Handcrafted Mounds Bars

Growing up I was often told by adults “You won’t like those” when mini Mounds bars were in a bowl of candy. Why not? Why wouldn’t I? I loved them. Moist coconut and dark chocolate together? Without the pesky hard almond found in Almond Joy bars? OK, to be fair, I found my true love for coconut as I got older – and realized the adults were hoping I wouldn’t think it was good, so we kids would leave them behind.

Back in September I received a number of products from TCHO when I attended a field trip to Sur La Table in Seattle in the most-amazing goodie bag ever (seriously, it was beyond amazing). Besides the minor fact that the baby ate ALL of the milk chocolate drops and half of the semi-sweet…I had to try the rest of the chocolate out in recipes. It was to me the perfect use for such high-quality chocolate – to enrobe luscious coconut and make a candy worthy of calling it a mounds bar. Because sadly my once favorite candy has become an insipid washed out version of what it used to be.

“CORN SYRUP; SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE (CHOCOLATE; SUGAR; COCOA; MILK FAT; COCOA BUTTER; SOY LECITHIN; PGPR, EMULSIFIER; VANILLIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MILK); COCONUT; SUGAR; CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SALT; NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL VANILLA FLAVOR; HYDROLYZED MILK PROTEIN; SODIUM METABISULFITE, TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS” Yeah…..I think I’ll stick with my version 😉

Handcrafted Mounds Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Shredded Coconut Unsweetened
• 7 Tbsp pure coconut oil
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• Pinch fine sea salt
• ¾ cup 66% dark chocolate
• ¼ cup 99% unsweetened chocolate

Directions:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add the coconut, 6 Tablespoons of coconut oil (it doesn’t need to be melted), maple syrup and salt into a food processer. Process for about 4 minutes, scraping often.

Drop generous 1 Tablespoon balls onto the parchment paper, shaping them into logs (it will be soft). Put into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Take out of freezer, poke sturdy toothpicks in the center, carefully.

Place the chocolate and remaining coconut oil in a small glass or ceramic mixing bowl. Heat in microwave on 30 second runs, checking and poking each time, to see how the chocolate is melting. As it starts to melt, do 10 second bursts. It will take 1 minute to 2 minutes to melt. The chocolate should still look firm, but once stirring, it melts rapidly. Stir until smooth.

Dip each candy piece into the chocolate, drizzling more over with a spoon, if needed. Hold sideways and let any extra drip off. Transfer back to lined tray. Chill until firm for about 30 minutes. With gloved hands, gently pull out toothpicks.

Store in a tightly sealed container in refrigerator.

Makes about 15 candies.

FTC Disclosure: We used complimentary products in this recipe.