Healthy and Irresistible Chocolate Nut Bars
Theses healthy and irresistible chocolate nut bars are both nourishing and delicious. If you are pregnant, postpartum or an on-the-go mama looking for a nourishing snack, this is it!
Equipment
- 1 Food processor
- 1 Medium saucepan
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Rectangular ceramic pan
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Almond meal
- 1.5 cups Cashews
- 8 whole Medjool dates (pitted)
- 1 cup Almond butter (or peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup Maple syrup
- 300 grams Dark chocolate (at least 70%)
- 125 grams Butter
Instructions
- Combine all the base ingredients: almond meal, cashews, dates, almond butter and maple syrup to the food processor and blend until soft and crumbly.
- Heat and stir the dark chocolate and butter on low heat in a saucepan until fully melted
- Add baking paper to ceramic dish and scoop out the base ingredients into the dish
- Press the base ingredients firmly and smoothly until nice and flat
- Pour the melted dark chocolate over the base and smooth out until covered
- Set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
- Once set, cut into 14-16 slices and serve
Notes
If you want to substitute this recipe for a nut-free recipe, I would suggest replacing the almond meal with blended oats and replacing the cashews with hemp/pumpkin seeds and the nut butter with chickpea butter (You will need to experiment with the amounts, but it should remain a similar consistency).
I initially made this recipe using blended oats instead of almond meal. When I tried it with almond meal, I found it to be so much more moist than with the oats. You can definitely try this with blended oats, but it will be more firm and less moist.
When blending the base ingredients in the food processor, pop the dry ingredients in first before the wet ingredients. I find that if you do it the other way around, the wet ingredients are likely to get stuck to the food processor and not blend in as seamlessly.
When melting the chocolate and butter, I have suggested melting it on low heat to err on the safer side, but most times I actually turn it up to low-medium heat, as it melts faster and I don't have to wait around as long. I find that dark chocolate is good at not burning as much as milk chocolate. I'm guessing because of the lower sugar content. So don't stress if you are in a rush and need to turn up the heat a little!
When you place it in the fridge for setting, feel free to take it out a little less than the half an hour mark. For me, I love when the chocolate is still slightly creamy and not hard and set. I end up returning it to the fridge and eating it when it's set, but it's really delicious when it's softer and creamier. You could even microwave it for 10-15 seconds for that smoother consistency.