Diet: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Paleo, Pescatarian, Soy Free, Vegetarian
Serves: 24
Total Time: 20 minutes

Description

My bite-sized chocolate nibbles are the perfect answer for a weekend treat. I have added a sprinkle of orange zest, so if you love a touch of fruitiness in your chocolate, then these are just for you. Think Terry’s chocolate… with a healthy spin on the ingredients!

Most shop-bought chocolates you tend to find contain sugar as the first ingredient. Always ask yourself, what does this say about the company making the food item? Are they trying to manipulate your tastebuds by getting you to eat more of something?

Sugar alters our brain’s biochemistry and, unbeknown to most people, sugar acts as a drug. From the first bite sugar sends a message to the brain, activating its reward system. The main chemical involved in this biological reward system is dopamine, a neurotransmitter. In people who experience dependency on drugs, nicotine and alcohol, dopamine receptors are sent into overdrive, causing the individual to be constantly seeking the ‘high’ that it provides. The end result is addiction, and sugar can act in a very similar way.

This is why it is so important to be mindful of ingredients lists. If sugar is the very first ingredient on the label, this should be a warning sign.

My recipe uses predominantly nuts and coconut to reduce the release of sugars into the bloodstream, with 3 tbsp of honey as a natural sweetener (which contains trace minerals). I’ve included some good quality dark chocolate as an option to coat the bites with. Ensure to always check the ingredients of the dark chocolate you are buying (make sure sugar is not the first ingredient and avoid bars that are full of emulsifiers and milk powders).

Simplicity is key for understanding how to lead a healthy lifestyle, and that all starts with the ingredients that you buy!

Ingredients

• 200g almonds or almond flour
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 150g desiccated coconut
• 1 orange
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
• 100g good quality dark chocolate

Method

1. Line some baking parchment onto a baking tray and compile all of your ingredients together.
2. Place the almonds into a food processor and mix for 3-5 minutes on high speed, so that the nuts start to turn into a flour consistency. If you are using almond flour instead of almonds you can just put all of the almond flour into the blender ready to mix with the other ingredients.
3. Add the honey, coconut oil, and vanilla extract (or powder) and blitz again.
4. Grate the zest from one orange, making sure to save a small handful for decorating the top of the bites later on, and then quarter the orange.
5. Now add in the orange zest, the orange juice from ¼ of the orange as well as the desiccated coconut. Blitz again to form a thick dough mixture.
6. Pour out the mixture onto the baking tray and (using clean hands), spread the mixture out into a 2cm thick square.
7. Put the baking tray in the freezer for a few minutes whilst you prepare the chocolate.
8. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl that can sit on top of a saucepan with boiling water. Place the pan on a medium heat with the bowl of chocolate on top. Simmer until the chocolate melts down.
9. Take the almond slab out of the freezer and cut it into square-shaped bars (or any size of your choosing).
10. Once melted, take the chocolate off the heat and set aside.
11. Line a second tray with some baking parchment. Now dip the bars individually into the chocolate with a fork and coat fully.
12. Sprinkle the remaining orange zest on the melted chocolate bites and, once all bars are coated in chocolate and orange zest, put them into the fridge to set for a few hours.

Note: these bars can be stored in the fridge for a month, or alternatively stored in a freezer as well.