Every Christmas my grandma would make this yummy almond joys. Up until now, I haven't ever had too much time to cook or bake. Lucky me, now that I'm a stay at home mom I have more time to do this. Can I tell you how much fun I am having learning all these new things?
Almond Joys
What you need:
4 cups powdered sugar
14 oz. shredded coconut
1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
1 cup butter, melted
almonds, about 1 cup
chocolate to melt
coconut oil
Start with the powdered sugar and shredded coconut. Set aside a few tablespoons of coconut for garnishing them after. Put rest of the coconut and the powdered sugar in a bowl and mix well. I used my Kitchenaide for this and it worked perfect! Next, pour in the sweetened condensed milk and the melted butter. Mix well. Put the bowl in the fridge for half an hour to an hour. You just want it firm enough to roll into balls.
Once they are rolled into balls, put one almond on top of each one.
Put them in the freezer for a little while just so they don't fall apart when you put them in the hot chocolate.
In a double broiler, put the chocolate in the top and get it really melted. My aunt taught me the trick with the coconut oil. Put enough in the chocolate so that it thins the chocolate out in order to get that smooth look on the chocolates. There really isn't an exact amount to put in, just enough to make it work for you. Dips all the almond joys in completely and put on a tray to cool. As soon as you get them on the tray, put a little coconut on top so that it cools into the chocolate.
Put them in the fridge to cool for a while and bam! You have yourself some almond joys. :)
They are actually really fast and easy to make once you know the method. Have fun and eat up!
Cortney! Here is another tip. When you melt chocolate for dipping, you want it to be barely, barely warm. Just warm enough so that it is melted and smooth, but not even WARM. Once it is smooth, stir it around with your (clean) hands until all of the lumps are incorporated and it feels like there are no warm spots. (This is called tempering the chocolate.) Then dip the centers. It is much easier than getting the chocolate too warm and then having to cool it, and sometimes if you dip with too-warm chocolate it will lose its shiny luster.
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