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Chances are, unless you live in Washington state, you have no clue what a Mountain Bar is. Let me enlighten you!
Mountain Bars are made by a company you may have heard of, Brown & Haley. They make that little candy bar called Almond Roca. They used to sell Mountain Bars all over the place (at least in California), but I haven’t seen them in years. My mom loved them when I was a kid, and I always remember the little blue wrappers in her candy stash.
I had an uncle who lived in Tacoma, just outside Seattle, where Brown & Haley is. They have this little teeny store under a freeway overpass where you can buy their candy in bulk. My uncle would come stay with us for two weeks every summer and he would always have a case of Mountain Bars (that is a lot of candy!) in his luggage along with his “borrowed” hotel towels. I would eat handfuls and handfuls of Mountain Bars, until I was sick from them.
Memories…
A mountain bar is a candy bar that looks like a mountain. The outside shell was milk chocolate with finely chopped peanuts and the inside was pure sugary vanilla heaven. Almost like a vanilla nougat, but a little smoother.
I have been wanting to make Mountain Bars for my mom forever. This Christmas I decided to give it a go, and I’m so glad I did. These are really easy to make, even though they have a few steps.
The center is a candy made of butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. It’s really a soft nougat that I could have eaten with a spoon.
And then it’s dredged in chocolate mixed with peanuts. Could there be anything better?
Even if you’ve never heard of a Mountain Bar before, you need these in your life. Or, if you’re lucky and live in Tacoma, drive down to that little offramp and get a box for me, mmkay?
Oh, and they make a peanut butter version of Mountain Bar too. Stand by…
Mountain Bars
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk from a 14 ounce can
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 bag chocolate melts or almond bark 12 ounces
- 1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Beat butter, vanilla, salt, and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl with an electric or hand mixer. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until mixture comes together. You should be able to form balls of candy that hold together.
- Drop tablespoon sized balls (rolled) onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill until ready to use, at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to make candy, line a new cookie sheet with wax paper. Melt your chocolate according to package directions. If it’s cold in your kitchen, it might be helpful to line an electric griddle with an old kitchen towel on low heat (about 200 degrees) and place the bowl of melted candy on top. It keeps the candy warm for you.
- Place 1 teaspoon of chocolate evenly spaced on the prepared cookie sheet, one for each ball of candy you made. Spread it slightly. Place a rolled ball of candy in the center of each teaspoon of chocolate.
- Mix the chopped peanuts into the remaining chocolate. Cover each ball of candy with 1-2 teaspoons of peanutty chocolate. Use your spoon to spread it so that the chocolate top meets the bottom under the ball, to seal. Chill to harden.
Recipe Nutrition
Like Candy Recipes? Check out my Candy Pinboard or these sweet copycat treats:
Homemade Twix by Miss Candiquik
Biscoff KitKats by The Domestic Rebel
BoBerry Biscuits Copycat by Something Swanky
Thanks for reading!
My husband and I were at a little store yesterday and saw the cherry flavored ones. The texture inside was runnier than they used to be, and the chocolate peanut mixture outside did not have as many peanuts as it used to. We were a tiny bit disappointed, but they do still taste good. It’s probably been 10 yrs since we have seen them and was excited to find them once again.
I’m seeing them in specialty candy stores too. And I have a cherry copycat on my to-do list! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I’m from Oregon and how I miss mountain bars …ran across this recipe and this is a must make right now ..thank you for posting ..my favorite childhood candy.
What about the pink one’s ( cherry) I like them I had to stop on my way home from work in buy 2 and no they didn’t make it home. Yes, I live in Washington State. Thank you I will be making some of these Need to check out the store in Tacoma never been there ,but always hear nice things.
Those are on my list to try and make this year. I’ve never had one – my mom never liked cherry so we never got them. I’m actually going to be in Seattle this weekend and I’m begging my husband to stop at the store if we have time. 🙂
I have lived in Tacoma all my life and really appreciate this recipe! It was great to see this post. I guess we all take these little things for granted until someone makes us realize we shouldn’t. Btw .. I follow you and love all your recipes!
Thanks Terry! I’ll be in Seattle next weekend and I told my husband on our way back from Gig Harbor to the airport we MUST stop at the store in Tacoma! 🙂
How timely Dorothy! Please let us all know if you stopped and bought a stash. 🙂 I hope you have a great trip!
Thank you for contacting regarding my post. The cherry mountain bars did have nuts in the top layer ofchocolate. The inside was a bit softer than the originals, had cherry flavor and chunks, and was pink. I am anxious to see your fantastic results! Thanks again.
Okay, I totally need to try it! Hopefully before Valentine’s… 🙂
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