The other day I was overcome by an intense craving for an Almond Joy. I did a little experimenting and, surprisingly, ended up with a delicious candy. The chocolate took a little tinkering around with but according to my coworkers, these are awesome.
I was in a sort of alt-country mood so this playlist has a lot of twang and plenty of sing along songs.
What You'll Need
1- 14oz Can Light Coconut Milk
1/2 C Sugar
1 Tbs Earth Balance
1 C Powdered Sugar, Sifted
5 oz Sweetened Coconut
1 C Powdered Sugar, Sifted
5 oz Sweetened Coconut
Pinch of Salt
Roasted Almonds
7/8 C (14 Tbs) Sugar
4 oz Unsweetened Baker's Chocolate
3/8 C (6 Tbs) Cocoa Powder
1/4 C Earth Balance
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
3/4 C Soymilk
1. Shake and open coconut milk. Pour into saucepan stir in 1/2 C Sugar. Put on LOW heat for 1 hour, stirring and scraping frequently.
2. Grab a loaf pan and line with foil. Then, spray with non-stick baking spray (I dig Baker's Joy)
3. After the milk has been reduced to a thick and sticky consistency, measure out 2.5 ounces (by weight).
Add 1Tbs Earth Balance, salt, and gradually add the powdered sugar, until combined.
4. Add the coconut to the "condensed milk" mixture and combine well.
5. Spread the filling in a layer at the bottom of the loaf pan. Then, lightly press almonds on the top, evenly spaced apart. I did 3 rows of 7 ending up with 21 candies.
6. Place your freshly coconutted pan in the fridge for at least an hour. This is where I went to the gym in anticipation of my bingeing.
7. Upon returning from your 1 hour adventure, combine the sugar, chocolate, cocoa powder, Earth Balance, vanilla, and soymilk in a microwave or double boiler safe bowl. Melt all this goodness together. If using a microwave, make sure to stir and scrape the sides of the bowl about every 20 seconds. It should take less than two minutes total.
8. Remove your coconut from the fridge, pan and foil. Cut into even pieces.
9. To coat, I dipped the bottom of the candy in the chocolate and used a small, slotted spatula to rest it on afterwards. While hovering over the bowl with the tiny spatula and candy, I used a small ladle (my kitchen is filled with utensils made for dwarves) to cover the tops. I set them to dry on wax paper. It's probably a good idea to have the wax paper on top of a cookie sheet or cutting board for easy transportation.
10. After they are all coated and resting on wax paper, transport them to the refrigerator (I ate one along the way in all it's messiness). Surely 30 min to an hour of cooling will work. I left mine overnight for sleep purposes.
11. Remove from cooling and devour.
