1984 (Almond Joys)

The Christmas season is finally over and it's back to school for just FOUR MORE MONTHS! I'm really excited to be that close to graduating with my Master's and then it's on the an uncertain, jobless, future...

I can always depend on the baked goods though.

As mentioned before, the 12 Days of Christmas Treats were accomplished in a whopping 2 days. Seriously. I rocked those baked goods.

The final list:
Sugar cookies
Rice Krispie Treats
Chocolate Cookies with Andes Mint Chips
Sugared Chocolate Cookies
Brownie Oreos
Chocolate Meringues
Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
Roasted Cinnamon Almonds
Chocolate Bark
Peppermint Patties
Almond Joys
Chocolate Walnut Fudge

I did it! I made them all! It was a challenge. There were times where three or four recipes were started and then it was time to take them all out of the oven or the fridge or out of the cooling room (Chris' closet) and I had no room at all to put everything.

I gave away pretty much everything and what I didn't give away, was demolished by Alex in a few days. At least I wasn't the one eating it all. That means that I was only able to get a few pictures of the treats before they were all gone. The brownie oreos were a huge hit, while my favorites were the improvised Sugared Chocolate Cookies. Today though, the recipe for Almond Joys.

Almond Joys
from Chocolate & Carrots

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 (14 ounce) bag coconut
3 cups whole roasted almonds
approximately 24 ounces chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together (except for chocolate chips)

Shape into patties or rolls (your preference) and place on wax paper. You'll need to rinse your hands off after every 6-7 of them because they'll get super sticky.

Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pot with simmering water (water not touching the bowl).

Cover the rolls in the melted chocolate.

Put on aluminum foil and let chocolate harden.

I didn't add the almonds right away because I wanted them to be like Almond Joys, with an almond in the center. The original recipe looks like they were mixed in and some of them had more than one almond. Just an option for next time.