During the holiday season, I most enjoy celebrating my heritage by making traditional Spanish Christmas treats that my family has come to love. Polvorones, mantecados, buñuelos de viento, rosquillas, alfajores, and turrón de Navidad. Although so far away, it’s through these traditional family recipes that we are able to keep a Little Bit of Spain in Iowa.
I’m told that Christmas time in Spain is a magical place. The streets are brimming with lights, nativity scenes are adorned throughout the city, and pasteleria’s are filled with Christmas treats that make their appearance but once a year. What I most enjoy about Spanish Christmas treats is that the integrity of their original ingredients are mostly maintained. Their treats are simple – made up mostly of lard, chocolate, nuts, and honey. They’re pleasantly sweet, and rich.
Turrón de Navidad is no exception. An almond nougat candy, it consists of only three ingredients. Roasted almonds, egg whites, and raw honey.
Turrón is of Moorish origin and was invented over 500 years ago in a small town of Spain called Jijona. The wildflowers growing in the mountainsides brought an abundance of honey which is the staple ingredient in turrón.
There are two traditional types of turrón. Soft Jijona orturrón blando, which is smooth with a consistency of peanut butter, and hard Alicante or turrón duro, which is like the recipe provided here – a thick almond nougat candy.
This recipe is what you would call a turrón casero. One made at home. It’s very simple to make as it only has three ingredients. The egg whites, the binding ingredient, are whipped to a glossy meringue and folded into warmed honey. Together, its brought to heat and constantly stirred until a thick caramelized candy has been formed. This can take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. Once caramelized, roasted almonds are added to the mixture and poured into a mold to cool and harden.
Once cooled, the candy can be sliced and served. Slices should be cut small, as they are rich. I can’t think of home in Spain that doesn’t enjoy turrón de Navidad in it’s Holiday season. I hope you can make it a part of your Holiday’s as well.
Turrón de Navidad
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup roasted almond slivers (preferably soaked and dehydrated)
- 1 1/2 cups honey
- 3 egg whites
Instructions
- Roast the almonds at 375F for 10 minutes mixing them up halfway through.
- In a medium sized saucepan; gently bring the honey, over medium heat, to a slow boil. Once it starts to boil, turn the heat off, and set aside.
- Whip the egg whites to a thick glossy meringue. Carefully, fold the meringue into the honey.
- Once the meringue has been folded into the honey, bring the mixture back up to medium heat constantly stirring for 15-20 minutes. The meringue honey mixture will soon increase in volume. As you keep stirring, it will condense itself until a thick caramel has formed. Also, the color will slowly change from a light brown to a deep burnt orange. The bottom of the mixture may start to burn a bit which is okay. It adds depth in flavor. *To test if your mixture is thick enough, add a bit to a plate and immediately place in the refrigerator. After a minute or so, if it hardens, your mixture is ready.
- Once the mixture has thickened add the roasted almonds and mix through. Quickly pour the turron mixture into a parchment paper lined dish. Place another piece of parchment paper directly on top of the mixture which will allow you to press it down and prevent anything from sticking to it.
- Cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before slicing. Buen provecho.
Karen says
Is this treat “hard” like peanut brittle, or on the softer side? I need to know because my kid has braces! 🙂 Thanks!
Jenny says
I would skip the one if your kids have braces.
Payton says
what is the yield for this recipe?
Kaureen says
This sounds amazing and I am going to try to make it. My question, I am alergic to all tree nuts. Is there something that could replace the nuts that would hold the consistancy and still have the crunch? I will still make it for those that can eat nuts and maybe leave a little out before putting in the nuts to try that way. Thank you and Bless you and yours for your joyous Christmas season.
Jenny says
Hi Kaureen,
The nuts are integral to the recipe. What would you normally replace nuts with?
Melissa says
Would wax paper work instead of parchment paper?
TC says
I would like to know about storage also,please! ☺
Celine says
Hello!
This is one of my mum’s favorite treats and I would love to make it for her! I have one question though: how long does this keep and do you keep it in the fridge?
Thank you! 🙂
Celine
Violette says
I’ve made this twice so far. The first time was a breeze, the second time, almost a disaster! But that was no fault of the recipe’s, rather of my trying to do too many things at once.
I made this for my co-workers last week for a Christmas lunch and it got rave reviews. Of course, I can’t leave a recipe as is; I have to tinker with it. So I added 1/2 cup of maple syrup (I live in Quebec where it is plentiful and fairly cheap), 1/4 cup each of of whiskey and Frangelico, and just before adding the almonds, two generous pinches of coarse salt. Amazing!! The flavours were rich and complex.
