Homemade Almond Joy Food

ALMOND JOY COOKIES

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375°F Lightly grease cookie sheets.
• Combine dry ingredients, set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stir in the vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed then stir in the chocolate chips, coconut and almonds. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

ALMOND JOY CANDIES

Steps:

• Toast the almonds in the oven at 400°F just till they are warm and you can start to smell them (3-5 min); set aside.
• Bring the Karo to a boil and add the coconut, remove from heat and add extract.
• Place in fridge till firm.
• Form into 12 round balls or 6 ovals and place on waxed paper -- press 1 almond to each ball or 2 to each oval and chill for 1/2 hour. (You can play with the size of these, if you like more filling to less chocolate, make them bigger, you'll just get fewer).
• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave being careful to stir often and not cook--just melt.
• Dip each candy into the chocolate; coat evenly and completely. No coconut should be exposed! Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet in the fridge till chocolate is set.
• Store in a airtight container.

ALMOND JOY MARTINI

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until well blended, then strain into a chilled martini glass.

ALMOND JOY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• For crust: Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Wrap foil around outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides.
• Grind the almonds in a food processor and add the toasted coconut and graham cracker crumbs or put the ingredients in a plastic zip bag and crush with a rolling pin until nuts and toasted coconut are finely ground and mix with crumbs.
• Add butter and brown sugar to the processor to blend or blend ingredients in a large bowl until crumbs stick together.
• Press crust mixture over bottom and 2 inches up sides of prepared pan.
• Bake until set, about 10 minutes.
• Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees and let crust and oven cool while you mix the filling.
• Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and extract in a large bowl to blend.
• Beat in cream of coconut, shredded coconut and flour.
• Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until just combined.
• Pour filling into crust.
• Bake in a water bath until center is almost set, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Turn oven off and let cheesecake cool slowly in the oven for another 30 minutes.
• Transfer to a rack and cool for at least 30 minutes.
• Cover and chill overnight.
• For topping: Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan.
• Remove from heat.
• Add chocolate chips; whisk until smooth.
• Cool to room temperature.
• Pour topping over cake.
• Sprinkle top with almonds and coconut.
• Chill until topping is set, about 2 hours.
• (Can be made 2 days ahead; covered tightly and refrigerated or it can be frozen for up to 2 weeks)

ALMOND JOY TART

Steps:

• Make the almond tart dough: In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg and set it aside. Put the almonds and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the almonds are finely ground. Add flour and salt and pulse again just until mixed. Add the butter and pulse until sandy (about 6 to 10 quick pulses). Pour in the egg and pulse just until the dough begins to cohere into a ball. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Make the coconut cream filling: Place the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, heat the cream just to boil. Pour it over the white chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Slowly, starting in the center of the bowl, whisk the cream and white chocolate until smooth. Cover and refrigerate this ganache for 4 hours or overnight before proceeding (the coconut and rum will be added later).
• Place the tart pans in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line the tart crusts with aluminum foil, and fill each one three-quarters full with pie weights or dried beans. Bake them for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Make the coconut cream filling: Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the white chocolate ganache at medium speed until soft peaks form. Do not over whip. Gently fold in the coconut and the rum. Divide the filling evenly among the cooled tart shells and place in the refrigerator while you make the chocolate glaze.
• Make the chocolate glaze: Place the milk and dark chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it is just about to boil. Pour it over the chocolates and whisk to combine. Let the mixture set for about 10 minutes. Remove tarts from the refrigerator and spoon the glaze evenly over each one. Top tart with one almond and refrigerate again until glaze sets up, about 10 minutes.

ALMOND JOY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and flour two 9-in. round baking pans. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, buttermilk, eggs and oil; beat on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium 2 minutes. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 28-32 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For filling, in a large saucepan, combine marshmallows, sugar, milk and cornstarch. Cook and stir over low heat until marshmallows are melted; increase heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in coconut and almonds. Remove from heat; cool. Refrigerate filling until cold but still spreadable, about 45 minutes., Using a long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with 1/3 of coconut filling. Repeat twice. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread fudge frosting over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour. Garnish with coconut flakes and almonds if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.