I’m so excited about these!

Not that I’m keeping track or anything, but I think these are my second favorite recipe on The Dreaming Foodie. Falling right behind these potatoes.

And the idea for these came out of absolutely nowhere. They were inspired by nothing. I was just sitting there and then I was making homemade Almond Joys. I don’t know how it happened!

You see, like all food bloggers, I’m constantly having recipe ideas go through my head. If I’m home, I write them down and if I’m out, I be sure to put them into my phone. A lot of the recipes I think about and think about and develop them thoroughly in my head before I make them. It’s the worst when one of those recipes, that I had such high hopes for, doesn’t turn out.

And then these almond joys. I didn’t think about them. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t even have expectations. I just went with it. And, after my first taste, I was so excited. They are heavenly.

I wish that would happen more often. Amazing recipes happening without thought, without planning. Maybe if I send out the right thoughts/vibes, it will :).

These will bring joy. I don’t know how they couldn’t. The coconut filling is sweet and dreamy. The chocolate coating is, well, chocolate. Need  I say more about chocolate? And, the almonds give a great crunch and balance to the sweetness.

So, coconut. I know it’s not a love for some. If you don’t love the flavor of coconut, well, then these probably aren’t for you. But, if you like the flavor and aren’t so sure of the texture, I think you could give these a try.

When Greg got home on the day that I made these, I was so excited. I was bursting at the seams (and hyped up on chocolate :)). It took all I could not to greet him at the door, Almond Joys in hand, saying “look what I made, try one of these, I made Almond Joys, do you want one, here try one!”

Though he probably wouldn’t have been surprised to be greeted like that, I practiced some self-restraint and greeted him with an as-calm-as-can-be “Hey, how are you, how was your day?” And then, “look what I made, try one of these, I made Almond Joys!”

So, to get to the point of this story, Greg happily tried one, and waited until after to tell me that he didn’t think he’d like them. He doesn’t love the texture of coconut. But, he loved them! He said that sort of chewy, stringy texture of coconut wasn’t there. The center is more smooth. It definitely tastes like coconut, but doesn’t have that classic coconut texture.

For the coconut part of these bars, I processed together coconut + almonds + white chocolate chips. I feel like the combination of the three takes away from any undesirable coconut texture. Also, using the food processor breaks the coconut up a good bit.

They are super easy to make. The coconut part just takes some processing, some patting into a dish, some freezing and cutting. The dipping part is not hard, but it is a bit messy and takes a just a little bit of time. Maybe you have a good way of dipping things in chocolate that works well. I don’t, and sort of had to just find my chocolate-dipping rhythm as I went.

If you want these to be dairy-free, you could use those dairy-free chocolate and white chocolate chips that I’ve seen around. The rest is all gluten and dairy-free. So, all in all, these aren’t too bad for being chocolate almond bars. Definitely better for you than the ones that come packaged next to grocery store check out lines.

Treat yourself this weekend. You deserve it. Enjoy some homemade Almond Joys!

Ingredients
7 ounces shredded sweetened coconut
1/4 cup almonds, plus more for topping
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
5 tablespoons coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon salt, optional
4 ounces + 1/2 cup chocolate

Place the coconut, almonds, white chocolate chips, coconut oil and if desired, salt, in a food processor. Process for several minutes, until all almonds and chocolate is completely broken up and desired texture is reached.

Place a piece of parchment paper over an 8×8 baking dish. Pour the coconut mixture into the dish, and pat down, until packed tight and covering the entire bottom of the dish. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

While the coconut mixture is in the freezer, melt the chocolate.

Take the coconut mixture out of the freezer and cut into little rectangles. Dip into the chocolate any way you like. I inserted a toothpick into each coconut rectangle, dipped it in the melted chocolate, then place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place two almonds on top of each bar.

Freeze them for a few minutes to harden the chocolate. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Enjoy!