Gift Recipes: Homemade Almond Joy Candy Bars

June 30, 2007

 

Flickr Photo Credit: Tree-Species

Looking to add homemade candy to your cooking repertoire? 

I got this one off a recipe board, but it was originally posted by Sandy at http://www.thefrugalshopper.com . I think this is a great recipe for a special homemade gift.

5 ounces sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cups powdered sugar, 14 ounces shredded or flaked coconut, 24 ounces milk chocolate chips, 1 cup whole dry roasted almonds.

Blend the condensed milk and vanilla and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, stirring until smooth. Stir in the coconut. The mixture should be firm. Pat the mixture firmly into a greased 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan. Chill in the refrigerator until quite firm. In a double boiler over hot (not boiling) water, melt the chocolate, stirring often. Remove the coconut mixture from the refrigerator and cut into 1 x 2 inch bars. Put 2 whole almonds atop each bar. Set each coconut bar onto a fork and dip it into the chocolate. Tap the fork against the side of the pan or bowl to remove any excess chocolate. Air dry at room temperature on waxed paper for several hours. You may speed up the process by putting in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

This is how the recipe was posted exactly. I might try adding just a touch of shortening to the chocolate when it was melting as that makes such a difference when I make chocolate covered pretzels.  Either way, I think this would be quite a decadent gift for numerous occasions.