Recently I've been working on developing a tasty homemade, healthy chocolate bar. I love chocolate, but I can't stand paying $4 a bar for "healthy chocolate bars" that really aren't that healthy. I've discovered "I can have my chocolate and eat it too" for less than .25 cents a bar, if I make it myself. I'm basically following Pearl Barret's (Above Rubies)recipe, but I'm tweaking it to my tastes. This is unbelievable easy. The only catch is that you have to eat it right out of the freezer because it doesn't have anything in it to keep it hard at room temperature (which is a good thing).Homemade Healthy Dark Chocolate Bars:
What you'll need:
2 squares of unsweetened Bakers chocolate
1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on how sweet you like it) sucanat or other unrefined sweetener (agave syrup works, too, could use regular sugar if you need to)
1/2 to 1 cup (depends on how dark you want it) whole milk or half and half or cream (preferably raw)
2 Tbl peanut butter (optional)
2 Tbl toasted nuts (optional)
1. Melt chocolate squares in pan on low heat, stirring to make sure it doesn't burn.
2. Add sweetener, milk or cream, peanut butter (optional). It'll probably clump up. Don't panic! Just keep it on low heat and keep stirring until smooth. Adjust taste - add more milk or sweetener if you need to.
3. Add toasted nuts. I made one batch of chocolate peanut butter bars, and another with just chocolate and toasted almonds. Both turned out well. 
4. I cut some unbleached parchment paper and used it to line my PC stoneware mini-loaf pan. I divided the chocolate mixture evenly and then added nuts on top to make it look pretty (you can also add the nuts to the chocolate mixture at the end of stirring).5. Store in freezer. When these are frozen in the pans, I pull out the chocolate bars (parchment paper too) and stick the bars in a gallon freezer bag for storage. Just remember to eat if frozen because if it thaws out it is the consistency of thick pudding. Just break off as much of the frozen bar as you would like to eat at one time.
This is saving me a lot of money and I think it is really good stuff. I can afford to eat chocolate again! This is such a simple recipe, that I have no excuse to buy store-bought chocolate bars. If any of you decide to try this, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions on how to improve this recipe.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
God Bless,
Jackie
I can't wait for you us to make this together. Can we do this the next time you come up?
ReplyDeleteI love how this looks! Can you visit me and bring me some???? There is a bar that Jay buys me a couple times a year with hazelnuts and blueberries in it. I eat a piece about once a week.
ReplyDeleteHi Jackie ~
ReplyDeleteSounds yummy...I love chocolate too! I suppose you already are aware of that due to the content of some of my posts. ;-)
Where do you find UN-bleached parchment paper??
Blessings,
Camille
Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteI'm making homemade candy and marshmallows for Hanukkah gifts (which I will post, as well as the pottage cheese recipe, as soon as someone can figure out my camera). I get a bulk bag of allergy-free chocolate chips from the co-op that is so nice to have.
All I can say is YUM :)
ReplyDeleteHi My name is Catherine and I came across your sisters blog. She has such a beautiful large hs family. Once she clicked back over to view my blog she posted I should ck into your blog, that you and I are much alike. We too are a hs, homesteading family. Its wonderful to meet you! Blessings
ReplyDeleteStacie,
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd love to make this when I come up. You got Bakers chocolate or do I need to bring some?
Cat,
I'd love to come for a visit some time and bring you some. It is so yummy! You could put hazelnuts and dried blueberries in this recipe easy.
Camille,
I get unbleached parchment paper from The Pampered Chef of all places. It isn't too expensive and there is a lot that comes on a roll.
Amy,
Great to hear from you again! Can't wait to see your pottage cheese recipe.
Catherine Anne,
Great to meet you! I look forward to checking out your blog. Love your profile picture!
Fabulous! i love it looks so very yummy and delicious chocolate its gonna be perfect gift. :)
ReplyDeletevee
Oh I like this idea my friend. How did I miss this post. Oy! Thanks for pointing it out to me. Ya gotta look out for me these days! LOL
ReplyDeleteHugs
Kim
Why add milk? Melt the chocolate to add the sweetener/flavoring/crunchies of choice, then let harden again. Not that I'm against frozen chocolate, I like it that way, lasts long in the mouth. My favorite guilty crunchy is expresso grounds...I shouldn't add that much caffeine.
ReplyDeleteRegina,
ReplyDeleteYou can do that, but it is too bitter for my taste buds. I've got to have some milk in mine to tone it down.
Ah, that's a good reason. I like the near bitterness, myself.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Sonja- a friend of Stacie's.
ReplyDeleteI tried your recipe for these chocolate bars and it turned out beautifully! All of my brothers and sisters wanted to try some of it. I used Half and Half, but the cream sank to the bottom, and it can't freeze. My little brother said the cream was like chocolate ice cream, though!
Thanks and God bless you and your family!
Hi Sonya! Yes, I remember meeting you :) I'm so glad you guys like this recipe. I think they taste like fudge-cicles when they separate and freeze. Thanks for leaving a comment and letting me know how it turned out. God bless!
ReplyDelete