baking sheet in the freezer while you melt the chocolate almond bark.
Melt chocolate almond bark according to package directions. Remove cluster from freezer and take turns dipping each cluster into the melted chocolate. Remove with a fork and tap fork on side of bowl to remove excess chocolate. return to baking sheet and repeat until all clusters dipped in chocolate.
Once chocolate has hardened, place the clusters in a air tight container and keep in the fridge.