Healthy Vegan Almond Joy Bars

These mini homemade vegan almond joy bars are the upgraded version of the candy you loved as a kid. They're raw, gluten free and filled with a creamy almond-coconut filling and dark chocolate shell. These are a great way to get your kids in the kitchen, but you might end up hiding the finished product in your own secret stash!

Making a batch of your own homemade vegan candy, like these healthier vegan almond joy bars, is the best way to upgrade Halloween to adult status. Once you've tried one of these vegan almond joy bars, you won't be tempted by anything in a shiny plastic package any time soon.

Instructions

Aside from the creamy filling and dark chocolate shell, the best part about these vegan almond joy bars is how easy they are to make. All you need is a food processor, a baking dish and a sheet pan.

Filling

To get started, you'll make the creamy, nutty filling for these homemade candy bars. Simply dump everything into a food processor and let it do the work.

You'll start by grinding fresh whole almonds into a neat flour. This may take a few minutes in your food processor. Just let it do its thing.

Once you've ground the almonds into a fine powder, add the liquid ingredients for the almond joy filling:

• Maple syrup. This provides the touch of natural sweetness any homemade candy bar needs. By using pure maple syrup, this recipe is refined-sugar free. Plus, it has a nice fall flavor!
• Coconut oil. This is the key to an ultra creamy homemade almond joy filling. Melting it first will help it mix into the filling a bit better for a smoother texture. It also helps the bars set in the freezer. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so these bars won't turn into a melty mess as they warm.
• Vanilla Extract. Make sure you're working with pure vanilla here. Yes, it's a bit more pricey, but the flavor of the real stuff doesn't compare to imitation vanilla. And since these almond joy bars are fully raw, the flavor is that much more important.

You'll process all of these ingredients, along with salt for extra flavor, into the almond flour. Next, add unsweetened coconut flakes. These wouldn't be almond joy bars without a healthy dose of coconut, after all!

Keep that food processor running until the filling becomes a soft dough. When you pick it up and press it between your fingers, it should form into a sticky ball.

Now, you're ready to let the almond joy filling set in the freezer. To do this, press the soft dough into a parchment-lined baking dish. You want a smooth top, so be sure to press firmly. You can also use a dry measuring cup to gently pat the top of the dough smooth.

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Pop the whole dish in the freezer to set. This should take about 10 minutes. Once the coconut oil hardens, you're ready to cut the bars. Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into small rectangles, about an inch wide and an inch and a half long. You should get about 25 bars.

The cut bars also need to firm up a bit before you they're covered in chocolate. Spread them out on a baking sheet and stick them back into the freezer for 10 more minutes.

You want them to be nice and cold. Otherwise, when you add the warm melted chocolate, the bars will melt too.

Chocolate Layer

Just before your 10 minutes is up, melt the chocolate. You can melt it easily in the microwave. Just stick it in for 30 second intervals, stirring between each. To avoid burning, take the chocolate out before it's 100% melted. The residual heat will melt the remaining chips.

Feel free to use the kind of chocolate you love. We used dark chocolate. But bittersweet or milk (if you're not dairy-free) would work just as well.

Finally, to cover your almond joy bars, we recommend enlisting a helper. This can get messy. You'll want to dip each bar in the melted chocolate, covering it completely.

Then (here's where your helper comes in) quickly top each bar with a whole almond. You want to add the almond before the chocolate freezes, which happens fast! Remember, these just came out of the freezer!

And finally, have your friend kiss each almond joy bar with a sprinkle of flaky salt. This adds beautiful texture, crunch and sweet-salty flavor to these adult homemade almond joy bars.

More Halloween Recipes

You've got a festive Halloween dessert down. Why not build a full vegan menu for a sophisticated Halloween get-together?

• Homemade Twix Bars. For the caramel fans
• The Upside Down Cocktail
• Pumpkin Sage Hummus. This makes a festive fall dip for a cruditè platter. Maybe serve it with carrots for a full-on orange offering.
• Vegan Pumpkin Curry. Pumpkins aren't just for carving! Cute sugar pumpkin is transformed into a savory, creamy curry perfect for Halloween dinner.
• Halloween Vegan Rice Krispie Treats

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