Almond Joy Bars
Almond Joy bars are an indulgent treat made with a rich and creamy almond, coconut, and cream cheese filling and topped with decadent chocolate.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons salted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar plus more for dusting/shaping candies
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 60 whole almonds
- 23 ounces milk chocolate chips divided in half if you are working slowly
- 2 tablespoons shortening divided in half if you are working slowly (I used Crisco)
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, use a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium speed, to cream together the softened cream cheese, salted butter, and coconut extract until smooth.
- Beat in 2 cups of the powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Add the remaining 2 cups and beat again until all the powdered sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Your mixture will be very thick.
- Stir the sweetened shredded coconut into the cream cheese mixture until evenly incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 1½-inch cookie scoop, scoop out a ball of Almond Joy filling and shape it into a 1½-inch x 2¼-inch oval. You will need to have a bowl of powdered sugar handy to use to lightly coat your hands, or the ball of filling, to help shape the Almond Joy bars if they are too sticky when handling.
- Place the shaped bars onto the parchment-lined baking trays. Once you have shaped all your Almond Joy bars, you will top each bar with two whole almonds.
- Place the baking tray into the freezer for a minimum of 1 hour to allow the bars to get really firm.
- Once your Almond Joy bars have hardened in the freezer, you will want to melt your milk chocolate.
- To a microwave-safe bowl, add the milk chocolate chips and shortening. Heat in 30-second increments, stirring between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If you have a melt option on your microwave, you can follow your manufacturer's instructions.
- Dip one frozen Almond Joy bar at a time into the melted chocolate. You can use a spoon to fully coat the top of the candy with melted chocolate.
- Using a large dinner fork, lift the chocolate-coated bars out of the chocolate and tap the side of the bowl to allow any excess chocolate to drip off and back into the bowl.
- Place each dipped Almond Joy bar back onto the parchment paper. You can use a toothpick to carefully push the bars off of the fork if needed. This will help keep the chocolate looking nice on your bars.
- Place the tray of chocolate-coated Almond Joy bars into the refrigerator for 15 minutes to set the chocolate. Once the chocolate has firmed up, you can place the Almond Joy bars on a serving plate or into a storage container.
Notes
Make sure you are using the sweetened shredded coconut found in the baking aisle of your grocery store for this Almond Joy recipe. This is not the time for a natural or unsweetened coconut.
If you don’t tend to work quickly with dipping/coating items in chocolate, then you can melt your chocolate in two separate batches. Melt 1 (11.5-ounce) bag plus 1 tablespoon of shortening in a medium bowl. This ensures that your chocolate does not seize up halfway through dipping your candies.
I sometimes have to put half the batch of Almond Joy candies that have not yet been dipped in chocolate into the freezer to firm up again. You have to work really fast if you want to get them all dipped in one batch.