I have to be honest, I didn’t enjoy these bars. Something about their texture I just didn’t like, perhaps the coconut oil in the coating, I’m not sure. This recipe is from the ‘Not-so-Naughty’ category in The Great New Zealand Baking Book so I’m not really surprised I wasn’t a fan, considering my past experiences with recipes from that category. They weren’t awful though, so consider giving them chance if you like these types of recipes!

Recipe below and list of ingredients at the end of the post.

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Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix very well (desiccated coconut, coconut cream, melted coconut oil, natural liquid sweetener –you can use pure maple syrup, coconut syrup or rice malt syrup–, vanilla extract and salt).

Spoon this mixture into a rectangular container lined with baking paper and press down firmly. Place the container in the freezer and let it cool completely.

When very firm, remove from the freezer and cut into bars. Return to the freezer, as you want the bars to be very cold when you dip them in chocolate.

Prepare the chocolate coating by mixing together the coconut oil, cocoa/cacao powder and sweetener until smooth, glossy and a little bit runny.

Remove the coconut bars from the freezer and, one by one, dip them into the chocolate (I used two forks to do this) and place them on baking paper.

They are ready to eat straight away, or put them in the fridge or freezer for later.

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Raw Chocolate Coconut Bars

From The Great New Zealand Baking Book, copyright © Hannah Horton from Mondays Wholefoods

Makes: About 16 | Prep time: 15 mins, plus freezing | Skill level: 1 (easy)

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 1 cup full-fat coconut cream
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• 4 tbsp natural liquid sweetener (pure maple syrup, coconut syrup or rice malt syrup)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Chocolate coating

• 1 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1/3 cup cocoa or raw cacao powder
• 1–2 tbsp natural liquid sweetener (see options above)

[DF] [GF]

Method

Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl and mix very well. Spoon this mixture into a rectangular container lined with baking paper and press down firmly. Place the container in the freezer and let it cool completely.

When very firm, remove from the freezer and cut into bars. Return to the freezer, as you want the bars to be very cold when you dip them in chocolate. Now you can prepare the chocolate coating by placing the coconut oil, cocoa/cacao powder and sweetener into a blender and combining until smooth, glossy and a little bit runny, like warm honey. Pour the chocolate into a 500 ml measuring cup or similar.

Remove the coconut bars from the freezer and, one by one, dip an end into the chocolate and place the bar on baking paper. By the time you’ve dipped them all, the chocolate should have hardened on the first ones, so go back and dip the other end. Repeat this process until your bars are completely covered in a nice thick layer of chocolate.

And that’s it! They are ready to enjoy straight away, or pop them in the fridge or freezer for the perfect anytime snack – if they last that long!

Where to buy the book:

Bookreps New Zealand

Whitcoulls

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