Almond Joy, Now with Extra Joy!

Almond Joy is used to be my favorite candy.  I inherited this love of Almond Joy from my Dad.  When I was still in high school and living at home, my Mom would buy them for Halloween candy and my Dad and I would fight over them, not only causing a small riot in the family, but leaving none for the Trick-or-Treaters!

Almond Joy was one of the foods I worried most about losing when I went gluten-free.  (I was also concerned about Nutella and champagne.  And then I realized that if Nutella and champagne were my greatest concerns, that going gluten-free wasn't so tragic after all.)  

#FirstWorldProblems

But unlike the other two favorite treats, Almond Joy is not certified gluten-free.  And if you know anything about me, you know that I'm headstrong and won't go down without a fight.  So I would have to make my own Almond Joy.  And that's exactly what I did!  

Here's the recipe:

2 cups            shredded unsweetened coconut

1 cup              almond milk, preferably vanilla flavored

1/2 cup            mini semisweet chocolate chips

Mix it up.  Throw it in a pan.  Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, or as long as it takes to melt the chocolate chips.

I will warn you that this recipe is not pretty!  It will come out of the oven looking like a blob.

It will look nothing like this.

But, hey.  Fifteen minutes, three ingredients, gluten free, and not a lot of pre-processed junk.  I think this is a winner!  Oh, and you don't have to be very specific about cooking time, because it's not like there's any egg you have to cook thoroughly.  Translation:  You can eat the batter.  

Sometimes, I even throw in some cinnamon or vanilla extract for added kick.  

You would probably put this thing in a pie crust and make chocolate coconut pie.  Or you could spoon the mixture into champagne glasses, top with whipped cream, and call it a parfait!  Or you could eat it straight out of the pan.  You could do that, too.