Homemade Almond Joy Recipe

For those among us who LOVE coconut and almonds, the almond joy is perfect.

But i have a secret, i broke the code for the perfect almond joy, and its so easy. This is a great way to show off your mad kitchen skills with not a lot of effort. 

Make a few or make a lot, this almond joy recipe is sure to please everyone.

(and it's VEGAN, don't tell anyone though, they'd never suspect!)

Step 1: Ingredients

I used the following ingredients to make these morsels

8oz shredded coconut
16oz of rice syrup (you could use corn syrup as well)
1/2 c almonds
12oz dark chocolate chips

Step 2: Mix Up Coconut and Syrup

First add the coconut and the syrup together in a bowl and mix together until the coconut clumps together.

Step 3: Shape and Add Almonds

Then shape out little candies and put an almond into each one. 

I chose raw almonds over dry roasted due to their taste. Some variation would be to use different kinds of nuts.

Step 4: Chocolate Covering and Freeze

Next melt your chocolate (i used the microwave, you could use a double boiler).

Then dip each candy into the chocolate and place onto wax paper.

Once the candies are done put into the freezer until set and you're done!

Hope you enjoy these very yummy, very easy candies!

Comments

[RisingP]

It works ten times better with sweetened condensed milk. Not runny, nice and firm and sets up nice in refrigerator really quick for dipping. I didn't make candy bars I actually made cupcakes and used the candy ball in the center of an Almond Joy Cupcake and my clients went crazy.

[shellybelly317]

I just made these and my coconut and brown rice syrup were on the runny side, didn't clump up like yours. They were harder to shape and sort of flattened out like cookies. That being said, they are still delicious! Any advice on what I may have did wrong. I thought maybe less syrup or more coconut might make a difference, but I went by the measurements in recipe. I appreciate any help and do love the candy!
Thank you so much!

[steelersgrrrl]

I used the ingredients in this recipe and it came out so scrumptious that I’m never buying a mounds (I used mounds because I’m allergic to almonds) candy bar ever again – especially since it tastes like it, but even better!!

Like I said, I used the ingredients, but I did not follow the measurements. I made mine according to how many I wanted to eat. I refrigerated my coconut first – this helps keep the coconut / light corn syrup mixture a little stiff and pliable but not smushy and super gooey.

I used about half a bag of coconut shreds. I have the luxury of using my kitchen aid, but if you don’t have one… wooden spoon is cool beans too.

Anyhow, I poured in parts the corn syrup on the coconut and mixed it until it looked like the texture of the coconut (if you know what an almond joy is you darn well know how the coconut inside it looks).

Once that’s done, form serving sizes the shape of an almond joy (make sure to wash your hands before and after!). Then I put them in the freeze to keep them cool.

Next, I took a sauce pan filled that with water and took my glass bowl and set it on top of that (double boiler effect without the double boiler) DON’T NUKE THE CHOCOLATE!

Anyhow, I poured the dark chocolate chips into the glass boil and let the steam from the boiling water melt the chocolate – stirring occasionally and until it was the right consistency for pour/dipping… whatever.

Once that was melted, take the coconut out of the freezer. Dip the bottom into the chocolate, then set it on wax paper or something. After, you can spoon chocolate over the top and TAHDAH – mounds (or almond joy if you had the almond)

You can probably dip the whole thing too, but I did not try that. Anyhow, they came out supreme and I plan to make them this weekend again.

*note* if you let the coconut warm up, it falls apart and gets all gooey and just a mess to handle. Freeze or at least Fridge works great in keep them stiff and avoid it falling apart. :) Happy dishing!

[nicknamednick]

I tried making these today with my four year old. We couldn't find the brown rice syrup and had to opt for karo dark corn syrup (the other types on the shelf had vanilla which is an allergen to my four year old). I carefully weighed out the coconut shavings to 8 oz on a digital scale, and used 16 fluid ounces of karo (2 fluid cups). It was far too sticky to be useful when mixed like that. I ended up dumping the rest of the coconut I had into the mix and then it set up a little better, but still not like in your pictures. The second problem I had was in melting the chocolate. We don't have a double boiler, so we used the microwave. It stayed much too thick to be used for dipping. We ended up spreading it on the candies with a spoon and then had to run back to the store for more chocolate. I probably used twice as much chocolate as the recipe called for, but then again we had added that extra coconut. Our candies turned out fairly lumpy. I guess I would recommend to anyone using the corn syrup to just put enough in for the coconut you have measured out. Mix it together as you are putting it in, and get it into the consistency for making the candies stand up like in the pictures. I don't know what to do about the chocolate, although our first chips melted better than the second kind. We started with Enjoy Life Natural Brands, LLC mini chips (dairy, nut & soy free) and they melted better than our emergency backup Nestle Tollhouse dark chocolate morsels (also soy free but contains dairy).

