Coconut Almond Bar Recipe

Almond Joy and Mounds are in the top 10 of best selling candies worldwide. The Mounds bar has been around since the 1920s. In fact, even through the coconut shortages of World War II, Peter Paul Halajian and his company, Winjamy Candy Manufacturing Company, continued to produce the Mounds bar for the public. Later, in 1946, the Almond Joy bar was introduced adding a whole almond to the Mounds bar. Since then, both candy bars have been a hit for both children and adults.

But what if you could make this best-selling candy in your own kitchen? Not only will you be able to enjoy this iconic candy bar but there are a variety of variations to make it all your own and delight your family and friends.

• Two 9" x 13" cookie sheet
• aluminum foil
• non-stick cooking spray
• large mixing bowl
• medium to large microwave safe bowl
• wooden spoons or other mixing spoons
• wax paper or parchment paper
• candy or cupcake liners (optional)

• Change the type of chips you use: Use dark chocolate chip instead of milk chocolate chips. You can also choose white chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, or other chips that will melt well for coating.
• Multi-layered coating technique: Consider using a couple of different flavored chips to coat the bars. For example, first coat the bars with melted caramel chips and set in the refrigerator about 30 minutes to 1 hour until firm. Then coat the bars again with melted milk or dark chocolate. Refrigerate again for about an hour.
• Change the type of nut: Instead of using almonds, you could always use chopped hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, or any nut of your choosing.
• Use different extracts: This may be scary to some, but it can be a pleasant surprise to the pallet. Around the Christmas holidays, consider using peppermint extract instead. Also a fun extract substitution is using rum extract. You will be pleasantly surprised at the subtle change in taste by using other flavored extracts.
• Peppermint coconut bars: This variation is always fun around the holidays. Crush up some candy canes or peppermint candies and add them to the coconut mixture. For added fun, use white chocolate chips with crushed peppermint candies for a delightful holiday treat that is pleasing to the eyes as well as the taste buds. Please note that you could use peppermint extract but if you are adding crushed peppermint candies, the peppermint flavor may be overwhelming.

• Great gift idea! These candies, regardless of the variation, always makes for a great gift or care package. You can prepare this as in gift in a variety of ways. You can choose to use small candy or cupcake liners to place the freshly dipped candy bar in instead of using a wax paper or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Or you can simply move the bars to the liners after they have set in the refrigerator and are ready to serve. Then carefully place each candy bar with liner in a gift tin. Please note that if you are going to have two to three layers, cut wax paper or parchment paper to the shape of the tin to place between layers.
• Instead of bars, make candy cups: Another simple variation is to take cupcake liners and make coconut almond cups instead of bars. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can add some melted chocolate to the bottom of the liner then add the coconut mixture with or without an almond. Set in refrigerator for 1 hour. Then add more of the melted chocolate on top and set in the refrigerator again for 1 hour. You can also omit the bottom layer of chocolate if you prefer.
• Add dried fruits: You can even add a little dried fruits to the coconut mixture. Chopped dates and sweetened cranberries compliment this candy bar beautifully. As far as the amount to add depends on you. You don't want the dried fruit to take over the candy bar but instead to be a flavored accent to the candy bar.
• Coconut almond brownies: Once you have baked your favorite brownie recipe and cut them into small squares, add the coconut mixture with an almond on top. Set in the refrigerator for an hour. Then dip the coconut almond brownies in the melted chocolate and refrigerate again until the chocolate hardens. You can even use cupcake liners to bake the brownies, then add the mixture atop the cooled brownies, followed with the melted chocolate, and set.