With dark chocolate and chewy coconut in each delicious bite, this is absolutely the best homemade Mounds Bars recipe you’ll find. And they are so easy to make!
Copycat Mounds candy bars
Mounds bars used to be one of my all time favorite candy bars.
Today’s homemade version calls for just four ingredients and can hold its own against the classic, with the same beloved rich chocolate shell and sweet coconut filling.
Whip up a batch of these addictive coconut bars in under five minutes.
You will not regret it!
Readers also love this Coconut Ice Cream
Healthy vegan Mounds bar ingredients
Here’s everything you need to make the coconut chocolate bars at home.
Gather together shredded coconut and coconut oil, liquid sweetener, optional pure vanilla extract, and chocolate chips or broken up chocolate bars.
Unlike many other homemade Mounds bars recipes or Bounty bar recipes, this one calls for no corn syrup and no sweetened condensed milk.
Sweetener options that work well include pure maple syrup, honey, or raw agave. Or for sugar free Mounds bars, stevia will also work.
If you experiment with a granulated or powdered sweetener, be sure to report back.
The most important thing with these bars is to buy full fat, unsweetened shredded coconut or desiccated coconut. For best results and a better texture, do not use low fat coconut or sweetened coconut flakes.
Including the vanilla extract compliments the coconut flavor. It can easily be left out if you prefer, and the coconut bars will still be tasty.
I love the bold, rich flavor of the original dark chocolate Mounds bars. If you are a semi sweet or milk chocolate fan, feel free to use either of these (or even white chocolate) instead of the dark chocolate chips.
The easy coconut dessert recipe can be gluten free, dairy free, egg free, tree nut free, soy free, raw, paleo, and vegan.
Almond Joy bars recipe
Turning this into an Almond Joy bar recipe is incredibly easy.
Press a raw or roasted whole almond into the top of each coconut patty before coating them in the melted chocolate.
Alternatively, you can add the almonds to the top after covering in chocolate.
I sometimes also like to add a few drops of pure almond extract to heighten the almond flavor. Because the extract is highly concentrated, you only need a few drops.
Also make this Almond Flour Banana Bread
Homemade Mounds bars recipe video
Watch the step by step recipe video – above
How to make chocolate covered coconut bars
Three ingredient Mounds bars are coated in melted chocolate, for a fun and easy no bake homemade candy bar that all coconut lovers will enjoy.
To make the recipe, start by adding start by gathering all of your ingredients and lining a plate with parchment paper or wax paper.
Add the shredded coconut, sweetener, and softened coconut oil to a blender or food processor. If using vanilla extract, include this ingredient as well.
Blend or process the mixture fully. You will know it is done when the coconut dough is sticky and does not fall apart when pressed together.
Using your hands or a cookie scoop, smush the mixture into Mounds bar shapes. You can make traditional sized candies, mini Mounds bars, or even giant Mounds!
Place the raw coconut patties on the prepared plate, and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until hard and cold.
Carefully melt the chocolate chips or bars, either in the microwave or using the double boiler method.
(For more on how to melt chocolate, see this Chocolate Covered Strawberries recipe.)
If you want a smoother chocolate sauce that more evenly coats the patties, stir the optional oil into the melted chocolate.
Dip cold coconut mounds in the chocolate coating. Place them back on the parchment lined plate, then chill in the refrigerator or freezer to set the chocolate shell.
So the unwrapped candies maintain their shape and texture, it is best to keep leftovers cold in the fridge or freezer.
Sugar free keto Mounds bars
To make a keto version, replace the liquid sweetener with two tablespoons of water.
Increase the coconut oil to four tablespoons, and add plain or vanilla stevia drops to taste. Look on the jar of your specific brand of drops for the amount of drops equal to three tablespoons of sugar.
Use chocolate chips with no sugar, or make your own Sugar Free Chocolate Chips.
Or you can make your own raw chocolate sauce by combining a fourth cup each of cacao powder (or cocoa powder), melted coconut oil, and raw agave or honey.
As for nutrition facts, each keto and low carb candy bar will have just 2.2 grams of carbohydrates and 1.2 grams of net carbs total.
Add the bars to the top of a Keto Cheesecake
Healthy candy bar serving suggestions
Any time is a great time to enjoy these homemade Mounds bars.
Serve them on a cookie tray for dessert at your next party. Or grab one as a snack from the fridge whenever a chocolate craving strikes.
They are equally welcome at Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Or Easter.
Cut the no bake chocolate coconut bars into pieces, and use them to decorate coconut cupcakes or Vegan Chocolate Cake or as a topping for ice cream.
