Homemade Mini Almond Joys

Homemade Mini Almond Joys are incredibly easy to make and taste just like the candy bar! 

Happy New Year, friends!  I hope everyone had an amazing holiday season and a festive New Years celebration!  Have you made any resolutions this year?  One of mine: make more candy.  We love our Chocolate Crunch Bars, Peppermint Patties, and Inside Out Peanut Butter Cups, so now it’s time to add another: Homemade Mini Almond Joys!  Guess that means I’m adding a few more workouts to 2017, too 😉 

I don’t know what it is lately; maybe it’s the adjusting to a crazy working mom schedule, the finally feeling settled in a new home that we own, or just because the end of 2016 was probably the most insane few months we’ve ever had, but my former itty bitty sweet tooth, is a full on grown set of honkin’ molars.  And let me tell you, not only are these homemade mini Almond Joys little bites of sweet sweet heaven, but they’re also really easy to make which makes them especially dangerously delicious.

I’d thought about covering them in a chocolate mixture like the one used by the Chocolate Crunch Bars, but then I realized it might be too much coconut.  Sometimes using pre-made chocolate chips win out in my book because Homemade Chocolate Chips, are one of the few things I prefer to not make from scratch.
First, I just gave a quick mix of the shredded coconut, condensed milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and then popped it all into the freezer to cool.  Then after about 30 minutes (or an hour if you have a baby who’s fighting nap time…), the sweet coconut mixture was nice and easy to mold into little mounds.  Here, you can choose to add roasted almonds on top, or leave them without and make yourself a few Mini Mounds bars, ’cause Alllmonddd Joys have nuts.   Mounds don’t.   Sometimes you feel like a nut…  Ok, I’m done.  Finally my little nutty coconut logs got a final dip in the melted chocolate chips and got put in the fridge to set,and oh my god. These guys are delicious.  Too delicious.  Like so delicious I had a really hard time showing any restraint and might have eaten 3 of them in embarrassingly rapid succession. But it’s ok, they’re Homemade Mini Almond Joys, so that’s really only like eating 1, right?  Anyway, here’s my New Years gift you, friends! You can thank me (or curse me) for it later.  Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for all of the other sweet (and savory) from scratch treats I have planned for 2017!

Homemade Mini Almond Joys

Homemade Mini Almond Joys are incredibly easy to make and taste just like the candy bar! 

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Course: Dessert

Keyword: candy, copycat candy, sweets

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 40-45 whole raw almonds
• 2 1/2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut
• 7 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 bags about 20 oz of bittersweet chocolate chips

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, roast almonds for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• In a medium bowl mix together the coconut, sugar, and salt. Add the condensed milk and vanilla and mix well. Cover and place in freezer to chill.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and remove coconut mixture from freezer. Form the mixture into logs about 4 inches by 1 1/2 -2 inches thick. Press two almonds on top. The mixture will get sticky, clean hands periodically to make it easier to work with.
• In a small to medium saucepan, bring a few inches of water to a boil and place a heat resistant bowl on top. Melt the chocolate chips, stirring often. Once all the chocolate is melted, remove pan from heat.
• One at a time, place the logs on to a fork and with a spoon, spoon the melted chocolate over the log. Be sure your logs aren't longer than the fork- or use something else that will support the full log, otherwise they will fall apart.
• Give a gentle shake to get excess chocolate off and slide the fork along the side of the bowl to remove excess from the bottom. Use small spoon or toothpick to gently slide log off of the fork and back on to the parchment paper.
• Once all the logs are covered in chocolate, place sheet in fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.
• Enjoy for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.