Christmas Toffee

Preheat oven to 325?. Spread out almonds on a baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool.

Coarsely chop chocolate chips in food processor, pulsing on and off. Transfer to a medium bowl. In same processor bowl, coarsely chop almonds, pulsing on and off. Add to chocolate chips, tossing to combine. Spread half of mixture evenly over bottom of a well-greased 13-X9-inch baking pan.

In a heavy medium saucepan, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium heat. Cook 5-7 minutes, or until syrup in light golden-brown and just reaches the hard crack stage (300?F on a candy thermometer). At that point, a bit of syrup, when dropped into a bowl of ice water, should separate into threads that are hard and brittle.

Pour hot syrup evenly over nut mixture. Top with remaining nut mixture, smoothing and pressing down gently with a spatula. Refrigerate until toffee is set and chocolate is firm, about 1 1/2 hours. Cut into squares or irregular pieces. Store in a tightly covered container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.