PALEO VEGAN LOW CARB 'BOUNTY' BARS
If you love Bounty bars then you'll love this super simple recipe to make your own. Little bites of delicious coconut goodness covered in chocolate. And to make them even better, this recipe is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and completely sugar free! Find out just how easy these Paleo Vegan Low Carb Bounty Bars are to make.
It’s been a while since my last recipe – nearly 2 months in fact. After I completed my Paleo Low Carb Great British Bake Off Challenge just before Christmas I have not felt any inclination to bake whatsoever! The challenge was pretty intense. 10 bakes, in what was meant to be 10 weeks but became 15, it was a LOT of experimental baking. So you can imagine my need for a break from it all. Every weekend since I’ve thought to myself ‘ooh I might bake some cake or something’ but in the end the motivation just isn’t there. But I have been compiling a list of paleo and low carb bakes I want to try this year once I can muster up the energy and get my apron back on. Watch this space….
So my taste for cake has somewhat waned and my sweet tooth is currently quite happy with fruit, but also the recent discovery of Pret’s Dairy Free Coconut Bites. I have become obsessed with these little bites of coconut heaven which are basically Bounty bars but without the usual mass-produced confectionery crap. Dairy free and low carb, made primarily with coconut and a little carob syrup, these bites have gotten me through a rough start to the new year. I was having one a day for about 2 weeks (carefully factoring them into my daily calorie allowance of course as though they are little they still pack a whopping 207kcals – you gotta love all that saturated fat from coconut).
And so my daily indulgence and the £1.45 I spent each day, it got me thinking about how easy they would be to replicate, to make my own version ensuring that extra low carb element of being totally sugar free. I’ve made coconut bites in the past with just desiccated coconut, coconut oil and stevia, and this wouldn’t be too dissimilar only adding something for extra creaminess and covering it in chocolate. There were plenty of recipes online for paleo Bounty bars, but for my recipe I wanted it to be as close to Pret’s Dairy Free Coconut Bites, and so my recipe is simply based on their ingredient list.
These Paleo Vegan Low Carb Bounty Bars are super easy to make and the only fiddly bit is the dipping in chocolate. I hate getting my hands dirty and hate getting them oily even more, so I formed the bars by leaving them to set in a dish and sliced into bars. But if you want to you can form each bar/bite by hand which makes them look more like the original Bounty. My dish was also quite wide and shallow so my bars are flatter than I’d like. If you like your bars/bites chunkier then use a smaller dish/tray or form by hand. Of course it doesn’t affect the taste but in terms of portion sizes, I would definitely keep them on the smaller size. Though these make for great fat bombs if you’re on a low carb keto diet, but the calories still stack up so don’t go crazy ok.
So easy to make – you ready to try it? Go!
Makes: 16-24 Bars/Bites Prep Time: 15 mins Chill Time: 30 mins Total Time: 45 mins
INGREDIENTS
THE BAR
1 cup Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut
1 200g box of Creamed Coconut*
¼ Cup Coconut Oil
2 tsp. Stevia
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
½ tsp. Salt
THE COATING
100g Dairy and Sugar Free Chocolate** or Dark Chocolate if you don't mind a little sugar
NOTE:
*Creamed coconut is not to be confused with coconut cream. Creamed coconut is dehydrated coconut meat that has been grounded into a paste and formed into a hard block. This then softens when heated above room temperature. You can typically find blocks of creamed coconut in the ethnic food aisles of supermarkets.
**The brand of dairy and sugar free chocolate I use is Plamil's . Link below to buy yours
DIRECTIONS
Place all the bar ingredients into a food processor and mix until fully combined.
Line a 9” x 7” baking tin (or smaller if you like chunkier bars) with baking parchment and pour in the mixture.
Slice into equal sized bars and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan over boiling water.
Dip the bars in the chocolate to coat and place on a cooling rack over a baking tin to catch the drips.
Leave to set in the fridge for 15 minutes.
These Paleo Vegan Low Carb Bounty Bars are sooooo moreish and so dangerous for your waistline! Enjoy in moderation!