Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Homemade Almond Joy





Almond Joys... Where to begin.... Hi I'm here cause I'm an Almond Joy addict. I could eat these candies all day long but only the ones dipped in dark chocolate. Because in all honesty dark chocolate helps cut the sweetness in my opinion. Now I wont lie, I did have some reservations about this, I was a skeptic... Could these homemade candies really be as good as the store bought candy? Are they going to satisfy my cravings?! Make all my Life goals come true?? YES, they will!!! These are the most incredible candies I have ever made, and just to prove it they are Boy/Man approved. Which means that you should make these right this minute!
I made bite sized squared with a whole almond sitting on top. They were beautiful. Elegant. Delicious! So go out to the store buy the ingredients and then earn brownies points and give some of these to all the people in your life you want to make happy campers and impress... Their eyes will literally light up and listen as their "Mmm's" Fill the room. It's a great feeling to know your food made somebodies day that much better!

By the way, since these have almonds on them that means they are good for you, right?? Right! Leave the guilt and reservations by the door and live on the edge for the day!


Homemade Almond Joys





Ingredients:

1/2 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
14 oz Sweetened Shredded Coconut
50 Whole almonds
2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Line a 9x9" baking dish with parchment paper or saran wrap. (I used Saran wrap)



Combine Sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and a a large bowl. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring to fully incorporate. Add coconut and stir until well combined. Press mixture in the prepared pan and chill in the freezer for a 1-2 hours. (OKAY, DON'T DO WHAT I DID.. which was adding the condensed milk to the coconut and then dump all the powdered sugar in at one time.. Oops )



After 30 minutes, cut the chilled coconut mixture into small squares.


Melt a 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips in the microwave checking and stirring every 15 seconds. Top each of the bars with a small amount of chocolate and press the almond on top on each bar. Place back in the freezer for 1-2 hours. I did this so when it's time to dip them they don't defrost so quickly and fall apart in your chocolate.

*Bring out only a few at a time, so they don't defrost sitting it before you get a chance to dip them!


Melt the remaining chocolate chips. Once the bars are chilled , dip each bar into melted chocolate to coat completely. I did this by using a meat fork, dipping it in chocolate so the bars stick and then dragged them through the chocolate, or using a spoon to pour it over it and then sliding it off with a knife. Make sure you dip the bottoms so they are coated.
Not all of the chocolate will be completely coated on the bottom but that's okay!
Place on waxed paper lined baking sheet and place in the fridge to cool until the chocolate is set.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

1 comment:

The Future Chef said...

WAAAAAY more elegant than the store-bought version and anything made homemade is just way cooler in my opinion, granted you dont just flat out ruin it, WHICH you obviously did NOT do here!! :) dark chocolate and almonds practically makes these a health food ;)