Edible Footballs

These little chocolate covered almond footballs are so simple to make, and look how cute they are!  I’ll be honest, I didn’t actually come up with this idea on my own.  I stumbled across it online somewhere.  However, the recipe I saw used store bought decorating icing.  Why would you do that when you can so easily make your own, and it will be so much better? 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Chocolate covered almonds
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon brown rice syrup (or corn syrup)

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl.  Now, I know I’ve said this a dozen times, but be sure to use organic powdered sugar.  I know it’s expensive, but trust me, you’ll be blown away by how much better it tastes. 

There.  Nice and fluffy. 

Add the milk. (I used skim because that’s what I keep in the house, but whatever you have on hand will be fine.)

Add the syrup.  I always use brown rice syrup, but I know most people are more likely to have corn syrup on hand. 

Stir until the icing is nice and smooth.  It should run slowly, and if you drizzle it on top of itself, it will hold its shape momentarily before melding back in with the rest.  If it’s too thick add more milk, ¼ teaspoon at a time, and if it’s too thin, sift in some more sugar. 

Transfer the icing to a piping bag.  If you don’t have piping bags, you could just use a ziplock. 

Using scissors, cut off just the very tip. 

You just want a tiny hole. 

Pour your almonds onto a sheet pan.  This is another place you don’t want to cheap out.  Even though these are super simple, they’re quite time consuming.  If you’re going to go to the effort, you want them to be high quality.  Trader Joe’s is your friend for things like this.  I got that whole tub of chocolate covered almonds for less than $8.  I’d guess there to be something like 250 almonds in there. 

Now just pipe on some laces. 

You won’t get as many as are on a real football.  Most of mine had 3, some of them 4.  When you first start, it’ll be slow going, and they’ll be a bit wonky.  But you’ll get better and faster as you go.  Plus, even the wonky ones are cute. 

Pile o’ footballs!  Give them an hour or so (or overnight if you can) for the icing to harden before dumping them all into a bowl.

What’s your favorite thing to snack on while watching a game?