Healthy Fruit & Nut Bars
Homemade Chocolate covered Fruit & Nut Bars
Amazing and delicious healthy snack bars with a mixture of dried fruit, nuts and 100% chocolate, for a grab and go breakfast or snack.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can replace with what you like more or whatever you have in your pantry. The three main types of ingredients used for these are dried fruits, nuts or seeds, and Chocolate. However, you could swap out the fruits/nuts used depending on what you have available. Whatever you have on your pantry works well.
The ‘stickier’ the dried fruit, the better. No need to add any sugar, because the fruits used are sticky and sweet enough. So it is a win win!
Here are some options you can use:
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Plums
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Figs
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Dates
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Barberries
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Apricots
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Goji berries
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Soft cranberries
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Dried cherries
Combining these with other dried fruits that aren’t as sticky. I.e. , mango or other berries etc.
The main thing to remember with the fruit and nut chocolate bar recipe is the ratio of fruits to nuts/seeds and then you can feel free to experiment with whatever ingredients you’d like, to make the perfect bars for you.
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The perfect "treat", grab and go breakfast.
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Unlike with many store-bought options, these bars have no added sugars as you have full control over the ingredients.
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These healthy bars are very customised – choose the dried fruit of your choice, nuts and seeds of your choice and even swap out the chocolate for your personal favourite pick.
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If using less ‘sticky’ dried fruits, you can still make delicious bars without the use of any refined sugars – using nut butter or natural sweeteners like maple to make up for the lack of stickiness.
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These bars arevegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free, high protein and act as a natural energy bar from the ingredients chosen.
THE FRUIT AND NUT BARS HOW-TO MAKE
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Goji berries
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Dried figs
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Dried plums
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Roasted almonds
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Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
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Dark chocolate – I used 75% dark chocolate, choose your favourite
Note: Bare in mind that these are just suggestions for your healthy breakfast bars and you can swap out the fruits, nuts/seeds and even chocolate choice according to what you’d prefer. Just stick to the same ratio of fruit vs nuts so the bars stick together.
Ingredients
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1/4 cup goji berries
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3 dried plums
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2 dried figs
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1/4 cup almonds roasted
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1 tbsp sunflower seeds
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1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
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1/2 cup dark chocolate to melt for coating
STEP BY STEP
Start by chopping the almonds and the bigger dried fruit. I like my snack bars to be quite ‘chunky’ so I hand chop everything. However, you can blend in a food processor all together if you want a chewier bar.
Line a small baking tray with parchment paper. Then add all the chopped nuts, fruit and seeds in it.
Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix with your hands, pressing the mixture together to form a sticky kind of block.
Then start pressing down the mixture with a flat object, like a bottom of a glass. Press down as tightly as possible.
Everything needs to be as tightly packed as possible so it holds its shape and stays together, when chopped.
One of the reasons to press down is that the fruit will release some of their juice and the mixture will become sticky. If it’s not sticking together, you can add 1-2 dates, a bit of nut butter or some honey. Should be enough to keep all together.
You can also use a silicone mould with individual ‘bars’.
Once pressed into your tray/mould, freeze the mixture for 30 minutes. Once chilled, it will become easier to cut into bars.
Melt the chocolate and then pour some over each bar or
pour the chocolate directly over the fruit/nut mix in their tray/mould. Place back in the freezer to set before cutting into bars.
HOW TO STORE THE BARS:
You can store the fruit and nut chocolate bars in the fridge for up to a week, or the freezer for up to two months. I usually separate my bars with a bit of parchment paper, so they don’t stick together. Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge.
