Recipe: Homemade Bounty Bars (With Real Food Ingredients) (Updated 4/12/12)

4/12/12: Hi All! I’ve now updated the recipe- please see toward the end of the post.

I’ve been inspired to make these from quite a few bounty bar recipes however most bounty bar recipes I have seen use margarine (not good eats). So I wanted to show you a recipe for bounty bars made with healthier and more nutritious ingredients (with vegan alternatives) and no artificial or fake foods insight! You can also choose to use ingredients that are fair trade and organic (which original bounty bars are neither) and make them as decorative as you like to indulge by yourself (or share with your loved ones)!

Why make your own chocolate? Apart from the fact that they taste pretty darn good, you also have the control to choose the ingredients you want to use (and make them healthier than commercially produced candy). I like to make these because I know what is in them and I can use much better quality ingredients than you could get in bought bounty bars. Another great reason to make these is because we all need a treat every now and again. It’s easier to stay healthy when we don’t deprive ourselves of treats, especially those made from wholesome ingredients.

See below red text for the updated recipe…

Makes: ~36 square pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 can organic coconut cream or a coconut meat and coconut water from 1 young coconut or 300ml organic dairy cream (I used Coconut Cream)
• 40g organic coconut oil or 50g organic unsalted grass-fed butter (I used the Organic Butter) (The oil/butter holds the coconut squares together and helps the mixture set)
• 1 t. vanilla extract or vanilla beans
• 100g organic desiccated coconut
• sweetener: 2 T. organic rapadura sugar or 2 T. maple syrup or 3 dates (blended with a bit of melted coconut oil or butter to form a smooth paste) (I used Rapadura Sugar)
• 200g chocolate*, to be melted

*I used Green and Blacks Organic Milk Chocolate- but you can use any kind you like. You could also use Cocolo Chocolates (which are soy emulsifier free) or try using dark chocolate instead of milk.

(I added what I used in the recipe in the brackets; (Coconut Cream, Butter, Rapadura etc).

Directions:

1. Heat coconut cream and coconut oil (or alternatives ingredients) and sweetener. Heat until the sweetener and oil dissolve into the cream. Stir in the vanilla.
2. Turn off the heat and stir in the coconut. You want a doughy consistency and for it to not be watery at all.
3. Pour into a greased and lined square tin (you can use butter or coconut oil to grease it). Press down with the back of a spoon until the mixture is quite compact into the tin and does not come apart.
4. Cover the container with a plate or foil and place in the fridge overnight to set.
5. When set (it should be quite firm) cut into cubes and place back in the fridge (until after the next step).
6. Temper your chocolate (see below for details on how to do that). This helps your chocolate get a nice crack and shine and to help set the chocolate on your coconut squares (and it makes sure you don’t burn it).
7. Cover your coconut squares with chocolate: place your coconut squares in the middle of the bowl of chocolate. Cover the square with chocolate using a big spoon to make sure it is completely covered. Lift the chocolate covered coconut square of the bowl. Shake a bit of excess chocolate off.
8. Place your chocolates on a piece of baking paper until set. Enjoy!

Homemade Bounty Bars (With Real Food Ingredients)

Updated Recipe: 4/12/12

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 ml) of full-fat coconut milk
• 2 C.  shredded coconut (it was about 130 g coconut)
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil or butter (heaped)
• 1/4 C. – 1/2 C. maple syrup
• Optional: 1/2 tsp. non-gm lecithin granules (this just helps to emulsify the coconut milk & oil together- it is an optional ingredient).
• 200 g dark chocolate

How to:

1. In a saucepan add the coconut milk, coconut oil, maple syrup & lecithin (if using). Heat on medium- low and stir until it all it dissolves together. Leave to cool to room temperature.
2. Stir in the shredded coconut. Pour this mixture into a tin lined with wax paper.
3.  Leave to set in the fridge. When set (it should be fairly firm), slice into squares and then place in the freezer to completely harden (this makes it easier to handle and to keep them stable when covering in chocolate).
4. Temper your chocolate (see below for details on how to do that). This helps your chocolate get a nice crack and shine and to help set the chocolate on your coconut squares (and it makes sure you don’t burn it).
5. Cover your coconut squares with chocolate: place your coconut squares in the middle of the bowl of chocolate. Cover the square with chocolate using a big spoon to make sure it is completely covered. Lift the chocolate covered coconut square of the bowl. Shake a bit of excess chocolate off on the inside of the bowl.
6. Place your chocolates on a piece of baking paper until set. Enjoy!

Tempering Chocolate- You Will Need:

• a metal bowl (wider than the saucepan)
• a smaller bowl, filled with water and ice
• a saucepan, filled with 3 cm of water
• a metal or plastic spoon (not wooden)
• a cooking thermometer
• your chocolate of choice, chopped

How to temper the chocolate:

(Here’s a great video on how to temper chocolate):

1. Place your water onto a boil then turn down to a simmer and turn off the heat.
2. Place your metal bowl over the now hot water (and heat turned off) and add the chocolate. Stir the chocolate with your metal spoon until it melts. Put your thermometer in and make sure it doesn’t go above 48 degrees Celsius (118 F).
3. When it reaches 48 take it off the hot saucepan and put it in your ice water bowl. Keep stirring. Wait till it cools down to 26 degrees.
4. When it has cooled down, turn your saucepan on again and place your metal bowl over the saucepan, now with the heat on. Put the thermometer into the chocolate and wait till the temperature of the chocolate reaches 48. When it’s at that temperature, turn off the heat. Your chocolate is now ready to use!
5. Simply place your coconut square into the chocolate with a fork and completely cover it. Tap your fork with the covered coconut square against the side of the bowl so excess chocolate comes off. Then place your chocolates on a lined tray until the chocolates harden!

Tips for tempering chocolate:

Make sure you don’t get any water or steam in your chocolate at any stage while tempering. Water= chocolate death!

Use only metal or plastic spoons to stir the chocolate.

If you let your chocolate go over 48 degrees C then its gone- you can’t use it any more.

It’s a good idea if you have one to use a thermometer to test the temperature when you’re heating a cooling the chocolate. I used a digital thermometer.

Having said all that, you don’t really need to temper the chocolate- but it does help to coat the coconut squares properly.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think of this recipe? Don’t you think it looks delicious? How do you think I could health-ify it? I want to know what you think- share your thoughts with me and the world below!

This blog post was submitted to Amy’s carnival called Slightly Indulgent Tuesday (May 18th)., Real Food Wednesday May 19th.

Michelle

Health Food Lover is Michelle Robson-Garth. Michelle is a degree-qualified Naturopath (BHSc) and Massage Therapist. She is also a passionate writer, recipe-creator and all-round foodie from Melbourne, Australia. © Copyright: 2009-2012 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com. Read the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

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