Chocolate Almond Brittle

I found this on Recipe Goldmine and think it will be a nice cooking project for my 9-year old daughter. Prep time does not include cool time. **Make sure your sugar is "cane" sugar and not "beet" sugar. Beet sugar will separate near the end of the process and ruin the brittle.

• Ready In: 27 mins
• Serves: 48

Ingredients

• 1  lb butter, lightly salted
• 2  cups granulated sugar (cane sugar)
• 12  ounces  semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1  lb  almonds, whole with brown skins still on

Directions

1. Grind 25 almonds from the pound.
2. Put butter, sugar and whole almonds into heavy cast aluminum pan. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat slightly after sugar melts to keep from turning too dark. Keep stirring briskly. Cook to almost hard crack stage, about 290 degrees F on candy thermometer. This will take about 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Pour onto ungreased cookie sheets to about the thickness of an almond.
4. Melt semisweet chocolate and smear on top of warm brittle. Sprinkle ground nuts on top of the chocolate. Cool and chill until chocolate hardens. Break into pieces.