Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans: National Espresso Day

Today is National Espresso Day! Maybe you already celebrated with an espresso this morning. Maybe not? 

Espresso is a great ingredient to add to lots of chocolate food: truffles, brownies, cookies, cakes. It enhances the flavor of the chocolate. But I also adore Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans... the rich sweetness of the dark chocolate and the crunchiness of the espresso bean. Of course, depending on how many you eat, you could be wired up for days! I usually have some of these in my purse. Never know when you might need them!

FYI: You can use either coffee or espresso beans. The taste will change with the type of chocolate and the type of bean. Experiment with chocolate from different areas and different amounts of cacao, as well as coffee from different parts of the world! However, I'm a big fan of Espresso Beans! I like the contrast and the espresso beans are already very roasted.

CHOCOLATE COVERED ESPRESSO BEANS

Ingredients
1/3 cup roasted espresso beans
1/2 cup dark chocolate, 70%-85 % cacao, organic, fair trade

Directions
Melt chocolate until smooth in double boiler or saucepan over saucepan over simmering water. Remove from heat. Drop in a handful of beans and stir around. Lift out with two salad forks (letting extra chocolate drip a little back into the mixture), and put beans on wax paper (or silpat mat). Keep beans separated. Continue until all beans are covered and on paper or mat. Let beans dry completely. They will harden overnight, but you can freeze them for about half an hour, if you can't wait! Once hard, the beans won't stick together. Store in air-tight container.