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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!
Last Updated on March 9, 2024
Do you by chance have a recipe made for the cherry mountain bars?! They are my favorite and I haven’t been able to find a recipe for them anywhere. 🙁
I made your Mt Bars, the peanut butter ones, and even tried some cherry ones about two years ago. They were an instant hit with my husband who loves Mt Bars, which are difficult to find in grocery stores. When I asked him what I should make for Christmas goodies he said “Mt Bars, of course!” I was looking for the recipe and Google brought up a recipe called”Mountain bar no bakes”! I was astonished and let them know it was misleading! Chocolate no bakes are good and one of his favorites, but they aren’t even in the same category as Mt Bars!
I need to watch the video of peanut buttet crust
A version with honey and hazelnuts would be delish, and the ingredients could be even more local!
I grew up in Tacoma Washington. And the most wonderful candy I’ve e er eaten is mountain bars, original almond roca, and the uno bar. You can’t find good candy in the South except for mellow cups
I know I miss all that good candy!
I grew up in Central CA eating Mountain Candy Bars. Now when I go back and look for them, no one seems to know what I’m talking about. I recently stopped in two large candy stores in Virginia City, NV just to see if they had any and they informed me that they never heard of Mountain Bars. The timing of your article could not have been more perfect because in two weeks I will be Tacoma for the first time. I will make it a point to stop in for an old treat.
They’re the best!! 🙂
Would love to see you try a peanut butter version of these! I grew up in Washington state and now live in Oregon. Bi-Mart stores carry all three flavors for about $.59 each, which is MUCH less expensive than Brown & Haley’s online store. There is a copycat cherry candy bar on the market called “Big Cherry” that has a real maraschino cherry in the center of some runny, icky-sweet syrup, then surrounded by a really soft icky-sweet cherry candy, then the chocolate with nuts. They are NO where as good as the cherry Mountain Bars! But peanut butter is still my fav!
I did!! https://www.crazyforcrust.com/2014/01/peanut-butter-mountain-bars/ They’re the best!!
I made these and the peanut butter mountain bars and my husband says they are an improvement in the original! That makes me ecstatic since the originals are to find, and because I rarely get a recipe right! 🙂
I actually experimented with the recipe and made some cherry mt bars. I used about 1/4 cup of the sweetened condensed milk and added two Tbl maraschino cherry juice. The consistency was a bit thin so I had to add some powdered sugar. At your suggestion I put a cherry in the middle of the nugget before enrobing it with chocolate and they are scrumptious! Best valentines treat I’ve ever made and I’ve been making them for my man for 43 years!
I am so glad you liked them!! And great to know about the cherry ones. One of these days I’ll get around to making them myself!
I live in the greater Vancouver, BC, Canada area near the Canada/USA border and have been crossing the border to either the first gas station or the first grocery store in sight in Point Roberts, WA or after the Peace Arch crossing for Mountain Bars, Mounds, and Almond Joy bars for about 40 years. Love all the Mountain Bars-cherry is my favorite- and love that no one knows what I’m talking about in regard to Mountain Bars so no risk of shortage. Very pleased to have found your recipe to have on hand for the day that may come when Mountain Bars are discontinued.
My favorite flavor Mountain Bar is Cherry. I can’t wait for you to come up with a Cherry copycat Mountain Bar recipe!
It’s on my list!! I actually bought a cherry one to compare recently. 🙂
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