My only problem with it was its unexpected stickiness. I thought I’d done something wrong, since the photo accompanying the recipe shows a dryer type of product. I painstakingly sliced it up into bite-sized pieces, prying it off the parchment paper, layered it carefully in wax paper in a container to bring it to the office, then had the pry it from the wax paper again to set it out on a cake stand at the office. Phew! Lot of work.
But it was so amazingly delicious I decided to brave the stickiness once again and make it for the traditional Québécois réveillon de Noël (feast of Christmas eve.) And I thought, hmmm, what can I do to stop it from sticking to the paper so much? And the answer came to me: a chocolate crust! Now, the process was more complex this time as I was making this on the heels of 3 other Christmas recipes (sticky toffee cake, toasted coconut pound cake, celeri-asparagus-fennel soup for Christmas lunch), but I’m hoping the results will be conclusive. Making the chocolate crust was simple (melt the chocolate, spread it on the parchment paper, taking care to cover the sides generously), but I had a mini-disaster when I set it out to cool in the snow on the porch and the wind blew the paper over itself and the chocolate crust became a Mobius-like mess of paper and chocolate, and this, just as the turron was reaching the right consistency. I put the chocolate into a new parchment paper lining and melted it back up over the toaster oven. Meanwhile, I turned the stove down to minimum and slowed the cooking process by adding 1/4 cup of bourbon and letting that cook off for a bit. (I forgot to mention… in an attempt to make the turron more slippery, less sticky, I added 1 teaspoon of coconut oil halfway through the cooking process. Also, I did have the odd little bit of rubbery egg filaments, but I attribute that to not having folded the meringue in properly.)
So… tomorrow afternoon I slice it up and see how it turned out.
I have high hopes. 🙂
Violette, Montreal
P.S. I realize that my additions may not be considered to be the top-most healthy moves, but to me, this is the perfect balance between whole, healthy foods, and a decadent dessert worthy of the Christmas feast.
Cynthia B says
The directions say to put a piece of parchment paper over the top after you pour the mixture into a parchment-lined pan. Does that make the parchment hard to get off later? Doesn’t it stick to the top?
Keepitreal says
it looked and sounded good, until I read it was cooked honey and almonds. That takes every bit of nutrition out of them :(.
Jenny says
That’s ridiculous.
Michelle says
hi. This sounds yummy. I love nougat, which by the way originated in Arabia. That’s why the Moors had the recipe.
Cocina y palabra says
What a lovely recipe! Does your family come from Spain? I’m from the south, Andalucía, and I was planning to prepare polvorones. Now, I will prepare your turrón too.
Thank you so much,
Ana
Friedel says
What should the texture of this be? Mine is so crunchy and hard that it’s nearly impossible to cut! Maybe I let it cook a little too long?
[email protected] says
This looks amazing! I will be making this for Christmas, if not before. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!
Danielle says
I used to live in Morocco, and street vendors would sell this stuff–I loved it. I had no idea it contained only 3 ingredients. Thanks for the recipe!
Connie says
Thank you! Delicious! Do you have any tips for cleaning up the cooking utensils afterwards?
Forrest M says
Where can I find raw honey? I am making these for a class heritage project and want them to be authentic. If I can not find raw honey is there any problem with regular store bought honey?
Tatyana says
Thank you so much for this recipe!! These desert was obsolutely amazing!!! I have
One question: it was so sticky… I even coated it in
Melted chocolate , but it still got stock to the
Fingers… I’d there anything I can do to help
This? Merry Christmas!!!
Michele says
we made this and loved it! I tried to use a candy thermometer, thought I would try to get it to 260 – the thing is that it is so puffy, it is hard to get a good read. In the end, we went with the time and it is wonderful, but a bit sticky. Thought about how Italian torrone has the wafer paper on it, but…I think that I will try dusting with potato flour as you do for home made marshmallows…
Darcy says
I’m not able to pin the recipe. Is anyone else having problems with it? The message says there is a server problem? Thanks!
Jennine says
Hi there – thanks for sharing a unique recipe – always looking for new Christmas sweet ideas for gifts.
Question: Is there any way to prevent the initial chunks of rubbery egg white from floating around? I carefully folded the meringue as recipe advised but it didn’t blend very well in the beginning. Also, once completed and hardened, is there a trick to cutting through the stickiness without struggle? Thanks for reply.
Elizabeth says
What would you suggest that I substitute for the almonds? Toasted pecans or walnuts, or cashews? I am allergic to almonds. Thanks!
Peg Lewis says
Well, this looks interesting. It’s too hot to cut so far. But it didn’t behave as the recipe said. I think the mistake I made was to use the hand-electric mixer after I put the egg whites in. It got big and fluffy and stayed that way, never settled down to a liquid nor did it caramelize. After 25 minutes I added the almonds and am now hoping. Well, the lickings tasted good anyway, even if it’s not ‘right’. The only other alteration (not that I intended to alter it) was that I used duck egg whites. Thoughts, anyone?
