In the kitchen with... Vicky Norton (Training for Chocolate): Healthy Bounty Bars

We love a bit of food inspiration- especially when it is a tasty treat! There is nothing quite like a good bit of chocolate to minimise that sweet tooth craving…but when they are packed full of sugar and/or other nasties, you are less inclined to indulge for health conscious reasons.

 

Please enter- Vicky Norton.

 

Mum, and fitness enthusiast Vicky is always discovering new ways to live and take steps forward to a healthier life, as in her words she is a "reforming CHOCOHOLIC."

We know this feeling!

 

From this habit, Vicky has switched her off the shelf chocolate bars to healthy treats with cacao still as a main feature yet mixed with healthier ingredients that are good for you- the perfect sweet treat hit!

 

Here is her easy to follow recipe, a bar from heaven, for all you chocoholics that want a healthy go-to!

 

Healthy Bounty Bars

Thick dark chocolate and succulent coconut filling… yummm. Bounty Bars are so good. And these Healthy Bounty Bars from Training for Chocolate’s Little Book of Chocoholic Treats are even better, because they’re 100% natural with no refined sugar or nasties.

 

Ingredients:

For the coconut filling:

• 250g bag of desiccated coconut
• 400ml can of coconut cream
• 2-4 tablespoons rice malt syrup (depending on how sweet you like to go)
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil

 

For the chocolate coating:

• 150g cacao butter, broken into small pieces
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 1 cup cacao powder
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• pinch salt

 

Method:

First, the coconut filling. Mix all the coconut filling ingredients in a pan over a low heat. Then pour into a small slice tin (about 25x15 cm) that’s been lined with baking paper. Flatten the mixture out (I put a sheet of baking paper over the top and then press down gently with a chopping board.

 

Place the tin freezer for about four hours. When it’s solid, cut it into little rectangles and put these back into the freezer for at least an hour, ideally overnight. They need to be really hard and cold when you’re covering with the chocolate so that the filling stays in its rectangular shape and doesn’t melt and get messy.

 

For the chocolate, you’re going to melt all the ingredients in a pan over a low heat. Start heating the cacao butter first as it takes longer to melt. Then add the coconut oil and maple syrup, stirring to combine. Then add the cacao powder and salt and whisk (or blitz for a minute in the food processor) so that the mixture is nice and smooth. Set aside to cool a little before using.

 

Place some baking paper on a tray. When they’re ready, take one coconut rectangle at a time and dunk it in the chocolate mixture, fully coating. Rest each one on the baking paper. Yes, it gets a little messy!

 

Pop them all in the freezer for the chocolate to set. It should only take a matter of minutes. There should be enough chocolate mixture left over to do a double coat of chocolate. Once you’ve done that second coat, back in the freezer they go to set again.

 

To finish them off, you can sprinkle some more desiccated coconut over the top or even drizzle with some more chocolate, although they’re totally delicious just as they are.

 

Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

 

Download the Little Book of Chocoholic Treats

If you’d like more healthy chocolate treats like this one, head to the Training for Chocolate blog to find out how to get the Little Book of Chocoholic Treats (FREE for a limited time) and check out lots of other yummy healthy recipes too.

 

For More head to : http://trainingforchocolate.com

Instagram: @trainingforchocolate

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