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Mountain Bars

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…

Mountain Bars

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?

Mountain Bars

Oh, and they make a peanut butter version of Mountain Bar too. Stand by…

Mountain Bars

Mountain Bars

5 from 4 votes
A copycat candy bar with a sweet creamy center
Total Time 3 hours
Yield 24 servings
Serving Size 1 serving

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
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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

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 0.4g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 17mg | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 0.02mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Like Candy Recipes? Check out my Candy Pinboard or these sweet copycat treats:

100 Grand Fudge

100 Grand Fudge

Almond Joy Mountains

Almond Joy Mountains

Homemade Twix by Miss Candiquik
Biscoff KitKats by The Domestic Rebel
BoBerry Biscuits Copycat by Something Swanky

Thanks for reading!

Last Updated on March 9, 2024



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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129 Comments

    1. Madeleines are little french cakes (they look like little fans). You can use brownie bites instead (the store bought kind, from places like Costco or the grocery store) or you can make a pan of brownies, spread the coconut on, chill, slice, then do the chocolate dipping!

  1. Went in Walgreens yesterday and they had a HEAP of Mountain Bars in the front of the store. Of course, I DO live in Washington 🙂

  2. i live in Tacoma and saw that you missed the mountain bars. i i love them too. And if if you wanted I could send some to you if you wish. i enjoying reading your recipes. thank you

  3. I have lived in Washington all of my life, and love Mountain bars. I have been to the little Brown @ Haley company in Tacoma a few times. I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but many years ago, they also made chocolate filled mountain bars which were my very favorite. If you ever get or create the recipe for those,could you please e-mail the recipe to me? I would greatly appreciate it. In the mean time, can’t wait to try these ones!

    Blessings,
    Marie

    1. OMG really??? CHOCOLATE ones? You have to tell me, was it just sweet chocolate truffle? Or milk chocolate? I have to recreate those!

      1. Growing up, the choices were the original, which is the white center, chocolate, peanut butter and cherry. The chocolate was by far my favorite. It had the identical outside, and the center had the same consistency as the white, possibly a touch creamier, and of course a brown colored center.. Fabulous candy

        . I just noticed you have a Pinterest account. I will gladly follow you in hopes someday, you will come up with the recipe.

        Thanks for your quick response.
        Marie Moore

      2. Oh yes, Dorothy, CHOCOLATE!! LOL My mom was the vanilla Mountain Bar lover, but I always preferred the other flavors. It’s fun to introduce our local goodies to the masses, isn’t it?

        By-the-way, I love that I happened upon your blog awhile back. I really enjoy your chatter and the recipes are fun, too!!

  4. When I was traveling this past Dec and pre-Xmas, I was going to make Bounty Bars. Which are sort of like Mountain Bars. I never got around to it and then shelved the idea…and now, I want to make both of them. That center/filling – that is dreamy stuff Dorothy!

    1. It totally is! It’s amazing it made it off the spoon into the chocolate instead of into my mouth, ha! 🙂

  5. I had forgotten all about these wonderful candy bars. In High School I had one or two every day, then they suddenly disappeared. Thanks for taking the time to experiment and come up with the copycat. I made a batch and they went like “hot cakes” at work. Looks like another batch is on the way.

  6. Am from PNW and always loved Mountain Bars, especially the cherry ones. Add a marachino cherry and some juice in the filling for a real show stopper. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Dorothy.

      1. O.M.Gs, me, too!Born in the tri cities, Portland for evah, cherry Mountains are THE BEST!!!!! I cant thank/bless you enough!! I know what this girl is gonna be making!!! And Sandi for the cherry add, just what i was thinking!! Gee, i hope the filling survives…. Now I’ve gotta find a way to Tacoma.. Website, anyone?

  7. I have never heard of these (I’m in Australia) but they sound and look absolutely delish.. i will definatley
    be making these tomorrow.. there is no doubt my hubby and kids will love them.. if i don’t eat them
    all first.