Almond Joy Bars

Last  month we had a retreat at church and the theme this year was "Joy". For our Friday evening time together (the Retreat lasts the whole weekend) we usually have some fun activities and then snacks. We thought it would be fun to try to have our snacks go along with the theme if we could. Emily came up with the idea of having "BEE JOYFUL" decorations (which turned out pretty cute!) and then we had some snacks that went along with bees and such. I made some fruit pizza to remind us of the fruit of the Spirit - of which one is JOY and then I also made some almond joy bars.

  I had seen various Almond Joy cake, bar and cookie recipes online and they looked pretty yummy but in the end I just ended up revising a recipe that I already had used and enjoyed many times. It was originally called Coconut Chews and didn't have either chocolate or almonds in it but those were pretty easy to add.

   Here is the recipe for my Almond Joy Bars (and no it isn't all that healthy - but we do like treats now and then.)

Crust:

• 3/4 cup butter or coconut oil, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Blend together the crust. Press evenly in the bottom of a 9 X 13 ungreased pan. Bake 12-15 minutes.

 

Gooey Coconut Part:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 T. flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1 cup coconut

Mix together and spread over hot crust. Bake 20 minutes longer.

 

Icing:

• 2 T melted butter
• 3 T milk
• 4 T. cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups (or to the right consistency) powdered sugar

Mix together and spread over warm bars. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top. Enjoy!



These pictures are just to show the cute bees that Emily made from balloons and bubble wrap (for the wings) for the evening.

The picture above also shows a nice group of guys that took over cleaning the kitchen after one meal at the retreat.