First posted: Nov 9, 2016

Healthy Chocolate Rice Crispy Bars

 

Oh BOY, these are good. They are just rice crispy bars, you say. But I say that they are so VERY much more than the sum of their simple puffed brown rice parts and that they could very well be one of my favourite creations of The. Year. There’s enough chewy, toffeed stickiness to keep any sweet tooth happy, but then there’s a glossy dark chocolate layer studded with sea salt that just balances everything out until you are left with the most delicious whispers on your tongue. And did I mention that despite all of that, they stand tall and proud as gluten and refined-sugar free? You can make a batch and freeze them too, so that you can just haul them out as and when you need to. And, they are totally kiddie friendly – in Sophie’s words, ‘they’re my favourite because they’re so yummy’. So there you go.

 

Ingredients

Cooks in:        Serves:Makes 12 squares

For the bars
  • ½ cup dates
  • ½ cup cranberries
  • ½ cup mixed seeds
  • ¼ cup mixed raw nuts (roughly chopped)
  • 1.5 cups puffed organic brown rice
  • ¼ cup desiccated coconut
  • ½ cup nut butter
  • ¼ cup coconut oil (warmed until liquid)
  • 1 tsp cacao powder
For dark chocolate layer
  • 100g good quality dark chocolate (melted)
  • Pinch of sea salt flakes (pinch instant espresso powder, if you like)
Or raw chocolate drizzle
  • 1 Tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (warmed until liquid)
  • 1–2 tsp maple syrup
  • ½ tsp instant espresso powder
  • Mix together, leave to cool and the drizzle over the bars before freezing

What to do

1. Soak the dates and cranberries in hot water for 1-2 minutes. Drain and add to a food processor and blend until fairly smooth.

2. Add the dates and cranberries to a mixing bowl, along with the remaining ingredients and mix gently until everything is well coated.

3. Transfer the mixture to a lined 20cm x 20cm baking tray, smoothing it out using the back of a spoon. Pour over the melted, cooled chocolate and spread it out using a spoon or spatula. Sprinkle over your sea salt flakes.

4. Transfer to the freezer and leave for at least 1 hour to eat. Cut into squares and store in a large glass jar in the fridge.

Photo credit @CurtisGallon



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Tags:
chocolaterice crispysnack bars

 

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