The recipe was adapted from my 3 ingredient Coconut Balls.
Mounds Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup or honey or agave (a keto option is included above)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
- 3 oz chocolate chips (or see substitution above)
- optional 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- To make homemade Mounds bars, start by blending the first three ingredients and optional vanilla in a blender or food processor (not by hand, or they fall apart) until sticky and no longer crumbly. Smush into Mounds bar shapes. Place on a parchment or wax-lined plate, and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until hard. Carefully melt the chocolate, then stir in the optional oil if you want a smoother coating. Dip cold coconut mounds in chocolate. Chill to set, and store leftovers in the fridge or freezer so they maintain their shape.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Copycat Dessert Recipes
That looks sooo yummy!! I can’t wait to try it 🙂
I’ve never had a mounds bar before but, by looking at the ingdient list here, I would love them! The only time I like coconut is with chocolate so this is perfect!
My husband went to high school with Claudene Christian the woman who died at sea sailing the HMS Bounty. She was someone he cared very much for.
I’m so sorry. I’m sending good thoughts your way, although I’m sure that doesn’t really help or make you feel better.
Goodness I am sorry. The entire storm and associated loss has been stressful for me and I am no where near the area.
RE “coat in chocolate”
How do you get as much chocolate where the filling is being held during the coating as on the rest of the filling?
You can use a fork to dip, or pour it over top while on a slotted baking tray with a bowl underneath. But if you can tell from the photos, the bottoms of my mounds bars don’t have as much chocolate as the tops.
Never heard of Mound bars before today! They almost look like ice cream bars…. But with coconut!
I don’t live on the coast, so I don’t know anyone who has been affected. My mom and brother had school delays though from the winds. They were very excited.
Haven’t you ever heard this TV ad jingle?
“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. Almond Joy has nuts. Mounds don’t. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”
My dad always sings the “Somtimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t” part. around our house. I once asked him where it came from and he couldn’t remember… Haha. So, the answer to your question is yes and no. Now I need to go find that commercial on youtube!
Here is a version of theA lmond Joy & Mounds jingle from the 1970s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s55QoIZScP4
http://youtu.be/_TA3c1YqCiI
Ah. Thank you.
these look amazing!!
These look totally fantastic. I’m tragically out of chocolate chips (and the homemade chocolate bars are just too bitter for my tastes), so I guess I’ll have to wait to make them another week.
My family all lives in New England (that’s where I’m from), but from the sound of it all my relatives are doing okay. Still waiting for a bunch of my friends that are scattered through New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, and Virginia. Hopefully everyone will have stayed safe.
Besides chocolate and peanut butter,chocolate and coconut is my absolute favorite combination!! I have been so very sad,since turning vegan,knowing that I can’t have my beloved Mounds. I knew there would be a way to make them,but hadn’t had the chance to figure it out. I’m so glad you did!!! Thank you!! I will be making these and often.
Mounds are one of my all time fave Halloween candies! These look outstanding. I’m going to have to add almonds too for a dark chocolate Almond Joy (why don’t they make those anyway??)
Believe it or not WI has been affected by Sandy. Lake Michigan is experiencing 15 ft. waves on Milwaukee’s shore.
Stay safe all!
I saw that on the news. People were surfing!
My aunt and cousins live in Maryland, but they’re all fine. They have power and I haven’t heard yet how bad their basement is leaking. (Hopefully it isn’t too much, due to the fact that they don’t even have a sump pump. Last I heard, they were trying to suck water up with their vacuum. ;P) Perhaps some Mounds will cheer them up. 😉
Oh wow these do look delicious! And I bet they’re way better than the actual candy!
Wow this is my all time favorite candy – I was hoping you’d post a recipe for these! Thanks Katie!
Katie, did you mean to mix the top ingredients together (up to cacao powder) separate from the bottom three? These look great .. might try them today .. and will sub coconut butter for oil in the coconut mix. Have you ever tried cacao butter for making the chocolate shell? It may hold up better than coconut oil in room temp.
Currently live in central VA and rode out the storm. Did not lose power so just watched tv last night and went to bed. Still had power in the a.m. but after checking things out, it seems some of my neighbors closer to the foothills had outages. Looks like the coast took the brunt. The freak ‘derecho’ in July walloped this area much worse than this hurri-storm.
Ooh yikes, thanks for catching that!
I have some cacao butter… so far I’ve only used it for making white chocolate, though.
It’s like the chocolate bar “bounty”! Nice!
Yum!