[PurpleStrawberry]

Can somebody specify how many cups of coconut are 8oz? I found one site that said 4oz=1 1/3 cups. So I used 2 2/3 cups of coconut but I drizzled the corn syrup in slowly as the mixer was running and ended up only needing to use 8 oz of the corn syrup. I wondered if the conversion I used was incorrect or if one can simply get away with using WAY less syrup than the recipe suggests.

By the way they really do taste JUST like the candy bar. I can't wait to start experimenting with some different flavorings. Orange zest, or maybe dried fruits added in. I can't wait!!!

[MissouriVillian]

The 8 oz bag of Let's Do Organic coconut in the picture says on the package that it is 2 and 2/3 cups.

[elysearf]

8oz is generally 1 cup... if you type into google "8oz to cups" that's what you get.

[bill0756]

OUNCES ARE NOT ALWAYS OUNCES...ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK WHICH OUNCES THE RECIPE ASKS FOR OR YOU MAY BE SORRY... there are fluid(known also as volume) ounces and ounces by weight...our system can be confusing...why didn't we change to metric!
8oz, half cup when using a measuring cup, is volume, NOT what this recipe is, I think.
8oz, half pound when using a weight scale, which is what I think this recipe is.

Typically fluids, like oil, milk, etc. are measured by cups, pints, quarts, etc with 8 ounces to a cup.
Nonfluids like coconut, chocolate, meat, etc are measured by weight with 8 oz to a half pound.

One lady was frustrated and said her recipe came out syrupy, which makes me think she used a 8 oz by measuring cup(which is fluid ounces) of coconut, when she should have used 8oz by weight(which is definitely more than a cup of measured coconut). It can be impossible to figure out whether ounces are fluid or weight.

So because we have such a crazy system that has TWO different types of ounces, please be clear in the instructions, weight or volume(fluid).

So what weighs more, 8oz of gold or 8oz of marshmallows? The answer is, "which ounces are you talking about? 8 oz fluid/volume of both, then that cup of gold weighs maybe more than a hundred times more. 8oz weight of both, then they both weigh the same...but a half pound of marshmallows can fill up a breadbox while a half pound of gold might fill up less than a shot glass."

[smuha]

generally 8oz= a cup, however ONLY water, eggs and oil are 8oz to 1 C. everything else varies depending on some different factors.

[cgtreasures]

Just had a thought. Take a look at the coconut bag and it will tell how many oz. are in the bag. I don't have any on hand right now but with a little math, you should be able to figure it out. If it's 16 oz., use half a bag. If 12 oz, use 2/3 of the bag to get 8 oz. Hope that helps!!

[PurpleStrawberry]

I don't use coconut that comes in a bag, I buy bulk coconut from an ethnic store.

[eredman]

In the pictures of your recipe it looks like you used dark corn syrup is that right I'd like to make this recipe can anyone give me the answer light or dark corn syrup? Thank You Very Much

[MissouriVillian]

It appears to be Sweet Dreams brand brown rice syrup.

[azazel82482]

Great instructable, but might want to specify that this only works with dried coconut flake. Tried it with fresh coconut, and with frozen grated coconut, and both turned out as a goopy mess. Using dried coconut worked though.

Thank You.

[debbie17]

NOM NOM NOM!!!!!

[melizabeth1]

These look delicious, but almond joys are made with milk chocolate, and the mounds are made with dark chocolate. So you got them kinda mixed up, but no worries! I bet they're just as tasty!

[lrowland]

Thats why its vegan sweetie :P

[Xthinker]

If you don't like the almond just don't add it and then you have mounds!!!! Yum!!!

[supertoria12]

my mixture of coconut (it was moist) and corn syrup was a little too gooey, so i had to freeze it, melt the chocolate and drop dollops of it on another sheet of parchment paper, take out the mixture and carefully place each piece onto the chocolate, and then pour another dollop of chocolate on top. i also used pecans cause i didn't have almonds (well i have almonds, there just jalapeno flavoured *blech*) i just put 'em in the freezer, so i'm hoping they'll set right.

[acupofjoe]

oh those look great! thanks for sharing :)