Homemade Mounds Bars and Almond Joy Bars

I used to enjoy mounds and almond joy bars years ago, but either they’re making them sweeter and more bland, or my taste buds have changed (or both).  Enter this easy recipe set for homemade mounds bars and almond joy bars.  You get the rich, full taste of coconut and chocolate, without the cloying sweetness of commercial candy.  Make them with coconut and vanilla extracts for homemade mounds bars, or almond and vanilla extracts (and almonds! ) for homemade almond joy bars.  There’s plenty of healthy coconut oil, and they’re sweetened only with honey.

Homemade Mounds Bars

Adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet

Ingredients

Coconut layer:

1 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (not the sweetened ones found in most baking sections – check the label)
1/2 cup of coconut oil, softened/melted
1/4 cup of honey (raw preferred if you have it)
1 teaspoon coconut extract or vanilla extract (or half and half)

Chocolate Layer:

3/4 cup raw cocoa powder (not dutch cocoa)
1/4 cup of honey (I used a scant 1/4 of a cup)
1 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

To make the coconut layer of our homemade mounds bars, start by melting the coconut oil and honey over low heat until soft.  Don’t overheat.  Whisk to combine. Add the extract and coconut flakes. (I did this the first time.)  Alternatively, just dump it all in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well blended.  (I did this the second time.  Worked just fine, but was a bit messier.)

To form the mounds bars, you can use a standard 12 compartment muffin tin or two miniature muffin tins with 12 compartments (this left me with extra chocolate mix).  Another option is candy molds.  These are quite rich, so I wanted a smaller bite sized candy.  I purchased a Wilton 24 compartment silicon mold with 1.5 x 1.5 inch squares and a plastic Make’n Mold 12 compartment peanut butter cup mold.  One recipe filled the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold, and left a little extra chocolate that I poured into the mini muffin cups.  (I think I’m going to get another peanut butter cup mold.)

Divide the coconut mixture evenly between your compartments.  Make sure you get an even mixture of coconut flakes and coconut oil.  Press firmly into pan/mold to get a solid candy with no air pockets.

Place in a freezer  on a flat surface, and freeze until hard (about 30 minutes).

To prepare the chocolate layer of our homemade mounds bar:

Combine 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cup coconut oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in a small, heavy bottomed pot.  Heat gently, and whisk until well blended. Pour into a liquid measuring cup to make it easier to pour into the molds.

Remove your muffin tins or molds from the freezer.  Top each candy with a layer of chocolate.  For full sized muffin tins, use about two tablespoons per muffin compartment.  For mini muffin tins or candy molds, fill molds.  Pour any excess chocolate into additional molds, or onto a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet (you can break it apart later to eat like almond bark).

Return tins/molds (and any excess chocolate) to freezer.  Freeze until hard (about 30 minutes).

To remove the mounds bars from the full size muffin tins, simply slide a butter knife down one side and pop them out. Alternatively, invert on a clean counter and get the mold a thump.  I found that the bars stuck a little in the mini muffin tins, but came out easily from the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold.  Make sure they’re completely frozen before you remove them from the molds.

Homemade Almond Joy Bars

Adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet

Of course, the homemade almond joy bar is much the same as the mounds bar – just add almonds and almond extract.

Ingredients

Coconut layer:

1 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (not the sweetened ones found in most baking sections – check the label)
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey (raw preferred if you have it)
1 teaspoon almond extract
36 almonds, left whole or chopped (your choice)

Chocolate Layer:

3/4 cup cocoa powder (not dutch cocoa)
1/4 cup of honey (I used a scant 1/4 of a cup)
1 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

To make the coconut and almond layer of our homemade almond joy bars, start by melting the coconut oil and honey over low heat until soft.  Don’t overheat.  Whisk to combine. Add the almond extract and coconut flakes. (I did this the first time.)  Alternatively, just dump it all in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well blended.  (I did this the second time.  Worked just fine, but was a bit messier.)

To form the almond joy bars, you can use a standard 12 compartment muffin tin or two miniature muffin tins with 12 compartments (this left me with extra chocolate mix).  Another option is candy molds.  These are quite rich, so I wanted a smaller bite sized candy.  I purchased a Wilton 24 compartment silicon mold with 1.5 x 1.5 inch squares and a plastic Make’n Mold 12 compartment peanut butter cup mold.  One recipe filled the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold, and left a little extra chocolate that I poured into the mini muffin cups.  (I think I’m going to get another peanut butter cup mold.)

Divide the coconut mixture evenly between your compartments.  Make sure you get an even mixture of coconut flakes and coconut oil.  Press firmly into pan/mold to get a solid candy with no air pockets.  Press your almonds onto the top of the coconut mixture.  I used one almond per bite sized candy, but I think more would have also been good.

Place in a freezer  on a flat surface, and freeze until hard (about 30 minutes).

To prepare the chocolate layer of our homemade almond joy bar:

Combine 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cup coconut oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in a small, heavy bottomed pot.  Heat gently, and whisk until well blended. Pour into a liquid measuring cup to make it easier to pour into the molds.

Remove your muffin tins or molds from the freezer.  Top each candy with a layer of chocolate.  For full sized muffin tins, use about two tablespoons per muffin compartment.  For mini muffin tins or candy molds, fill molds.  Pour any excess chocolate into additional molds, or onto a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet (you can break it apart later to eat like almond bark).

Return tins/molds (and any excess chocolate) to freezer.  Freeze until hard (about 30 minutes).

To remove the almond joy bars from the full size muffin tins, simply slide a butter knife down one side and pop them out. Alternatively, invert on a clean counter and get the mold a thump.  I found that the bars stuck a little in the mini muffin tins, but came out easily from the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold.  Make sure they’re completely frozen before you remove them from the molds.

I made these for our Christmas and New Year’s parties, and they were extremely popular.  I recommend storing them in the refrigerator or freezer, as they will melt if left out at warmer temperatures.  (Coconut oil becomes liquid at around 75F.)  Sitting out for an hour or two at the party with temps in the low 70s, they were just fine.  The coconut oil gives them a velvety texture.  Once you try these homemade versions of mounds and almond joy, I bet you’ll never buy the store bars again.

You may also enjoy coconut oil fudge and chocolate chip cookie dough truffles made with almond flour and coconut oil.

BR>
Common Sense Homesteading is

about using common sense to be more self-reliant, with an emphasis on home
food production.