A homemade version of the classic coconut, almond candy bar.

For full recipe see below!

So today I made a homemade version of one my favorite candy bars! It’s super easy and is only 3 ingredients. Candy making can be intimidating, but it is actually quite simple after the first batch. And then you can wow your friends by bringing them a box of homemade chocolates stuffed with sweet coconut and chopped almonds!

So unfortunately there are some supplies you’ll need for this recipe, but they are inexpensive and worth buying. You’ll need chocolate molds, melting chocolate, and brushes. I know you’re thinking: “That’s a lot of stuff I don’t know where to begin to look for!” Once you have the supplies, you can make any molded chocolate…almond joys, peppermint patties, peanut butter cups, and any other filling that you can find at a candy shop!

So where do I find these supplies? You can buy candy molds, melting chocolate, and candy brushes at stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. The Party Depot in my town carries a whole aisle of candy making equipment too. Don’t think that the supplies are expensive either because every item is under 5 dollars.

For the molds. When you’re looking at the molds, there will be a lot of fun shapes and molds for lolly pops. The shapes are good for just plain or flavored chocolate but not for filled chocolates. For this recipe you want the peanut butter cup mold,the peppermint patty mold, or any other simple mold because it is more difficult to press the filling into the mold if it is a crazy shape. They are relatively cheap…I got these for 2 dollars each.

For the chocolate. Unfortunately you need tempered chocolate… if you use chocolate chips or baking chocolate your chocolates will be a disaster! There is a whole process for tempering your chocolate at home, but you can buy a bag at a craft store for about 3 dollars, so I suggest that route. At Party Depot they sell tempered chocolate called Make n’ Mold Candy Wafers, and at Michael’s they sell a Wilton version of the same thing. Tempered or molding chocolate will give your chocolate that shiny coating, that crisp snap when you bite into it, and most importantly will not melt as easily when you hold it. Untempered chocolate will have a matted finish, have a softer texture, and will melt super fast when you hold it.

For the brushes. In the candy aisle at Party Depot, you can find brushes that are food safe and can stand the temperature of your melted chocolate. They usually come in a pack of three. I would not suggest using a paint brush that you have lying around the house because they were not made to be food safe.

Eyeballing. This is one of those recipes that you are going to have to employ the technique of eyeballing! I know that eyeballing anything in baking can lead to absolute catastrophes, but this recipe you’ll need to. The amounts I have given will change a little based on the size of the candy molds you have. You could also change the ratio of coconut to almonds if you like one ingredient more than the other.

So to start, put some of the molding chocolate in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir and then if it’s not melted completely keep microwaving for 30 second intervals. Keep stirring after each interval because the chocolate will burn. The chocolate is burned if when you pull it out of the microwave, it has a strange bubbled texture in the center. This will happen very quickly if you run out of melted chocolate and use the same warm bowl to microwave more chocolate. It will be fine if the bowl has cooled some but not if it’s still hot.

Once the chocolate is completely melted, take a spoon and pour just a little chocolate into one of the mold wells (image 1). About 1/4-1/2 a teaspoon of chocolate is what you’ll need (image 2). Take one of the brushes and brush the chocolate up the sides of the well (image 3). Make sure the chocolate reaches the top of the sides of the well because if it doesn’t your chocolate will fall into two pieces when you unmold it (image 4). Tap the candy mold against the counter to get any air bubbles out. In image 5, you can see an air bubble that has risen out of the chocolate after tapping the molds on the counter. This  whole process is creating the shell of your chocolates. Do this for all of the wells in your candy mold. The chocolate will start to harden on its own but put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to make sure it’s completely solidified (image 6).

For the filling. Take your almonds and chop them up by hand or in a food processor. Then mix them in with sweetened shredded coconut. Make sure you use sweetened coconut because if you do not, you won’t have anything sweet in your filling.

Once your chocolate shells are solid, remove them from the fridge. Put enough of the filling in to almost reach the top but leave a little room, so you can top it off with more chocolate. Repeat for the rest of the molds. Press the coconut-almond mixture down, so you don’t have coconut flakes hanging out the sides because then you’ll have octopus almond joys!

You can use a spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup to press the filling down.

But this is what we will all end up doing!

Take more melted chocolate and spoon a little chocolate on top of the filling and smear it around to the edges of the well. Again tap the candy mold against the edge of the counter to remove any air bubbles. Repeat for the rest of the wells. Stick the mold in the fridge again to solidify (about 10 minutes again).

Once the chocolate is solid, remove the mold from the fridge and turn the mold upside down on the counter. Tap the mold on the counter or gently push on the plastic covering the chocolate to get them to pop out!

I put each chocolate in a mini muffin liner and put them in a chocolate box! You can buy little chocolate boxes ($2.50 for 3 boxes) and wrappers at a Party Depot or a Michael’s if you want a more professional presentation!

…and voilà!

Source: My brain!