Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas Baking. Day #8. Cookie #21. Mounds Bars.

This is a new confection for me this year.
 Mr. Hawthorne suggested I make some Mounds Bars this year.
 Never made them before,
so I started Googling and came up with bunches of recipes.
 Some were very similar to my Magic Cookie Bars,
 but Mounds Bars don't have graham crackers.
I settled on this recipe,
although with some minor substitutions,
 which really offered a nice flavor nuance.
For the innards:
1 can condensed sweetened milk
 1 large package coconut

Dixie's dreaming of swimming in the pool.

Add in can of condensed milk ...

... and mix well.
Form into bars and refrigerate to chill.
For the chocolate coating, my recipe called for:
 2 bars German sweet chocolate
 1/2 bar paraffin
First off, 2 bars ain't gonna be enough chocolate.
 Secondly, I think eating a bar of wax is kinda skeevy.
 So .... here's what I used:
A few pieces of sweet chocolate (That was all I had.)
 7 ounces of dark chocolate.
5 ounces semi sweet chocolate.
Melt chocolates in double boiler.
And here's my secret ingredient, thanks to Mr. Hawthorne.
 He suggested I use bees' wax.
This is Mr. Hawthorne's coveted sourwood honey he gets from the mountains.

I put a big chunk of that into the chocolate.

Stir and melt until smooth.
Coat chilled coconut bars in chocolate.
 And you need to work quickly here.
The technique is to roll the bar up the side of the pan.
 I had to stop halfway through,
 add more chocolate, and reheat to melt.
These probably would have been easier
 if I'd rolled the coconut into balls.
But they taste delicious.
You've got the different chocolates working in there,
 PLUS, there's the hint of honey.

Thumbs up.

4 comments:

Kathy said...

I am soooo glad you passed on the paraffin. No one should ea that stuff - it is a petroleum by-product. Diving into the leftovers from Exxon's finest isn't my idea of good eats.

Rocquie said...

What a brilliant idea using beeswax. I don't think I would have ever thought of it, but I have never used that creepy "Gulf Wax". I have just avoided those recipes altogether. This knowledge opens new opportunities. . .

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Sage Trifle,
That was totally Mr. H.'s idea. And quite a good call.
The subtle flavor of the honey was lovely.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Kath, Ticks, I just couldn't. I kept thinking about my arteries.
And other things.