Loaded Healthy, Organic, Chocolate, Nut, Coconut Bars

So many people ask me how I’m able to bake as much as I do and not put on a lot of weight..The truth is that I love food, all kinds of food, but mostly dessert!! One of the greatest joys in life is being able to taste all types of amazing food from all over the world.  And if you ask me whether I would prefer a meal to dessert, I would pick dessert every time!! I can’t think of many things that make people smile as much as an amazingly decadent treat, but we all know that nobody can eat too many rich treats without paying a price.  Moderation is the absolute key!!  My daughter and son-in-law own a healthy meal delivery service called  www.eatthe80.com and the principal behind their company is the 80/20 rule…basically eating healthy 80% of the time and the other 20%, you can treat yourself.  I actually do follow this rule and it allows me to treat myself to all of my favorite goodies.  After discovering the most delicious single source chocolate from kul-chocolate.com, I fell in love with their silky, luscious dark chocolate. They sent me several flavors of unsweetened baking bits and asked me to create some healthy recipes, which is right up my alley!!  This recipe is a combination of so many wonderful, vegan, organic and good for you ingredients.  Even my husband who isn’t a fan of healthy treats, fell in love with these bars!!  Having a food processor is really an essential tool in this recipe!! Just try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting!!

Loaded Healthy, Organic, Chocolate, Nut, Coconut Bars

Makes: 10 bars Prep time: 30 minutes Chill time: 2 hours

Ingredients

1 cup old fashioned organic rolled oats

1 and 1/2 cups pitted dates

1/2 cup K’ul Brazil variety unsweetened baking chocolate melted

4 tablespoons organic honey

1/4 cup raw fresh coconut

1/3 cup whole raw almonds

2/3 cup raw pecans

1/4 cup organic crunchy peanut butter

Glaze

1/2 cup K’ul Brazil variety unsweetened chocolate melted

2 tablespoons organic honey

1 tablespoon organic peanut butter

 

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  On a single baking sheet, place the oats and almonds.  Bake for 12 minutes until lightly browned.  Cut the almonds in large chunks and set aside.  Soak the dates in hot water for about 15 minutes until they are nice and soft. Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment or wax paper.   In a food processor, add dates and pulse until they become a paste.  Add the pecans and pulse again until a ball forms.  Add the melted chocolate, peanut butter, honey and coconut.  Scrape down the bowl and with wet fingers, pat into your prepared pan.  Push the almond pieces into the top of the dough.  In a microwave safe pyrex cup, melt the other 1/2 cup chocolate and tablespoon of peanut butter for a minute.  Take it out and add the honey.  Drizzle it all over the bars, working quickly as it tends to get thick.  Put the pan into the fridge for several hours before cutting into bars.  Store them in an air tight container in the fridge.

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