Thursday, February 23, 2017

Salted Almond Butter Chocolate Bars

I didn’t get a chance to tell you about these delightful treats when I made them a few months ago, so I’m taking the opportunity now. It’s another recipe I enjoyed from A Modern Way to Cook: 150+ Vegetarian Recipes for Quick, Flavor-Packed Meals by Anna Jones. It’s one of those not-too-decadent sweets that you taste and don’t realize anything is missing until you’re told. There’s no refined sugar in the bars and no flour or grains of any kind, and they can be made vegan. As a bonus, they’re easy to make too. You just have to wait briefly for the bars to chill at a couple of points, and then wait for the chocolate to set after dipping. Then, you’ll have something like a much better version of an Almond Joy made with the ingredients you choose. 

The first step is to grind seven ounces of whole almonds in a food processor until they become almond butter. Next, three tablespoons of honey or agave syrup or maple syrup is added with two tablespoons of melted coconut oil, the seeds from a vanilla pod, and a pinch of salt. The mixture is processed to combine. Five ounces of unsweetened, shredded coconut is added next, and you should pulse a few times to form a dough of sorts. The dough needs to be patted into a parchment-lined eight-inch square pan, and the pan then needs to be placed in the freezer for a few minutes for the dough to set. Meanwhile, seven ounces of dark chocolate should be broken into a heat-proof bowl to use as a double-boiler. Melt the chocolate over a saucepan with simmering water and set aside. The chilled dough is then removed from the pan and cut into whatever shapes you prefer for the bars. After cutting, place them on a baking sheet and chill again before dipping. Once the melted chocolate has cooled slightly and thickened, dip the cut and chilled bars and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. Sprinkle with flaky sea sat after dipping in chocolate. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for the chocolate to set, and then store refrigerated. 

I found the mix of chocolate, coconut, almonds, and a bit of flaky sea salt impossible to resist. And, since they’re the kind of treat you don’t need to feel too guilty about, I predict there will be frequent appearances of them in my kitchen. There’s a similar recipe in the book that I need to try next called Raw Cookie Dough Bars, and that one is made with Brazil nuts pulverized in a food processor. And really, every single page of this book has something I want to try. 

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9 comments:

  1. Just a few ingredients together, and you have some healthiest and tastiest dessert ready!

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  2. very nice! I have that cookbook, need to take a closer look at it... so many cookbooks, so little time!

    these look like worthy of a bakery window in Paris! ;-)

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  3. Oh my…those really do sound great. I'm glad you shared this tasty treat with us.

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  4. now we're talking! that combo is one of my absolute favorites--i've definitely eaten my weight in almond joys over my lifetime! :)

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  5. These look amazing Lisa, I have that cookbook as well and have this recipe bookmarked, will have to make straight away, love this combo.

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  6. These look excellent! Great combo of flavors. :-)

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  7. Anything covered in dark chocolate and sea salt has my vote!

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  8. Wow Lisa, these bars not only sound great they look awesome...coconut, almond and chocolate...
    Thanks for the recipe, I hope you are having a nice week :)

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  9. Wow, these practically guilt free bars look amazing!!

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