# ISO Almond Joy Candies



## marmalady (Nov 12, 2004)

On that other  :roll: forum, someone posted a recipe for homemade 'almond joy' candies - I thought I had copied it, but looks like the gremlins got to it!

Anyone have a recipe for these?  I just tried googling, but all I'm getting are cakes and cookies.  Tx in advance!


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## wasabi woman (Nov 12, 2004)

these are not from FoodNetwork, just a recipe I found on the web some time ago.

Almond Joy Bars

1/2 cup shortening 
3 tablespoons cocoa
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup cream OR milk 
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine shortening, cocoa, eggs, sugar and flour. Spread in 13x9"
baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. Stir together sweetened
condensed milk, coconut and almonds. Spread over partially baked,
hot crust. Return to oven for 15 min. more. Let cool. Combine
chocolate, confectioners' sugar, cream, butter, salt and vanilla.
Beat until smooth. Spread over cooled bars. 

Good Luck!


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## marmalady (Nov 12, 2004)

MWAH!   Ty, WW!  These are close, although if I can remember, the ones on FoodTV were sort of little 'drop' candies.  But this sounds like a great bar recipe, and I luuuuuve those for quick and easy!


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## Audeo (Nov 13, 2004)

Here you go, marmalady.  Tried many, many times, and true.

*Coconut Mounds or Almond Joys*
¾ cup light corn syrup
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
2 heaping cups of shredded sweetened coconut
Whole almonds
12-16 ounces of a good semisweet chocolate, chopped and tempered ***

Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart sauce pan.  Into the pan, combine the corn syrup, sugar and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar.

Attach your candy thermometer to the inside of the pan and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees (F).  Add the coconut and continue cooking, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees (F).

Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl and set it aside to cool completely.  This will take about 4 hours and leave it alone.  At this point, you can refrigerate the candy for another 2 hours or so to make it easier to handle and shape.

Butter a large cookie sheet and line it with waxed paper.  Butter the paper and set the sheet aside.

Using your very clean hands, pinch off a tablespoon or so of the mixture and shape it into a small rectangle.  I make mind about 1-inch wide by 2-inches long.  Repeat shaping the candy and set each aside on the waxed paper with the remaining mixture.  

For Almond Joy candies, press one or two whole almonds into the top of the candies, slightly imbedding them in the coconut.  (I do this individually as I shape each candy, so as not to distort the rectangular shape.)

***  Melt and temper your chocolate.  However, if you don’t keep high-quality chocolate on hand, you can substitute a 12-ounce bag of Hershey’s Chocolate Chips, but don’t tell anyone I told you to do this!  (I sure hope jasonr doesn’t read this…!)

This is how I typically temper chocolate and find it the easiest method of all:

Place your chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) into the top of a double boiler.

Fill bottom of double boiler so the hot water does not touch the bottom of the upper pan. Do not let the water boil. Stir the chocolate while melting to ensure even heating, but do so slowly and gently, trying to avoid creating air bubbles.  Heat the chocolate to 120 degrees (F) to 122 degrees (F). 

Replace the hot water in the bottom of the double boiler with 70-degree (F) water, but no cooler than that.  Stir until the chocolate cools to between 79 degrees and 80 degrees.  It may occasionally be necessary to add additional cool water to the bottom of the double boiler. 

Now replace the 70 degree water with warm water (about 90-95 degrees) and raise the temperature of the chocolate to between 88 and 89 degrees for dark chocolate, or between 84 and 86 degrees for milk chocolate.  Maintain this temperature while dipping. If the chocolate exceeds 90 F., it will be necessary to repeat the tempering process. 

I dip candies using my clean hands.  Alternatively, you can use a fork – place a candy onto the fork and dip into the chocolate then lift out and rake against the edge of the chocolate bowl to remove the excess from the bottom of the fork.  Then carefully slide the candy off of the fork and back onto the cookie sheet to harden.

Allow the dipped candies to rest at room temperature for 4 hours for the chocolate to harden.  Store in an airtight container in layers, separated by waxed paper, at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.


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## Ardge (Nov 13, 2004)

Wow, I was looking for something like this a few weeks ago.  My Mom LOVES Almond Joy bars.  I'm gonna have to make these for her for the holidays.

Thanks for these wonderful recipes!

RJ


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## marmalady (Nov 13, 2004)

Yippee!  That's it, Audeo - Ty!

Jaques Torres has a really easy tempering method - don't have time right now, but will try to find it and post later on!


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## Audeo (Nov 13, 2004)

I would really appreciate seeing his method, marmalady.  Jacques Torres is my hero.  There's was a thread here somewhere about what you would do with $10,000...I would kneel at his feet, raise the money up to him and beg him to let me spend a week next to his side in the kitchen!

And you're welcome!

Ardge, your mother is going to love these!


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## kansasgirl (Nov 13, 2004)

Here is an easy one.

Almond Joys
5 oz Sweetened condensed milk 
1 ts Vanilla extract 
2 c Powdered sugar 
14 oz Premium coconut, shredded or flaked
Roasted whole almonds 
24 oz Semisweet chocolate, chips or chopped pieces 

1.Blend the condensed milk and vanilla; add the powdered sugar to the milk mixture, a little bit at a time, stirring until smooth. Stir in the coconut. The mixture should be firm. 
2.Pat the mixture firmly into a greased 9x13 in pan. Score mixture into 1x2 in bars and press two whole almonds on each bar. Chill in the fridge until firm.
3.In a double boiler over medium heat, melt the chocolate stirring often. 
4.Remove the coconut mixture from the fridge and cut along scores into bars. 
5.Set each coconut bar onto a fork and dip it into the chocolate. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl. Air dry at room temp on waxed paper for several hours.


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## marmalady (Nov 13, 2004)

Kansasgirl - that's IT!  TY so much!

Audeo - my bad - thought yours were the recipe I remembered, but saw KG's and remembered the sweetened condensed milk - ahhh, senior moments!

I started a new topic on the tempering by Jacque - and I agree with you - I would love to just follow him around for a day!


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## Audeo (Nov 14, 2004)

And kansasgirl's looks a darned-site quicker and easier, too!  (Thanks for posting that one, kansasgirl!)

Senior Moments are always allowed and understood!  Thanks in advance for Jacques' methodology...I'm on my way there next!!


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