Candy. Honestly, does anything else need to be said? Candy, especially chocolate candy is packed with complimentary and contrasting flavors and textures! Creamy, nougaty, caramel-y, fudgy, crunchy, and chewy textures meet soul-satisfying ingredients like nuts, chocolate, and buttercream. While you can always go about your day and pick a candy bar up at the store, making one from scratch is one hundred percent doable and one hundred percent tastier — believe me! Once you try your hands at a chocolate candy — like this recipe for Scottish Macaroon Bars — you’ll be stocking your kitchen with them, and you’ll never want to run low!
A buttercream center, a chocolate outer layer, and a coconut coating? Say no more, I need these as soon as possible. While many countries have chocolate buttercreams, these Scottish creations come out of an era of ingenuity and hard frugal thinking. During the Second World War, when rations stretched food consumption to a bare minimum, buying candy was out of the question. Scotland’s people turned to their kitchens to make sweet treats. These macaroon bars require no eggs or butter, which were both in limited supply.
Instead of the classic butter base, the main component of these bars leans on a steadfast staple — potatoes.
Don’t shrink at the thought, this isn’t last night’s mashed potatoes wrapped in chocolate. The soft and smooth texture of mashed white potatoes mimics the buttercream consistency everyone is used to. Cheryl from the channel What’s For Tea? shows how easy and delicious the candy-making process is.
To make the center you mix very smooth mashed white potatoes with confectioners sugar. Nowadays, you can brighten up the filling with a pinch of salt or a splash of vanilla extract.
Freeze the buttercream, for at least four hours! If you don’t chill your buttercream, it’ll melt.
In the meantime, you can prepare your coconut. Toasting only half of your coconut will create a great texture and taste variation.
Once the buttercreams are set, you can go about assembling the bars. Prepare one pan with the coconut and set up another parchment-lined tray for setting the chocolate aside. Next, melt the chocolate with a bit of vegetable oil in 20-second intervals until the mixture is smooth.
Though it’s a bit messy, the process is worth it! Dunk the buttercream into the melted chocolate, draining any of the excess chocolate from the bar. Next, quickly roll the bar in the prepared coconut. Use your hands to press the coconut onto all sides. Once you do this to all of the buttercream, put the portions into the refrigerator to completely firm up the chocolate.
In a refrigerated sealed plastic container, they will stay fresh for a long time, not that they’ll last for that long before they’re all devoured!
Check out the recipe for yourself by clicking the video!