Homemade Healthy Chocolate Bar | Recipe | Food

 

Today I decided to have a go at making my very own homemade healthy chocolate bar. And no, this is not a late April Fool's. I am a massive chocolate fiend. Seriously, as a kid I used to be jealous of Augustus Gloop and Bruce Bogtrotter and dreamed of one day becoming a professional chocolate taster (haha!). But these days I'm focused on health and fitness, which means no pigging out on chocolate every day! But, that doesn't stop me from always being on the hunt to get some sweet food without the feelings of guilt. From healthy peanut butter and nutella brownies to double chocolate chip cookies, it was only a matter of time until I turned to making chocolate. If you're looking to lead a healthy lifestyle or if you're just aiming for that summer body then I seriously suggest you read on and find out how to make this homemade healthy chocolate. You won't be disappointed, I promise :). This tasty chocolate bar is packed with protein, antioxidants and has zero sugar.

The main ingredient of this healthy chocolate is coconut oil. Now, you might be thinking 'But Coconut Oil is like 90% fat?!' and you wouldn't be wrong. But it's healthy fat (yes, you did read that right - though I'm sure some health fanatics will still argue with me that no such thing exists) and there's research to prove it so you don't just have to take my word for it! Coconut oil contains a high amount of medium chain triglycerides (MCT). MCTs are metabolized differently to LCTs. They bypass the digestive system and go straight to the liver, where they provide quick energy for use or are turned into ketone bodies. This means that MCTs are less likely to be stored as fat and instead can have a thermogenic effect. Anyway, enough of the technical stuff...simply put, coconut oil actually has great fat burning properties. Miranda Kerr (everyone's favourite Angel) admitted to having 4 tbsp. of coconut oil a day...and if it's good enough for Miranda Kerr then it's definitely good enough for me. Though, I probably still wouldn't recommend necking that much coconut oil on a daily basis.

Enough yapping on about the science behind it all. Let's move onto the real reason why you're reading this. The homemade healthy chocolate bar! This recipe will be just for the simple chocolate bar mix...but then you just throw on whatever toppings you like - nuts, seeds, berries, even chocolate chips if it takes your fancy! In my version, I added 1 tbsp. powdered peanut butter (PPB) to the chocolate bar mix and topped it with peanuts, cashew nuts and chia seeds.


Ingredients:
3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
2 tsp. Liquid Sweetener (I used Sweet Freedom sweetener but you could use honey instead)
2 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
50g Protein Powder (if you don't want to use protein powder you can sub this for extra Cocoa Powder)

Directions:
This recipe is super quick and can be whipped up in a matter of seconds. In it's natural state coconut oil is solid, so gently heat this until it's liquid. I just popped mine in the microwave for 15 seconds. Then stir in the rest of your ingredients. Once, it's all evenly mixed pour this onto a sheet of baking paper and sprinkle with your favourite toppings. Pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then break into generous chunks and enjoy! This recipe should give you 8 servings!

Nutritional Values (per serving):
Kcal: 82
Total Fat (g): 6
Saturated Fat (g): 5
Total Carbs (g): 0.8
of which sugars: 0
Protein (g): 5.5

The end result is a creamy, melt in your mouth, mouth-watering chocolate bar! The chocolate will have strong coconutty (that's a word, right?) undertones which perfectly compliment the taste of cocoa. It's the perfect fix for a chocolate craving. Just remember, to keep this stored in the fridge or freezer when you're not snacking on it! Otherwise, you may ended up with a melted chocolatey mess due to the low melting temp. of the coconut oil. But apart from that, tuck in and treat yourself to some guilt free chocolate.

I would love to know your thoughts on this recipe, whether you agree with coconut oil as a healthy fat or not, or if you are going to be making your own chocolate bar :)?

 

Grandiose Days,

xxx