Coconut Mounds Bars
Coconut fans will swoon for these outrageously delicious Coconut Mounds Bars with a graham cracker crust, coconut filling, and a chocolate ganache topping! It’s easy to create these rich, irresistible Coconut Bars at home!
With all the flavors of a Mounds candy bars, these Coconut Chocolate Bars are even more delicious in my humble opinion. It’s the contrast between the buttery crust, gooey coconut, and semi-sweet ganache that makes these easy mounds bars outrageously delicious!
Why You Must Make
- I’ve loved this Mounds Bars Recipe of my mom’s for decades. If you love coconut desserts, you’ll adore these.
- These bars are super easy to make!
- They are gooey and decadent!!
I mentioned my love for Mounds Bars in a previous post. This recipe for mounds bars was my contribution to a cookbook compiled for our moms decades ago when I was in first grade. Held together by metal brackets and covered in wood grain patterned shelf paper, this recipe book was my resource when an urge for coconut hit. Unfortunately, this gem disappeared from my childhood home when I was desperately craving coconut.
The Best Coconut Chocolate Bars
My friend, Susan, of Schnitzel and the Trout, hearing about my predicament, came to my rescue. My only other attempt at recreating these bars fell short. They were good, but either my memory of my mom’s bars had failed or these just weren’t as decadent as the original recipe.
How to Make
Susan sent me her recipe for mounds bars, which I tweaked by baking in a smaller pan, therefore doubling the filling, and replacing the topping of melted chocolate chips with a glossy ganache.
- When baking most bar cookies, I recommend lining the baking pan with non-stick foil. This helps with easy cleanup, but it also allows you to lift the bars from the pan and place them on a cutting board for easy slicing.
- After baking the coconut layer, cool the bars before frosting. They can be slightly warm, but not hot.
- Use a small offset spatula to spread the chocolate over the coconut. It’s one of my most used kitchen tools.
- Cut the coconut bars after refrigerating. This helps cut clean slices. Scoring the bars first will help minimize cracking of the chocolate topping. And I like using a hot dry knife to help glide through the ganache topping.
Well, the verdict is in: these coconut bars are BETTER than the original!! Thanks so much, Susan!!!
Frequently Asked Questions
Introduced in 1920 by the Hershey Company, Mounds Bars are candy bars made of sweetened coconut filling topped with dark chocolate. Its sister bar is the Almond Joy.
These Easy Mounds Bars with Chocolate are a riff on the candy bar I finally tasted and fell for in my early teens! Those living abroad may be familiar with Bounty Bars which are like our Mounds Candy Bars except bathed in milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate.
A Mounds Bar is coated in Dark Chocolate. An Almond Joy is coated in milk chocolate and each piece is topped with a whole almond. They both have coconut filling.
You May Also Like:
If you like this Mounds Bar Recipe, you may also enjoy some of these coconut treats.
- Coconut Cream Truffles from Crazy for Crust
- Coconut Macaroons
- German Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes
- Coconut Cupcakes
- Chewy Coconut Cookies
- Pistachio Coconut Granola
- Mounds Brownie Cupcakes
- Plus, you may find this tutorial on How to Cut Bar Cookies very helpful.
- And these No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies are super easy!
Coconut Mounds Bars Recipe
Outrageously delicious coconut bars that outshine Mounds candy bars!
Ingredients
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
- 7 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º.
- Mix crumbs, powdered sugar, and butter, and pat into an 8 x 8 pan (may line with non-stick foil for easy removal). Bake for 10 minutes.
- Pour sweet and condensed milk into a microwave-safe bowl, and heat till quite warm to the touch. Stir in coconut.
- Spread evenly over the crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow the bars to cool slightly before icing.
- Melt chocolate and cream in the microwave, stopping and stirring at 30-second increments, until smooth.
- Give the mixture a good whisk and pour over the coconut layer and spread to cover.
- Chill slightly before cutting for a cleaner cut. If chocolate is too hard, it will crack unless you first score it with a hot, dry knife.
Notes
Adapted from my mom and my friend, Susan.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1 barAmount Per Serving: Calories: 252Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 126mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 2gSugar: 29gProtein: 4g
143 Comments on “Coconut Mounds Bars”
I never leave comments but this is one of the BEST (and easiest) desserts ever – amazing!!!
So happy to hear this, Monica! It’s been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl!! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
I made these today. Added toasted almond pieces between the baked coconut and the chocolate ganache for Almounds Joy Bars 🙂 (also made 1.5x ganache because I love chocolate and I thought that a little extra would be good to cover the lumpy almonds). They are delicious!
I love your tweaks, Aileen! SO glad you enjoyed these bars!!! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
My dad’s favorite candy bar is a mounds — he will love these! 🙂 ~Valentina
These remind me of a gorgeous grown up fancy version of mound bars – that I used to devour after swim practice when I was in high school. Gorgeous photos Liz!
My sweet tooth is causing cravings today, and these look perfect! Love that coconut filling. Wish I could grab a bar from the screen.
We love coconut so this recipe is going on my list to make, unfortunately I’m very low on coconut at this moment.
What a lovely surprise that you sister saved the cookbook for you, I’m sure it brought back a truckload of wonderful memories.
I am a huge fan of coconut. These mounds bars look fabulous. I guess I can’t simply replace dried coconut flakes with the sweetened coconut listed in the ingredient, can I?
It might work, Angie. Since the condensed milk is so very sweet, the richness of the dessert won’t be compromised. I’m just wondering about the texture as the sweetened coconut is pretty soft.
We love these bars even more than the candy bars! SO delicious and perfect for my sweet tooth!
wow I hit the jackpot being a coconut lover! love them all!
I found this recipe after searching for an ingredient list for a smaller batch (square pan vs 9X13). I would have had a half can of sweetened condensed milk left over instead of doubling the filling on my larger recipe…but this works well and was FANTASTIC, as was the ganache… which will be going on my next batch of brownies : ) Thank you!
I’m SO glad you were pleased! Thanks for your review, Ann!
the recipe sounds so easy and they look divine. Thanks a bunch 🙂
Hi there!
I’ve featured you in my latest blog post.
http://meandmysweets.blogspot.se/2012/09/my-sweet-party-top-three-favourites.html
That was sweet of Susan and so glad to hear you found a winning recipe. They look so delicious Lizzy! Thanks for being a part of the YBR:)
Oh wow Mounds were my favorite as a kid, I can only imagine how good these are!
My hubby would LURVE these–he’s a Mounds freak. Saved!
Congrats! You’ve been featured today on Weekend Potluck!
Happy Friday,
~Tonya from 4 little Fergusons
http://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/smoky-applewood-chicken-avocado-wrap/
I just love these! So delectable!!!
I have an extremely soft spot for coconut dessert. These look so yummy!!!
These look incredible Lizzy! The coconut topped with a layer of ganache sounds simply divine. Hope you’re having a great weekend!