Roasted almond coconut bites

While I'm over my Aunt Carol's house, we go through her recipe collection often to see what new recipes I'd like to try. She suggested this recipe because "they taste like little Almond Joy bars". Seems like a popular candy bar and I do like coconut, so I gave it a try. I've made them twice in the past three days for different parties. Simple to make and requires little baking. Plus they're fun little finger foods which I'm all for. It makes approximately four dozen.


Roasted Almond Coconut Bites
Adapted from my Aunt Carol from Jane Hodge
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup dry powdered milk
3 cups shredded coconut, sweetened
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup whole almonds


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 7 minutes or until almonds become fragrant. Remove from oven and cool.
Melt butter in a 2 qt. saucepan or microwave, remove from heat; add water and vanilla.
Mix sifted powdered sugar and dry powdered milk in a separate bowl. Add powdered sugar mixture to butter mixture, approx. 1/2 cup at a time. Mix well between each addition.
Stir in coconut. Drop a teaspoon of coconut mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. An alternate method — roll into a ball with hands and flatten. Dampen hands with water occasionally to prevent sticking. Chill for approx. 20 minutes until firm.
Melt chocolate pieces in microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring each time until chocolate melts, but is not too hot. If chocolate is too runny, firm up in the freezer for a few minutes.
Spoon melted chocolate into a piping bag with a large circular tip and pipe on top of the coconut disks about 1 tsp. Press a toasted almond into the chocolate.
Chill. Store in fridge until served.


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