raw date, nut & cacao chocolate bar bites {vegan, gluten-free, paleo}
I have been keeping these raw brownie bites in my back pocket for a while now and I just can’t do it anymore. They need to be shared with you! I am not sure what took me so long to share them but I am kinda glad I waited because through all that waiting I came up with something even more better than plain ol' bites, I came up with raw chocolate BAR bites! Well actually initially they were raw brownie chocolate bite balls...balls, squares what's it really matter when it comes to chocolate right?!
If you know Paul, my hubby, then you know he is the biggest chocoaholic out there. Seriously I do not know a single person that loves chocolate more than him. It is a true love affair between the two of them, one that over the years I have become entangled into as well. It is the only other love affair I would ever allow haha
I actually wasn’t that big of a chocolate fan before dating Paul. Don’t get me wrong I liked it but it was never what my sweet tooth craved if I was in the need of something sweet. My sweet tooth craves the pastry sweets over any sweets, even still, but chocolate has slowly creeped its way into the craving department since Paul's love affair is so strong. Actually so much so that I like to indulge in a piece of really good, super dark (like 80% or more) chocolate every night as a bed time treat.
The kind of chocolate I indulge in has also changed over the years. Before I was a milk chocolate kinda girl through and through. But since I have cut out any refined sugars and only use maple syrup, honey, cane sugar, coconut sugar or dates my tastes have changed and I now I am a dark chocolate girl through and through. Anything else just tastes fake to me now and way too over processed. Unless its a really good natural milk chocolate, my taste buds like the higher end 75-85% cacao chocolate. You can say they have refined themselves haha. Except of course the white chocolate, I do love a little white chocolate every once in a while (even with the icky sugars, I just can't help it).
Now of course there are some days that little nugget of chocolate just does not do the trick and maybe it is cake or mousse that seals the deal or maybe its one of these raw cacao chocolate bars. I keep these guys around a lot because chocolate cake everyday and my waiste line wouldn’t love that too much, even if I would.
You can keep these raw chocolate bar bites as balls like here on my Instagram (without the pecans and chocolate coating) orrrr you can kick it up a notch and make them into the chocolate bars they were meant to be. This recipe will make a big batch, feel free to cut them even bigger if you like. You can keep them in the fridge for at least two weeks or keep them in the freezer for a couple of months and take out as a craving comes.
raw, date, nut & cacao chocolate bar bites {vegan & gluten-free & paleo}
ingredients
1 cup *almonds
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
30 dates
3 tbsp cacao
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp pure vanilla
1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt
300 grams dark (75% cacao +) chocolate
1 cup *pecans
directions
in a food processor blend all of the ingredients together except the dark chocolate and pecans. once the mixture is finely blended (you know it is done when it is crumbly or you can take some and squeeze and it holds together) pour it into a large bowl and add the whole pecans and mix with a wooden spoon.
transfer the mixture into a 9x9 parchment lined baking pan and push it evenly down into the pan with your fingers. if you don't have a small square baking pan you can you a round one or a large one and just pack the mixture in one half.
place the pan in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
in a double broiler melt the dark chocolate. once melted take the chilled chocolate mixture out of the fridge and cut into small squares. coat each square in the melted dark chocolate, sprinkle with some of the unsweetened coconut and place on a cooling rack to harden in the fridge.
you can keep the bars in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or you can keep them in the freezer (just take one out about 30 mins before you want one) for a couple of months, if they last that long!
*notes:
you can change out the almonds for pretty much any nut you like, walnuts, pecans, hazlenuts whatever you fancy.
you also don't have to add the extra whole pecans at the end these bars are good with or without them. you also don't need to coat them in chocolate either but I would recommend it.