Day 2 of Halloween week where i’m featuring homemade candy recipes that are much more healthier than the commercial candy products we all know. 

Yesterday we looked at the Crunch Bar.  Today, one of my favorites – Almond Joy!

However, as much as I/we love an Almond Joy, the original one we all think of is loaded with “fake food” ingredients that can be detrimental to our overall health and vitality…and I’m not just talking sugar.

An Almond Joy should be chocolate, some kind of sweet, coconut and an almond tossed in there.  Real food ingredients.  That’s it. 

Yet the Almond Joy we all know contains some 30+ ingredients:  chemicals, preservatives, artificial flavors, genetically modified ingredients (GMO), hydrogenated fats, fake food-like ingredients, and other dead food ingredients that make up a “chocolate” candy that is foreign to the body biology.  Not to mention, corn syrup is the #1 ingredient on the ingredients list, thus it’s the highest quantity ingredient in the product (likely from genetically modified corn).  You can see all the ingredients here.

This recipe version of an Almond Joy is 100% real food ingredients, paleo & vegan friendly, dairy free and gluten free…and taste just like the real thing!  Skip the food-like product chemical concoctions and indulge in real food!

Chocolate ingredients:

1/2 cup raw, melted cacao butter

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon coconut milk

3/4 cup raw cacao powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons maple butter

1/8 teaspoon pink salt

Optional:  I do a few different chocolate sauce recipes, but one option you can do is add 1-3 tablespoons of coconut milk.  I used one in this, but what it does is takes it progressively from a pure raw darker chocolate to a milkier chocolate.  I recommend adding a tablespoon at a time and tasting to your palate.

Filling ingredients:

1 cup finely shredded coconut

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon coconut milk

2 tablespoons maple butter

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/8 teaspoon pink salt

12 raw almonds

Note: links above are to products and brands I approve and personally use

Directions:

1.  Add all of your filling ingredients to a blender except the raw almonds, and blend together until all the ingredients get incorporated together (pictured above). If you don’t have a blender, you can also use a bowl.

2. You’re going to want to use a pan or dish to mold the mixture into the size of candies you want.  You can go MacGyver too, I used the lid of my glass container I keep my coffee beans in!  All you’re looking for is something that will mold it.

3. Add plastic wrap to the bottom of the dish and then add your filling mixture and mold it to the shape you want (see above, left)

4. Add your raw almonds, keeping in mind alignment when you cut the candies (see above, right)

5.  Place the dish in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes.

6.  Pull out of freezer and cut into sections that you want (see above)

7.  Place your pieces on a rack (see above) for when you add your chocolate sauce.

8.  Speaking of chocolate sauce!  Add your cacao butter and coconut oil to a sauce pan on the lowest heat (you can also do this after step 5 while you’re waiting).  Once your cacao butter and coconut oil is melted, add all your other ingredients to the sauce pan off of the heat and whisk together.

9.  For these, I spooned the chocolate sauce over each piece (above) and then flipped them over and spooned more chocolate.  What you could also do is take some kitchen tongs and dip each piece in your sauce pan of chocolate sauce and place them on your rack to let them drip.

10.  Once they’re all coated to your liking, keep in the freezer and enjoy in moderation!

Enjoy!