homemade frozen chocolate power bars, better than Snickers

Easy to make and healthier than their store-bought counterpart ! No sugar added, either, except for the chocolate. Only one word of caution : they may be addictive, so don’t forget they are highly energetic, which translates into calories !

Ingredients (for 4 delicious chocolate bars)

For the shell:

– 40 g organic dark chocolate, 70% minimum cocoa ; anything lower would make the bars much too sweet

– 10 g coconut oil

For the filling:

– 20 g oats / buckwheat flakes

– 40 g shelled walnuts

– 100 g very soft pitted dates (such as Mazafati / Bam dates, or rehydrated Medjool dates)

– 2 tsp coconut oil (make sure it’s soft)

– about 12 shelled organic peanuts, unsulphured

+ some plastic wrap (essential for proper handling of the bars after they have been frozen) + a blender

How to:

(NOTE : the photos below were taken on my first try, for only two bars, and they show what you should NOT do : place your bars on a plastic film, not on a plate!)

1. In a pan over very low heat, or in a double-boiler, or even in the microwave, melt the chocolate and coconut oil, stirring occasionally. With a rubber spatula, spread about one third of the melted stuff on a piece of plastic wrap into one rectangle the size of 4 bars, or approximately 10 x 12 cm (4 x 5 inches). Put in freezer to set .

2. Meanwhile, grind the oats / buckwheat flakes and the walnuts in your blender until you get some sort of coarse flour. Add the dates and the coconut oil and keep blending until a dough-like ball forms. Set aside.

3. When the chocolate rectangle has set, remove from freezer, peel off the plastic wrap, place on a hard surface and divide into four identical strips , using a (warm if necessary) knife. Each will be the base of one bar.

4. Place each chocolate strip on a new piece of plastic wrap, mount with 1/4 of the cereal-date dough ; have fun shaping it, it’s like play dough, get your kids to help you! Insert as many peanut pieces on top as you like.

Now this is what you should NEVER do:  if you place the bars on a plate like this one, you will have the hardest time removing them afterwards.  Make sure you put them on plastic wrap !

5. Finally coat each bar with the rest of the melted chocolate, using a tea spoon, and place back in the freezer. You can eat the bars as soon as the chocolate has set again, or you can wait until the filling has frozen. Whatever you choose to do, I promise you these are sooo good you will want to make them again !

Ok, so the presentation is a little sloppy at this point… but easy to fix once the chocolate has set in the freezer. 

 

Now we’re talking!

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