Beth says
Lovely recipe. I probably won’t get a chance to make it during the Christmas season (or maybe so since we go until Jan 6th), but will print and save to use whenever we are celebrating a Spanish saint throughout the year. I don’t think my children will object if I serve it then :). We try to use authentic recipes from their countries of origin. Thanks!
Darcy says
This was such a wonderful dessert. I loved that it was just a bit sticky and wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s the reason honey is a favorite in our house! Friends were over when I served it and they commented that this candy was by far the preference over fudge. Everyone went back for seconds! Even now I’m considering the next batch because this first one certainly didn’t last long. As always, thanks for a great recipe Jenny.
Tina says
Wow! Thanks for this recipe! Made this tonight and it is wonderful. Mine took more like 25 minutes to get as thick and burnt orange as I felt it needed – a bit of a workout stirring that long :). I followed the recipe exactly – raw honey and all. It’s Christmas! Who wants to use cheap grocery-store honey (that’s like part corn syrup) for a lovely treat like this? Not me. Diana, just subscribed to your blog!
May says
Wooow this is sooo good !!!
Amanda says
I had a lot of fun making this recipe (and learning about the tradition of making it)–thanks for posting! Like another reader, mine came out a bit more sticky and darker than the one pictured, but tasted just delicious. I actually cut it into very small squares and wrapped them in waxed paper like caramels (“honey-almond caramels” I called them on my gift bags). For the almonds, I used sprouted, though I tossed them in a little butter and toasted them first, for a deeper flavor, then chopped them up once cool. The overall taste reminded me of buttery popcorn (the natural stuff, not the horrible store-bought kind). It’s very sweet, but the perfect little candy to share. I only made half a batch and ended up with at least 30 “caramels.” Thanks so much, and happy holidays!
[email protected] in Iowa says
That’s great Amanda! Yes, making them smaller is a great idea! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Wendy says
I wanna try this recipe but I am hesitant because of the comments on them turning out “sticky”. I was thinking I could dust them with powdered sugar, might that lessen the stickiness. Thanks for any reply.
[email protected] in Iowa says
Hi Wendy, yes they will be sticky. In Spain, some versions will actually put rice paper on the bottom and top to make them a bit easier to handle. But it is what it is, made of sticky honey. I keep them in the fridge until after supper where we enjoy a small cut piece. I do place each piece between parchment paper to be peeled off before eating 🙂
Cheryl Wedding says
Would you be able to give the weight of honey in grams please as this would make it easier to measure. Cant wait to try this.
jr says
I made this last night and it turned into a hard, inedible lump of sliced almonds – way more like very hard caramel candy instead of anything resembling a nougat. Not sure what I did wrong, but it was an expensive disaster!
heidi says
mine is the same why! i’m not sure what i’ll do….it’s almost inedible! 🙁
Clare Mactaggart says
Oh – I see you’ve already commented on that. Sorry, I hadn’t refreshed the page! I’m with Mike – I hate the idea of boiling good quality raw honey at all. Seems wrong. I would save that honey for other things. But thanks for the recipe.
Clare Mactaggart says
Sounds delicious! But just curious, why do you suggest raw honey? Surely since the honey gets boiled there’s no sense in using (more expensive) raw honey in the first place?
Matt V says
err *mold
Matt V says
Don’t know about pouring it out into the mould, I fancy I could have used this as mortar it was that sticky – LOL
judith scott says
made this tonight as well. had all the ingredients. threw in a touch(just a small pinch)of cinnamon and ginger. mine did not turn out as thick or as light as jenny’s but then jenny is a master!! this is one of my favorite sweets. that and mexican wedding cookies. its a bit much honey($$) and certainly something to serve at a party or give as a special gift. otherwise it feels a little decadent to keep in the house.
will try it again with perhaps another egg white. mine did not thicken up so good,but is cooling off very nicely in the frigo.
Jenny says
This recipe is actually from Diana Bauman. She’s got a great site: http://spain-in-iowa.com
Emily says
Okay, TOO YUMMY! I love almonds and honey. Great healthy substitute for the artificially-laden stuff.
Trisha P. says
These look fabulous! My husband is a beekeeper, so these will be fun to try!
Mike says
Of course this is a yummy treat! How can it not be! However, if one is in the process of trying to improve overall health, which is why I subscribed to this list, this recipe is of no help in that regard. Raw honey is no longer raw after exceeding 99 degrees f. Hundreds of beneficial enzymes are destroyed above that temp. Same with the many beneficial effects of raw eggs. We have to learn that COOKING destroys vital nutrients. No, you don’t have to give up the tasty treats, just learn how to concoct them without high heat. The internet will tell you.
