Holiday Chocolate Bark with Almonds, Goji Berries and Crispy Rice

Chocolate!

Did I say the magic word?

I think it’s safe to say that this time of year, a little extra chocolate gets consumed. Lot’s of baking is going on in my house for sure, and I’m definitely taste testing everything!

Sooo….if you’re gonna get to baking or making some chocolate bark, why not healthify it?

That’s just what I did with this recipe!

I added in some healthy fats and protein from almonds, some potent antioxidants and minerals from goji berries, and just for some extra crunch, I used a gluten free crispy rice cereal.

And let’s not forget about the actual chocolate! I highly suggest you purchase organic chocolate. You can even take it a step further and get organic RAW chocolate. Good quality chocolate will make all the difference in your bark!

So let’s get to the recipe!

Image

Ingredients:
2 bags of organic dark chocolate chips (you could also use 2 bags of Enjoy Life dairy free chocolate chips)
1/4 cup of raw almonds, chopped
1/4 cup goji berries, roughly chopped
1/4 cup gluten-free crisp brown rice cereal
Pinch of fine ground sea salt

Directions:

Prepare a baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. In a double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat. Add in 1 cup of chocolate chips at a time. Constantly stir the chocolate so it doesn’t burn and stick to the pot. Once chocolate is melted, add in all your ingredients and give your chocolate a nice stir to incorporate all ingredients. Slowly pour you chocolate into your baking dish. You may want to spread it out or flatten slightly. Transfer to the fridge and let site for about an hour, or until completely solid. Once bark is completely solid, you can break it up into pieces and store in an airtight container in your fridge. It will last for weeks! Unless of course you eat it all! 🙂

Enjoy!

To Your Health & Abundance,
Samantha 🙂

 

 

 

SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest

Delicious Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies!

I LOVE baking!

I’m always tweaking recipes and up for the challenge to health-ify desserts!

I make these delicious flour less almond butter cookies (recipe here!) and they are a huge hit! So I thought I would take that same recipe and make brownies!

I made a few slight changes and it was a success! Yippee! PLUS, they are gluten free! How great is that?!

You can whip up these bad boys in no time, with very little mess in the kitchen! 😉

Image

Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

 

Ingredients:

1 cup almond butter (I used chunky for the extra crunch)
1 organic egg
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp baking soda (aluminium free is BEST!)
1/3 cup of coconut sugar (organic cane sugar or sucanat would work well too)
½ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 – 1/2 cup organic chocolate chips (you can get dairy free chips and make this recipe vegan!)

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a brownie pan with parchment paper. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into pan. NOTE – the batter did not completely fill the brownie pan. I used my fingers to press the batter down into the pan, making it quite flat. It ‘almost’ fit the pan, but not quite. This is ok! They still came out amazing! If you have a smaller pan (6×6), use that! Bake brownies for approx. 22-25 minutes. Cool brownies for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Simple, easy and super tasty!!
Enjoy!
Health & Abundance,
Samantha 🙂
SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest

Gluten Free Recipes! Apricot Granola and (flour free) Vanilla Almond Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies!

Hi Everyone! My apologizes for no Meatless Monday post! My recipes come to you a few days delayed this week! I’m all for supporting Meatless Monday but lately my schedule has been quite busy! I find my posts have been getting out a little late….which I hope your all OK with!?! 🙂 I plan on re launching my website soon and chances are posts won’t be every Monday, but rather 1 or 2 throughout the week. Just thought I’d give you all a heads up!!

OK….on to the delicious recipes. Apricot Granola…..my FAV! I get how easy it is to pick up a box of store bought granola, but store bought is loaded with sugar and hydrogenated fats. Making your own is easy and you get to personalize it with your favourite ingredients! Feel free to add whichever nuts and seeds you like. You can also swap out the apricots for raisins, cranberries or dried cherries. Put in a beautiful glass jar with a ribbon and this homemade granola makes the perfect holiday gift! 🙂

Gluten Free Apricot Granola

Ingredients
4 cups WHEAT FREE rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill)
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup organic maple syrup
1 tbsp almond milk
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup coconut flakes
1/3 cup flax seeds
1 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups unsulfured apricots

 

Directions
Preheat oven to 300. Combine maple syrup, almond milk, and coconut oil in a large saucepan and set aside.
Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl, except apricots, and toss well. Add the maple-oil mixture and stir together really well. Pour mixture onto 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes, stir and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in apricots.
Depending on how crispy you like your granola, I would suggest baking the granola for another 10-15 minutes. Be sure to keep your eye on it. Either way, don’t bake the apricots, add them at the very end.
Cool and store in an air tight container. This granola will last for several months in glass jars, but it’s so yummy, it won’t last that long! Serve with organic sheep yogurt or rice or almond milk.

 

Yes…these are huge! And they stuck together, hence why they look square-ish!

Gluten Free Flour Free Vanilla Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup raw almond butter
1/3 cup raw honey
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp organic ground vanilla bean (or vanilla extract)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
sea salt
3/4 cup chocolate chunks (I like Enjoy Life brand)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop large balls onto cookie sheet. I made 10 LARGE cookies. Bake for 20 mins.
These cookies spread easily and if theres not enough room between them they will bake together. NO biggie, you’ll just have to cut them apart. ENJOY!!!

Have a Happy Day!

Health & Abundance,
Samantha 🙂

 

 

SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest