Chocolate Almond Macaroon Bars

Chocolate Almond Macaroon Bars
By: Rosanna adapted from Easy Baking Hershey’s Cocoa

1 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (1 pack of graham crackers, with ¼ cup cocoa powder and 1/8 cup granulated sugar)
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
½- ¾ can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups sweetened coconut flakes
½ cup almonds, toasted *, then finely chopped
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup Premier White Chips

*To toast almonds: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on shallow baking sheet. Bake 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned*

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Grease 8x8 glass baking dish.

Combine crumbs, melted butter and sugar; firmly press mixture on bottom of prepared pan. Stir together sweetened condensed milk, coconut and almonds; mix well. Carefully drop mixture by spoonfuls over crust; spread evenly. Bake 22-25 minutes or until coconut edges just begin to brown. Cool.

Place chocolate chips and cream in microwavable bowl. Microwave 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave an additional 10 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Cool until slightly thickened; spread over cooled bars. Sprinkle top with white chips. Cover; refrigerate several hours until thoroughly chilled. Cut into bars. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 9-16 bars