Easy Healthy Dark Chocolate Bark with Crunch

I recently just made this easy healthy dark chocolate bark with crunch. It is simple, flavoursome and rich. You can add as many toppings to it or as little as you please. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Every week, I am trialling out new recipes, especially ones including chocolate (because what is a treat without it? Let’s be honest).

I forgot that long ago I used to melt dark chocolate and almond butter together as a post-dinner treat. It was rich, thick and hit the sweet spot that I was looking for.

I love that dark chocolate (70% or darker) is a great source of magnesium, so I encourage others who want to eat something sweet at night, to eat dark chocolate. Sure, it has a little sugar in it, but also contains magnesium, which is terrific for relaxing your nerves and muscles.

Pure nut butters are a wonderful source of fat and protein, which can help to stabilise your blood sugar levels. This makes it a perfect match for dark chocolate.

Speaking of which, I have a delicious chocolate nut bar recipe on the blog, if you want a bit more of a filling treat that will go a longer way.

Another reason I love this easy healthy dark chocolate bark with a crunch is that you can add some delicious crunchy toppings, like nuts, oats, seeds, granola, goji berries and dried cranberries. In fact, the sour taste from the goji and cranberries make for such a delicious combination of flavours.

What I will cover in this post

• Why you will love this recipe
• The tools you need
• The ingredients you need
• The method
• Recipe notes

Why you will love this recipe

As I mentioned before, while this is a sweet treat, it offers incredible health benefits. Such as, magnesium from the dark chocolate, healthy fat, protein and antioxidants from the nut butter and added health benefits from oats, nuts, seeds, goji berries and dried cranberries.

It is also a filling snack, because it contains a healthy fat that helps to stabilise blood sugar levels. This makes for a perfect treat after dinner.

Now, I am all about balance, which is why I will never discourage someone from having something sweet after a healthy, balanced dinner. I am also a sucker for a post-dinner treat, so I would never discourage something that I myself do (unless of course, it is a bad habit I am trying to unlearn!).

For the dark chocolate, I make sure that I use at least 70% dark chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the less sugar content and the more rich in flavour.

You can use any nut butter in this recipe, like peanut butter or cashew butter. I use almond butter all the time (as I’m anaphylactic to peanuts and it tastes better than cashew butter).

This recipe also contains coconut oil to make the mixture more smooth.

Here is a fun fact about coconuts. Coconut contains lauric acid, which is a saturated fatty acid, with antimicrobial properties that can support your gut microbiome and decrease inflammation in your body, when consumed regularly.

The tools you will need

All you will need for this recipe are:

• Medium sized bowl
• Regular tablespoon
• Measuring cup
• Baking paper
• Large ceramic pan

The ingredients you will need

• 70% dark chocolate
• Almond butter (or any nut butter)
• Coconut oil
• Toppings (optional): granola, oats, nuts, seeds, goji berries, dried cranberries, cherries, quinoa

The method

1. Break up the dark chocolate and add to a medium bowl along with the coconut oil and heat in microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds (pausing at 30 second intervals to stir) or heat over low heat on stove top until fully melted.
2. Add in almond butter and stir until mixed in.
3. In a ceramic pan or baking tray, add baking paper and spread chocolate mixture until it forms about a 1-2cm layer in thickness.
4. Sprinkle desired toppings (I used my choc cherry granola as a topping for this particular recipe), but you can add any crunchy toppings you like: nuts, seeds, goji berries, dried cranberries, oats etc.
5. Set in fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Take out and cut into squares.
7. Store in a glass container in the fridge.

Recipe notes

• You can use any chocolate for this recipe, but to get the richness and less sugar content, use 70%-85% dark chocolate.
• You can use any nut butter, like, peanut butter or cashew butter for this recipe if you wish. The almond butter is generally smooth and easy to stir in. Depending on what kind of nut butter you use, will it have a slightly different consistency.
• For the toppings, I would add toppings that have a crunch to it. I used my choc cherry granola as the topping for this recipe, however, you can use any nuts, seeds, dried cranberries, dried cherries, oats, coconut flakes – whatever you prefer. I think the more tastier, the better.
• The coconut oil in this recipe makes the chocolate nice and smooth. However, if you leave it out, it will just make the consistency more thick. If you don’t have coconut oil, another oil like avocado oil or fat like butter or ghee would work just fine, too.