[email protected] in Iowa says
Mike, thanks for the comment. Although it is very true that the benefits of raw honey are compromised in the heating process, it’s also good to remember that all types of real food should be celebrated. Throughout the year we have our fill of raw honey. I buy it by the gallons – local and raw. However, food in it’s tradition is made in a variety of ways and can be enjoyed for enjoyments sake. In Spain, the Christmas season is special and these one of a kind treats make their appearances for a short amount of time. In my home, I re-create them during this holiday season and we enjoy them for the memories that they bring. Is it benefitting us in any way, well… it’s bringing joy and that is just as much a part of our nutritional health. Of course, in small amounts. Another wonderful thing about using raw honey in this recipe is that the quality makes these treats unlike anything you can buy in a store. It’s what makes the difference between artisanal quality versus an industrially made product.
Francie says
I made this tonight. It tasted really good. It’s is kind of sticky, so I cut it into bite-sized pieces. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I think I cooked it long enough. It was difficult to cut. I used a 8×11 or so pan, and mine did not turn out as thick as in the pictures, which turned out to be a good thing, because you don’t want to mess with biting into it – neater to just pop a piece into your mouth. Thanks!!
[email protected] in Iowa says
So glad it turned out well, Francie. Yes, they can be a bit sticky, but so worth it 😉
carol spencer says
Hi Diana, I completely enjoyed the process of making this delicious and healthy candy…I felt connected to a tradition of candy making that might even date back to the middle ages, when people did not use sugar. I think i might be able to adapt this to making other yummy treats. It is brilliant the way the egg whites caramelize with the honey..the house smelled divine into the next day. I took a temperature and stopped the caramelization process @ 250 F..firm ball stage..is that the right temp? my final product was firm, but flexible and melt in your mouth..but looks more glossy than your picture.thanks in advance for the answer. I made it for a friend who used to live in Spain and can hardly wait to se his face when i gift it:) Awesome, wholesome inspirational recipe..Thanks!!!! Happy Holidays
Jennine says
Hi there – thanks for sharing a unique recipe – always looking for new Christmas sweet ideas for gifts.
Question: Is there any way to prevent the initial chunks of rubbery egg white from floating around? I carefully folded the meringue as recipe advised but it didn’t blend very well in the beginning. Also, once completed and hardened, is there a trick to cutting through the stickiness without struggle? Thanks for reply.
Michelle says
This looks delicious! I celebrate Hanukkah, but candy is candy. Thanks for helping provide me with the added support I needed to make raw yogurt last week. I had directions from my milk supplier and a farmer, but needed reinforcement and referred to your blog. It was a success and SO easy the way I made it!
Lizet Constanza Mueller says
This looks fabulous! I come from a Spanish family and we sure enjoyed our turrón! I had no idea it was so easy to make.
Thanks a million!
Ramon says
Brilliant recipe! Thanks very much. I still have a few days to try it and impress my German in laws with a little bit of self made Turrón in Vienna… Saludos! By the way, there are varieties of Turrón to be found in Central Europe. Aren’t there? Almonds, Marzipan as well as flavours such as cinnamon, clove, ginger are all typical from Hamburg to Italy… The fragrance coming out of the Christmas Markets offering Glühwein (Hot wine punch) is one of the most beautiful things about Christmas around here. MC!
Kirsten says
I have whole sprouted almonds- any reason just breaking them up would ruin the texture?
Thanks!
[email protected] in Iowa says
Kirsten, not at all. Actually, turron is usually made with whole almonds. I prefer the slivers.
SarahT says
Mmmm… looks lovely! What size dish did you use for these quantities?
Thanks!
[email protected] in Iowa says
Sarah, I used a 4 x 6 small glass pyrex dish. A larger dish would work as well.
Marilyn says
What temperature should the boiled honey cool to before the meringue is folded in?
[email protected] in Iowa says
Marilyn, I don’t ever take the temperature. As soon as it comes to a slow boil, I take it off the heat and start my meringue. Once it’s done I fold it right in. I’ve never had a problem.
Linda says
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, I love Turron!! This home made version will make such great gifts!
Jan's Sushi Bar says
I would LOVE to make this. What size pan do you recommend?
[email protected] in Iowa says
Jan, I used a small pyrex 4 x 6 glass dish. The small dish made these turn out thick. A larger pan would work fine as well.
Mia says
Hello! I have to make a traditional Spanish Christmas desert for my language class tomorrow. Do you have a favorite that you recommend that is fairly simple? I’ve been looking through the recipes (bless you by the way, these look amazing) but can’t decide which to make.