Almond Joy Brownies
Almond Joy’s got nuts, Mounds don’t. It’s impossible to think about those candy bars without singing the song. In fact, I can never remember which has the nuts without singing the song. Why doesn’t the Mounds have the nut since when you look at an Almond Joy, it has a mound? The mysteries of the universe…
Sorry for my rambling, it happens. If you like chocolate and coconut, you’ll love these brownies. I had hoped that the coconut would be a solid layer that you’d be able to see from the side, but I guess that’s what I get for trying to swirl the brownies together.
You can see that there’s a lot going on in these brownies. There’s chocolate chips since my go-to brownie recipe includes them, there’s some coconut you can see on the edges there, there’s some chopped almonds, and of course the chocolate coating on the top.
As I said, there’s a lot going on in these brownies, but it’s a lot of awesomeness. I highly recommend letting these chill in the fridge overnight. It gives the brownies a chance to meld all those wonderful flavors together. I’d still serve them at room temperature or a bit cool, but definitely make them a day in advance.
One Year Ago: Chewy Fudgey Oatmeal Bars
Two Years Ago: Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Four Years Ago: Scallop Burgers
Almond Joy Brownies
Chocolate, almonds, and coconut are a perfect combination for a brownie!
Yield: 16 brownies
Ingredients:
For the Brownie
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp espresso powder, optional
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cups flour
1 cups chocolate chips
2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut
pinch salt
2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole almonds, chopped
For the Chocolate topping
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips)
2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (or 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips)
Directions:
For the Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 8"x8" pan
In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it's hot, but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, if you've heated it in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla.
Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth.
Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 8"x8" pan.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the coconut, salt and condensed milk. Stir to combine. Dot the coconut mixture evenly over the brownie batter and use a knife to swirl the coconut mixture into the brownie mixture.
Sprinkle almonds over brownies.
Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven.
For the Chocolate topping
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave by heating 20 seconds and stirring. Repeat until completely melted.
Spread melted chocolate on top of brownies (the brownies can be still warm or cool).
Refrigerate brownies overnight. This will allow all the flavors to meld together.
Recipe inspired by Baking and boys!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
What an awesome way to feature goat cheese in a dessert! I never thought of turning it into a chocolate mousse – sounds like I need to try this soon. 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:51 am
You definitely should. I know goat cheese isn’t for everyone, but we really enjoyed the subtle flavor in the mousse.
Jen, I love everything about this tart – from the chocolate crust to the mousse and the pretty strawberries on top. Yum! Enjoy your birthday month 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 am
Thanks for humoring me on the whole birthday month thing 🙂
Ohhh lalalalala, I totally dig this dessert even more because it has goat cheese and strawberries…some of my fave foods!! Happy Birthday month…you better party and eat like it’s your birthday!!
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 1:52 pm
Oh I’m definitely going to party like it’s my birthday! All month long 🙂
oh yes to the goat cheese in this tart! fabulous. happy birthday month 🙂 you might need to make this a few more times to celebrate?!
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
Oh I have been baking plenty of deliciousness this month to celebrate 🙂 You know how hard it is to repeat recipes…
Love the idea of incorporating goat cheese in a dessert- I have never seen it down with chocolate before. I will definitely be trying this soon as I have some goat cheese in my fridge waiting to be used 🙂
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 7:20 am
Oh yea, goat cheese and chocolate go really well together.
Oh my, the use of goat cheese in this is phenomenal! I would love to try it!
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 8:46 am
Definitely do! And you could top it with any fruit you like. I think raspberries would be good too.
Chocolate must work great with goat cheese since they’re both utterly delicious!! This recipe looks magnificent omg I think I would be able to eat the whole tart by myself *-*
Goat cheese is one of my favorite ingredients to use in desserts, and your tart looks soooo delicious! Thanks for sharing =) Definitely a must try this summer.
Oh wow this is gorgeous! I love this recipe, I bet it tastes heavenly!
I just finished making my second one for this week…we love it…it is so smooth and rich and well D E L I C I O U S!!!…my grandson requested the second one but truth be told I was gonna make it anyway…the bittersweet chocolate and the cocoa in the crust are what make it….if anyone out there hasn’t tried it do so you will be in love….
beantownbaker — June 25th, 2013 @ 5:38 pm
So glad you’ve enjoyed it! I definitely need to make this again. I have already made it with raspberries but want to try blackberries next.
you wont believe it but I made this AGAIN yesterday…I did a play on bananas foster on the top…it was a hit with my company…and good recipes for sweets for the 4th?..lol….
beantownbaker — July 3rd, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
Wow – bananas foster on top. I would never have thought of that! I am making this tart and this strawberry shortcake for the 4th.
So sinful and delicious looking 🙂
Holy yumminess. I never thought of putting goat cheese in. My mouth is watering at the thought. Strawberries are my absolute favorite berry of all time. I will have to for sure try this recipe, Got it saved to my personal file. thank you.
I love chocolate mousse and I love goat cheese, so clearly I need to make this!
Also, there is strawberry picking (not sure it is organic though if that matters) up here near Oxford. I can get you the info for next year if driving up here is not a problem (I imagine it depends on what side of Cinci you live 🙂 ).
beantownbaker — August 4th, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
I definitely don’t mind driving for freshly picked strawberries!!
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this recipe! It’s hard to beat mixing tangy goat cheese with chocolate and berries. What a unique recipe!
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
It tastes as good as it sounds! I hope you try it.
WOW! What a wonderful recipe! Definitely one of my new favorites! Happy birthday month!
Does this go in the fridge covered or uncovered and how long does it last? Thanks!