Healthy Chocolate Energy Bars

It's a sad fact that, these days, a lot of the products marketed as "healthy", aren't exactly that. Cereals are the biggest villains in this with most major brands adding copious amounts of salt and sugar to them. The same can be said for energy bars as many have synthetic perservatives, flavourings, and sweeteners. If you actually read the ingredients list on some big brand energy bars, you may as well be reading another language.

So, I've discovered a perfect home-made alternative. This receipe is perfect as a grab & go option, involves no cooking and is made of completely natural ingredients. These chocolate energy bars couldn't be easier!





You will need:
140g pitted medjool dates
150g cashew nuts
4 tbsp sultanas
1 tsp cocoa powder (or to taste)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp water

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pureé the mixture until it comes together.
I found that 1 teaspoon of water wasn't enough so added a bit more. (A word of warning: if you're going to add more water, do it in very small amounts. I added about 1.5 teaspoons extra and it became very sticky to handle!) 

 Line a tin of your choice with greaseproof paper. The size of tin doesn't matter;I just used a 2 litre loaf tin as it gave a good surface area to divide the mixture into 10 indiviual bars.

Once the mixture is evenly spread, place in the freezer for at least an hour before dividing them (the mixture is too sticky otherwise!)






That's it! Quick and easy and naturally sweet. As an alternative, you could add mint extract instead of vanilla to give a mint chocolate flavour. At approx. 140kcal and 15g total carbohydrate, these are much healthier (and cheaper) than shop bought versions.

Enjoy!

Nic
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