Mounds Coconut Copycat Chocolate Balls

I love copycat candy recipes. After I make one, I usually never purchase the 'original' treat again. These Mounds Coconut Copycat Chocolate Balls are dangerously delicious, taste better than any store-bought candy bar and are the perfect little additions to any get-together. And they're a seriously simple candy recipe. Mounds, a candy bar made by Hershey's, consists of a filling made of shredded coconut covered in dark chocolate (similar to Bounty candy bars manufactured by Mars, which are normally coated with milk chocolate). In 1920, Mounds was created as a single candy treat and sold for just 5 cents. In 1929 the format changed to two pieces and still sold for 5 cents, with the price rising after World War II to 10 cents. During WWII there were severe sugar and coconut shortages and instead of sacrificing quality, the company focused on producing only the Mounds candy bar, which may have had some bearing on its popularity today. Mounds' original slogan, �Indescribably Delicious�, is still used today.

Debatably the most important ingredient in this delicious chocolate candy recipe, coconut is believed to have originated in the Americas (although the oldest known fossils of the modern coconut were found in India and Australia and date from the Eocene period, from about 37 to 55 million years ago). Coconuts have a number of culinary uses, including oil and butter for cooking, 'meat' that is often used in confection and dessert recipes, milk that is often added to curries and other savory dishes and flour for baking. For this candy recipe, you will need sweetened, shredded coconut.

You will also need Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk for this recipe (this ingredient is extremely important in the flavor profile of this candy recipe, so you should not substitute this ingredient for any other brand of type of condensed milk). Employees of Borden Milk Products, which operated from 1856 to 1997 until it sold its condensed milk line, purchased the line and formed Eagle Family Foods. In 2007, Eagle Brand was acquired by Smucker Foods but retained its original branding. The 'science behind the magic' of Eagle Brand is a special blend of sugar and milk which is further processed to create a 'foolproof base' for various dessert and candy recipes. Other condensed milks just aren't the same.

But enough about coconuts and condensed milk. You want to know more about this delicious candy recipe, don't you? It's really quite simple. In a large bowl, you want to combine the sweetened condensed milk, some crush pecans, coconut and powdered sugar. Set the mixture in the freezer for about ten minutes to make it easier to work with. Once the mixture is cold-ish, roll 1 to 1 � inch balls and set them onto wax paper. Your next step is to melt the chocolate for the chocolate coating (for this, you can use white, milk chocolate and/or dark chocolate � whatever you prefer). Once the chocolate is melted, you can start dipping your coconut balls! (For this, you can use a toothpick or a fork � it depends on how 'refined' you want your Mounds Coconut Copycat Chocolate Balls to look). Afterwards, place the chocolate covered coconut balls into the freezer to chill (and try not to eat them all while you wait for them to set) before storing them in an air-tight container in the fridge.

This candy copycat recipe is absolutely delicious. In fact, this candy recipe is just as delicious � or perhaps even more-so � than the original. The only problem is, this candy recipe only makes a certain number of sweet treats, and you're going to want more, so consider doubling or tripling the recipe ingredients for a larger batch.