Almond Joy Bars

 I asked Adrienne over at Whole.New.Mom if I could share her wonderful recipe on my blog.  She is a  very talented mom blogger, check her out!  Chocolate and coconut....need I say more?!  These bars are HUGE improvement from the original candy bar...and you can read all the ingredients!  These are not soft and squishy like the original bars, but have a lovely crunchy topping.  I have tweaked the recipe only slightly here.  You can see Adrienne's original recipe too for more ingredient substitutions!  These would make a fun candy to give away for the holidays...IF you're feeling generous!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Chocolate Base:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup almond butter (any nut or seed butter would work, but almond is especially nice.)*  

1/4 cup granulated sweetener, I used palm sugar
6-8 Tbsp cocoa powder (I used 8, of course!)
3 Tbsp honey or agave
1 tsp vanilla

Coconut Topping:

1 2/3 cup unsweetened grated coconut, split
7 Tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup granulated sweetener (I used organic cane sugar)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp arrowroot powder (cornstarch may be substituted)
Almonds halves or slices (optional)

Method:

Base:

1.  Melt oil and nut / seed butter over low heat. (This is important so you do not end up burning the chocolate!

2.  Stir in cocoa powder

3.  Mix in remaining ingredients.  Continuously stir until it slightly thickens, and the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat.

4.  Stir in vanilla.

5.  Pour the mixture into an 8×8 pan and place in freezer to harden while you make the topping.  For easy removal and slicing, line the pan with a piece of waxed paper or parchment, overlapping the paper over the side of the pan.  When cool, the whole kit 'n' kaboodle just lifts out!

Topping:

1. Toast 1/2 of the coconut in the oven by spreading on a cookie sheet and placing in the preheated oven for 3-4 minutes.  The coconut will be golden brown and smell toasted!
2.  Melt oil in small pan and add coconut.  Stir.
3. Add remaining ingredients.  Simmer and stir until it thickens a bit.
4. Once the chocolate is hardened, gently smooth the coconut mixture on top.
5. Place slivered or whole almonds on top.  Place bars back in the freezer until hardened.  Again, the fridge will work, but it will take longer.
6. Slice into squares of desired size and enjoy!  They’ll probably be too hard to cut right out of the freezer so you may need to let them thaw a bit first.
7. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.