coconut-almond treasures

I've always been crazy about the combination of coconut and almonds. Almond Joy candy bars and marzipan dipped in chocolate were the inspirations for this homemade candy.

Ingredients

1 cup almonds

2 tbl agave

1/4 cup coconut, shredded

2 cups chocolate chips (I used 60% dark, but feel free to use whatever you prefer)

You will also need:

12 cupcake liners

cupcake pan

double boiler

blender

Directions

Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Heat 1 cup of chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Spoon a layer of chocolate into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Refrigerate the cupcake tray until chocolate hardens, about 45 minutes.

In the meantime, blend the almonds until they have the consistency of almond meal (about five seconds). Pour into a mixing bowl. Add the agave and mix to form a paste. If the consistency is too dry, add a tablespoon or so of water. Finally, add the shredded coconuts and mix.

When the chocolate is hard, remove the cupcake tray from the refrigerator and top each piece of chocolate with the almond-coconut mixture, as shown below. Spread the mixture evenly across the chocolate using a spoon.

Heat the remaining chocolate in a double boiler. Once the chocolate has melted, spread it in a thin layer over the almond paste.

Return the cupcake tray to the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens. When the candies are ready, carefully remove the cupcake liners and store the chocolates in the fridge.