Oh Almond Joy!

Anything that’s recreating a candy bar at home I have to try. Finding this recipe was no exception. I found this recipe on a blog, who took the recipe from another blog. Both these blogger ladies seemed to have no trouble with it. But I did. Maybe it’s because I used sweetened coconut and the recipe called for unsweetened. I had a bag hanging around that I wanted to use. Plus, several of the comments on the other blog were about the difficulty finding unsweetened coconut. Apparently you have to go to a gourmet organic type store for it…which I’m not going to do.  So, I thought I’d just try the sweetened kind. After a couple of trial and error things, I think I figured out my issues and will be able to make them perfectly the next time. The candies are delicious – I just had a some things not go great with this first batch. I really dislike talking about baking that doesn’t go well, but I don’t want any of you to make these thinking I did it perfectly with no trouble, have the same issues and think it’s just you. I hate when that happens to me. And I love you guys, I couldn’t do it to you!

I doubled this recipe because I wanted to use a whole can of the sweetened condensed milk.  Trying to measure out 7 ounces sounded like a sticky mess. Here’s how I’ll do this recipe the next time. First, mix the coconut, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt together. Then pour in the milk, but don’t just dump the whole can in, pour in about 3/4 of it – mix it in and see how juicy the mix is. It should be the consistency of the middle of an almond joy. When I used the full amount called for, my innards were too gooey. I know, how is that possible right? Goo is generally a good thing. This was just too much…you can see what I mean in the photo. And, it being that moist made them pretty hard to dip. I had a lot of them that turned out pretty deformed looking – which I then had to put out of their misery by eating. I know they felt badly sitting next to the “pretty” ones…eating them was the least I could do.

If you have easy access to the unsweetened kind of coconut, I’d be interested to hear how it goes making it with that. I’m going to stick  to the sweetened kind, but pull back on the sweetened milk to offset the extra goo factor. Also, I would highly recommend putting your formed coconut balls back into the freezer before dipping them. The colder they are, the easier they are to dip. I let my second batch chill out for a while and the whole dipping process went much more smoothly. Also, I always add about a teaspoon of shortening to my chocolate when dipping as it makes it a bit thinner and easier to dip with.

Homemade Almond Joy {Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker}

• 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract

• pinch of salt

• 2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (I pulsed mine in a food processor a few times to make the coconut a little smaller chunks)

• 30 (or so) almonds (I had some slivered ones on hand, so I used those…whole almonds would be better)

• about 12 ounces milk or semi sweet chocolate chips (plus 1 teaspoon shortening)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To toast the almonds, spread them onto a separate {unlined} baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes. Don’t go too far, it doesn’t take long to go from toasted to burnt. Remove from oven and let cool.

In a medium bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Stir in the unsweetened coconut, until combined. Yes, the mixture will be thick. Place mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes – it’s easier to work with when it’s cold.

Remove the coconut mixture from the freezer. With clean hands shape one tablespoon of coconut into a little ball about 2 Tbsp.

Pressing firmly, make sure the balls are compact that way they don’t crack when dipped. Place the balls on the lined baking sheet and continue until you’ve gone through the remaining coconut mixture.

Warning, your hands will get sticky and may need to wash on occasion. Press an almond on top of each coconut ball. It’s okay if they don’t completely stick. Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill while you melt the chocolate.

Place a medium size saucepan; add about two inches of water over a medium heat. Bring the water to a simmer. Place chocolate chips & shortening in a heat proof bowl and place the bowl over the simmering water.

Make sure the bowl is about 1 inch from the boiling water. Stir the chocolate as it melts. Turn the heat off once the chocolate has melted but recommend keeping the bowl of melted chocolate over the hot water.

Remove the coconut candies from the fridge. Place one coconut almond ball on a fork. Use a spoon to scoop a bit of chocolate over the almond. That way the almond will stick to the candy and not fall off as you dip. Lower the fork into chocolate and spoon chocolate over candy to coat. Lift fork and let the chocolate. Place on the lined baking sheet. Repeat until all candy is coated in chocolate. If chocolate gets thick, just turn on the flame and heat slightly.

Let dipped candy harden in the fridge for 45 minutes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.