Generally I'm not fooled by celebrity recipes but in my healthy living days while looking through Self magazine the words "candy bar" jump off the page at me.  I skeptically tear the page out and in a mood of baking withdrawl I come across it a few months later.  I read and after making tons of date/nut filled goodies I think this recipe sounds pretty good, and not too difficult.  But I wonder if this is really worth buying another type of flour (now I need coconut flour in my life?!) but I'm desperately fooled by the title...  CANDY!....  I want CANDY!....  so on my grocery list it goes.

Like I mentioned almost every week I've been experimenting with energy balls/bites with nuts/fruit in the Vitamix (my food processor passed away and I have not replaced yet) so I though I could try this in there.  This recipe is more like a dough that was a bit much for the Vitamix; I overheated several times and tore a William Sonoma spatuala in the process so I would not recommend doing that.  My husband actually begged me to run to the store and get a food processor while I was making this.  I am stubborn so I did get it to blend after doing small amounts and chopping the dates pretty fine...  but I did shortly after decide on a food processor to buy, which I will do soon because we need more of these bars!

The recipe didn't specify what type of pan to but these in buy now I see all the photos in a square brownie size pan...  oops.  I went with a jelly roll pan lined with a Silpat instead of the parchment and it worked great.  My husband and I actually loved how thin they were.  We like the smaller serving size, just a little square of these satisfies that candy bar craving.

The almond butter I made using a simple recipe (bottom of the article gave Gwenyth's recipe which is 1 cup almonds and pinch of salt in a food processor).  I started this in the Vitamix and have no luck making nut butters in there without oil so I added a little canola oil to my 1 cup almonds to get a smooth blend.

I'm not a fan of recipes that ask for chocolate chips to be melted down; I like my chips to stay chips!  So I used 80% cacao chocolate that I chopped (my favorite local brand, Omanhene).

Definitely worth the investment in the coconut flour...  (as now I'm studying more recipes to make using it)...  but for now more of Gwenyth's candy bars, one of the best healthy snack recipes I've come across!

Candy Bars

2013 Self Magazine from "It's All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great" by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen



INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
• 1 1/2 cups dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (60% or higher cacao)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

PREPARATION

1. In a food processor, grind cashews to a fine meal. Add dates, almond butter, syrup, flour, coconut and almond extract; pulse until a sticky dough forms.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With a drop of water on hands, press cashew mixture onto parchment, forming a 1-inch-thick rectangle.
3. Refrigerate until firm, 6 to 8 hours.
4. Set a stainless steel or glass bowl over a pot of simmering water (water not touching bowl). In bowl, combine chocolate chips and oil. Stir until just melted, 3 to 5 minutes; remove from heat.
5. Pour chocolate mixture over cold cashew mixture; smooth with spatula. Refrigerate until chocolate coating sets, at least 1 hour. Using parchment, lift bar out of baking sheet. Cut into 18 rectangles.

No suprise that I love making sweet treats... and giving them as gifts.  This is a simple one that everyone seems to love!  It comes from Family Circle magazine of all places!  I use my favorite local Milwaukee Omanhene chocolate, either the light or dark is great in this.

FRUITY CHOCLATE CLUSTERS
makes 40
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds, toasted
2 cups pretzels, broken up
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, stir together cranberries, almonds and pretzel  pieces.
Place chocolate in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1  minute, stirring halfway through; microwave another 15 seconds if necessary and stir until smooth.
Stir cranberry mixture into chocolate until completely coated. Place 1 heaping tablespoonful of chocolate mixture onto prepared baking sheet, shaping into a mound.  Repeat with remaining mixture.  Chill for 15 minutes before serving.