I tried on about thirty different pairs of skinny jeans last week. ย It wasn’t cute. ย This trend is not ok with me.
I have thighs. ย They rub together a little.
These candies might be why.
If you feel compelled to make some sort of joke about the word ‘joy’ in the title of this recipe and my name… which is also Joy.
Well… go on. ย Get it out of your system.
Just don’t make any Joy to the World jokes. ย I’m so over those.
I really like what’s going on with these little gems. ย I combined unsweetened coconut with sweetened condensed milk and toasted almonds… and I covered the whole thing in dark chocolate. ย Seriously good.
But aren’t Almond Joys kind of a Grandpa candy bar? ย No… that’s Baby Ruth… totally an old dude candy bar.
Homemade Almond Joy
makes about 30 little bars
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut
30 almonds
about 20 ounces (a bag and a half) of good quality semi sweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, spread raw almonds onto a baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes. ย Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. ย Stir in the unsweetened coconut. ย The mixture will be thick. ย Place mixture in the freezer for 3o minutes. ย It’s easier to work with if it’s a little cold.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. ย Remove the coconut mixture from the freezer. ย With clean hands shape one tablespoon of coconut into a little log about 2 inches long and 3/4-inch thick. ย Press the logs together very well so they don’t crack when dipped. ย ย Place the log on the lined baking sheet and continue until all of the coconut mixture is gone. ย Rinse hands occasionally if they get too sticky. ย Press an almond on top of each coconut log. ย It might not completely stick. ย That’s ok. ย Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill while you melt the chocolate.
Place a medium ย pot with two inches of water over a medium flame. ย Bring the water to a simmer. ย Place chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl and place the bowl over the simmering water. ย Stir the chocolate as it melts. ย Turn off the flame once the chocolate has melted but keep the bowl of melted chocolate over the hot water.
Remove the coconut candies from the fridge. ย Place one coconut almond log on a fork. ย Use a spoon to scoop a bit of chocolate over the almond. ย This will help the almond stick to the candy and not fall off during dipping. ย Lower fork into chocolate and spoon chocolate over candy to coat. ย Lift fork and gently shake to release some of the chocolate. ย Scrape the bottom of the fork along the side of the bowl and place on the lined baking sheet. ย You might need a toothpick to help get the candy off the fork. Repeat until all candy is coated in chocolate. ย If chocolate gets thick, just turn on the flame and heat slightly.
Let dipped candy harden in the fridge for 45 minutes. ย Store in an airtight container at room temperature. ย If you need to layer the candy in a container, use waxed paper to separate the layers.
289 Responses
Or sprinkle a few pieces of almond on top. Guarantees you almonds whenever you dig in.
I made these and they were so good. Everybody loved them. I do wish that the print function worked better for the recipes. I like looking at paper, using the print option prints 11 pages of the recipe and there are ads over top some of the instructions so that was frustrating.
These are very delicious! I just have one question though. When I made these I stored them in the fridge, but if I left them sitting out for a few minutes the chocolate started to melt. I just used chocolate chips like in the recipe. So is there another type of chocolate that won’t melt when taken out of the fridge? Thx
I’m a chubby chick and I love my skinny jeans and almond joy bites. I’ve made this recipe before and I’m back at it for my Christmas candy gift boxes. Skinny jeans only look good if you believe they do. No one has perfect, Skinny Jean legs so put those jeans on with your favorite baggy top, grab your almond joy candies and dance to your favorite music. You are beautiful just the way you are!!!!!
I love mounds and my daughter loves almond joys. Went to the store to get ready for thanksgiving and Christmas cooking and before leaving I started to shut down my computer and there was the recipe for home made almond joys, Now that I’m back my counter is loaded with all kinds of ingredients for all kind of sweets including almond joys. I’ll go back and get some dark chocolate for homemade mounds for me.
Omg! thanks for the recipe. These are my favorite candies.
I was looking for a gluten-free gift to make for a friend and when I came across these, I knew it was perfect – my friend loves Almond Joy, but we live in Canada and it’s not sold here! I made these with a good quality semi-sweet chocolate, and they were very much loved. I made them a bit too big though – they are quite sweet and once the chocolate gets on them, they get even bigger. Next time would use less sugar and make them smaller. I found freezing them before dipping in chocolate kept them together nicely – I also thought that with the coconut they’d be finicky, but not so!
How far in advance can I make these. I have my annual cookie swap on December 18th and would like to start as soon as possible. I have to make 12 dozen.
I just made a quadruple batch of these as part of my Christmas gifts and they came out perfect. After reading through the comments I was nervous that they would not be any good, but I followed your recipe exactly and they came out lovely and delicious. Can’t believe how simple they were, thank you very much!
I also can’t believe how many people made this recipe using sweetened coconut and then complained about how they were too sweet and wouldn’t stay together to dip in the chocolate. You can find unsweetened coconut flake in the organic section of your grocery store. It is DRY flake (as opposed to sweetened coconut which is wet), so your mix will be very tight and easy to shape. I chilled mine after shaping and it dipped into the chocolate no problem.
Tip: After shaping the coconut melt a little chocolate and dip one side of each almond before pressing onto it. Let them set 10 minutes and the almonds will be thoroughly stuck and you can dip the whole thing no problem.
Add shortening to chocolate— about 1 T per cup…it thins it out, helps it reach the right texture for dipping.
Try coconut oil next time, it really is a nice change and does the same thing as the shortening and it is better for you.