Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Recipe

For many of us, there's no better way to wake up than with a warm cup of coffee. Whether you take it black, with a splash of cream, or heavy on sweet milky foam, the essence of the drink always has the same earthy, rich notes of the espresso beans it's made with. Even just the smell is enough to awaken droopy eyelids, the beans alone a jolt of fresh energy. The beans themselves have a strong, bitter flavor that makes them impossible to snack on by themselves — that is, unless you coat them in chocolate.

Snack giants like Trader Joe's have mastered chocolate-covered treats like chocolate-covered espresso beans, the chocolatey coating the perfect balance of sweet for the bitter coffee flavor underneath. The simple snack sometimes comes with quite a high cost, though, but with just a little bit of time, you can make your own with ingredients you likely already have. This recipe, written with Michelle McGlinn, uses just two ingredients to make perfectly chocolatey, energy-packed espresso beans in almost no time, using just your stove and your refrigerator. They're easy, crunchy, sweet, and totally customizable, making them the perfect snack to DIY. Eat them by the handful or use them as a fun decoration for cakes, ice cream, or hot drinks.

You'll only need two ingredients to make chocolate-covered espresso beans: Chocolate and espresso beans. While you can use any chocolate, such as chocolate chips or chunks, we recommend the foil-wrapped dark chocolate bars (not to be confused with baking chocolate). Espresso beans are slightly different than coffee beans, so look for whole bean espresso or use dark roast whole bean coffee instead. 

Bring a small pot filled with ½-inch of water to a boil over medium-low heat.

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water.

Stir the chocolate constantly with a spatula until smooth and melted.

Remove the bowl from the heat and add the coffee beans, working in batches. Stir to coat.

Individually remove coffee beans from the chocolate and place on a wax paper-lined sheet tray.

Place the sheet tray in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour, or until set.

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If you leave your chocolate-covered espresso beans on the counter for a while, you'll notice they start to melt. The chocolate-covered treats sold at grocery stores, on the other hand, are sold on the shelf and never need to be chilled. The reason that it is possible for store-bought espresso beans to stay hardened at room temperature is because of an edible shellac called confectioner's glaze, which is used in liquid form and essentially acts as a finishing seal on shelf-stable candies, stabilizing them in a hard, shiny shell.

Though it is tempting to want to experiment with food-grade shellac at home, it can be hard to find, as it must be guaranteed food grade and bought from an organization that specializes in edible shellac manufacturing. Shellac isn't exactly a widely manufactured product — it's actually made from the resin of tiny bugs called lac bugs. Since it can't be made at home and isn't widely available, we recommend that you let the professionals handle shelf-stable candies and store your homemade espresso beans in the refrigerator.

Once all of the beans are stirred into the chocolate and coated, you're faced with the mundane task of fishing each one out individually. You can do this with a fork, tweezers, or a slotted spoon, letting as much chocolate drip off of the bean as possible before setting it down on the wax or parchment. You'll find pretty quickly that this takes some time — and if you're anything like us, you'll be tempted to shortcut it by pouring the batch out all at once.

Technically, you can pour the batch onto the baking sheet, but after chilling, you'll be left with espresso bark — not individual chocolate-covered beans. The chocolate will harden in exactly the position it is put into on the baking sheet, meaning you'll be making large pieces of crunchy chocolate. To truly make chocolate-covered espresso beans, you have to pull each bean out one by one, so we recommend throwing on your favorite TV show or movie before you begin.

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