Thursday, January 29, 2015
Coconut and Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Bar
Ok, so I told you before that I would give you this recipe. This was one of my guilty pleasures mentioned on my previous post What's Your Guilty Pleasure? Be warned, this has been known to be the cause of some serious addictions. I present to you my...drumroll please...
COCONUT AND DARK CHOCOLATE OATMEAL BAR
Yes, I know. The name is kind of long. But you can change it when you make yours :-).
I love this bar because it is sweet, but not too sweet. Chewy. Coconutty (not even sure if that is a word, so don't bother checking your dictionary). Contains dark chocolate, which I absolutely love. And, above all else, it is healthy (well, somewhat). It contains some super foods like the antioxidant rich dark chocolate and the extremely healthy fat that is Coconut Oil. Not to mention that the main ingredient is oatmeal, which is a healthy grain right? See, so it is not totally bad for you. So just relax, and enjoy one of my guilty pleasures.
Ok, so here is how you make these. You are going to need:
1 cup of Quick Cooking Oats
1/4 cup of Organic Coconut Oil (I got mine from Swanson. It is about $22 for a 54 oz jar)
1/4 cup of Light Brown Sugar (not packed)
A little less than 1/4 cup of Agave Nectar (if you don't have, you can substitute with granulated sugar or any other liquid sweetener you may have on hand)
1/3 cup of Dark Chocolate Chips (this amount can vary depending on how thick you want that chocolate layer to be)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (optional)
Coconut Flakes (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, mix oatmeal, coconut oil, brown sugar and agave nectar until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
 |
| All ingredients in |
 |
| Mixed thoroughly |
Once you have that ready, line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper. This will help it come out nice and easy. Next, you want to pour the mixture into the pan and spread evenly while pressing down.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Any longer and it will lose it's chewy texture.
In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate until smooth. Careful not to burn. What I usually do is place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time and mix in between heatings. If you don't like to use the microwave, then by all means, the double boiler method can be used as well. It will just take a little longer.
*If you are a peanut butter fan, you can add some to the chocolate and melt. I like to leave mine just the way it is.*
Once your chocolate is nice and smooth, pour it over the oatmeal mixture and spread evenly.
*This is where you can add some coconut flakes to the top. In case you are crazy for coconut and have to have more of it*
Once you are done, let the pan sit somewhere cool. When it reaches room temperature, place it in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. Once the bar is cooled completely, you can pull the parchment paper up and the entire bar will come out. Cut the bar into little rectangles. I usually get about 16 per pan.
This is the finished product. I tried to get creative with my photo shoot. But you get the picture.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Tell me what you think.
Comments
No comments :
Post a Comment