Coconut and Chocolate is a great combo
From the time as a small child Bounty bars have never been out of my cupboard. Until I realised just how much sugar they contained so we came up with a Coconut chocolate slices recipe.
Sugar is the largest ingredient in a Bounty bar, then desiccated coconut (highly processed) and then glucose syrup (not good). Not surprisingly, sugar makes up 47.8% of a Bounty bar.
Why Are Coconut Chocolate slices so great?
Now you can enjoy a much better experience taste-wise by making these little gems. They have been a staple of mine and my partner Hannah for several years.
Why? Because not only do they taste good they fill you up at the same time. But in addition, they keep you going for ages because of the good fats contained in the coconut.
If my partner or I are likely to miss lunch, guess what? One or two of these beauties together with a handful of nuts and some fruit will be enough to get us through to dinner time.
The Coconut Factor
The coconut contains saturated fat and therefore necessary for the body but in small amounts. So if you are worried about saturated fat in your diet make sure coconut chocolate slices are one way of consuming this type of fat.
Chocolate Factor
Dark Chocolate is also healthy for you too. A 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 70–85% cocoa contains:
- 11 grams of fiber
- 67% of the RDI for iron
- 58% of the RDI for magnesium
- 89% of the RDI for copper
- 98% of the RDI for manganese
- It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium
That said, you shouldn’t really be eating 100g daily due to the fat content, since 100g will contain 600 calories. But one or two coconut chocolate slices will only contain a few grams of chocolate.
One way of getting rid of sugar from your diet is to switch from milk chocolate to dark (70% or above) or raw chocolate. An easy win!
Coconut Chocolate slice recipe (aka Coco slice)
1 x 200g organic creamed coconut (comes in a block)
50g desiccated coconut
50g ground almonds
2 x tbsp coconut oil
3 x tbsp coconut butter
3 drops vanilla essence
2 tbsp lemon juice
200g dark chocolate containing 70% or more of cacao or cocoa solids (not cooking chocolate)
10g gogi berries
10g sunflower seeds
Optional: 3tbsp sense* for gut health or sense* for joint & bone superfood supplement powders
In a baine marie or other ceramic bowl/saucepan melt 1 x 200g pack of organic creamed coconut and whilst melting mix in the desiccated coconut, the ground almonds, 2 x tbsp coconut oil, 3 x tbsp coconut butter, the vanilla essence & the lemon juice.
Once melted (stir it until it looks like bread sauce or thick porridge) tip into a cake tin (preferably one with a removable bottom) so that it only fills half the cake tin. Put in freezer for 20-30 minutes, making sure it is level.
Using same bowl as used for the coconut mix melt 200g of dark chocolate (I do one of 85% & one of 90% but when I first started I used one 85% & one 70% which most people prefer).
Remove the now solid coconut mix from the freezer. Place on a level surface. Once melted, tip the chocolate over the coconut mix in the cake tin.
Sprinkle with sunflower seeds & goji berries & put in fridge overnight but the chocolate will solidify in a few hours.
Then once solid, take out of cake tin & cut up into pieces. Keep in the fridge and transport in a sealed container since the chocolate will melt to some extent if at room temperature for a while.
Enjoy!
More recipes In the Kitchen with sense*
