Chocolate-Almond Braid Recipe

What’s better than warm, melted, gooey chocolate? Warm, melted gooey chocolate wrapped in a gluten-free, buttery, flaky pastry. The stunning braided pattern is much easier to pull off than it looks; watch the video to follow along. Crunchy almond slivers and rich cacao nibs add divine flavor and texture on top.

Chocolate-Almond Braid

Yield: 15 to 20 slices
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 ½ cups almond flour
½ cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, cold
1 large egg, cold
1 (3 ½-ounce) bar of chocolate
1 egg, beaten
Sliced almonds
Cacao nibs

Instructions

Combine almond and tapioca flours, coconut sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse 5 or 6 times until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg and pulse just until the mixture comes together as a dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in fridge 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

On parchment paper, roll out dough into a 9-inch square. Trim ends with a paring knife to create straight edges. Place chocolate bar vertically in center of dough. Slice diagonal cuts in dough, spaced about 1 inch apart, from either side of the chocolate to the edge of the dough. Repeat on other side, making sure left and right sides mirror one another. Slice vertical cuts from the four corners of the chocolate to the top and bottom edges of the dough. Discard the 4 corner pieces of dough.

Carefully fold top and bottom flaps of dough over chocolate. Fold top right strip of dough over chocolate, then top left strip, and alternate, working your way down to create a braid-like pattern that covers the chocolate. (The dough will be quite fragile.)

Brush top of dough with beaten egg and top with sliced almonds and cacao nibs. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Slice and serve warm.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont