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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Chocolate nut bars with salt

February 23, 2019 by Ania - 16

chocolate, easy, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-freego to recipe

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chocolate nut bars side

Duncan is off to a running camp this weekend. I am so jealous, although I am not in reality, as the kind of mileage he will be doing there is totally beyond my reach. I am just jealous of the fact that he is able to run, as I haven’t run in almost 3 weeks due a psoas injury (and the flu) and it feels like I have totally forgotten how to. Do you get that too when you’ve had to take time off? I find myself dreading going back while wanting to at the same time. It’s a very strange feeling.

So Duncan is super excited about his weekend and I am excited for him too, as this is the 2nd time he has been trying to take part. Last year a nasty cold sabotaged his plans and he had to pull out at the last minute, losing a lot of money as a result. He was devastated as he was looking forward to this camp so much, poor thing!

The only thing he is a bit concerned about this year is what he will be eating, as it’s the kind of camp where they tend to throw a carvery night on the final night, which is a pretty horrible experience for a vegan – everyone chewing on animal body parts and going on about how nice and tender they are. Eugh!

He has obviously told them that he is vegan and there is one more vegan participant apparently, so there is hope, but he doesn’t have high expectations. To help him out a little, I made a double batch of nut bars so that he can take them with him and sustain himself if things are grim in the food department. I thought you might be interested in the recipe, so here it is!

They are simple to make and delicious, yet pretty addictive unfortunately (says she while snacking on them while taking photos) and you can only get away with eating lots of them if, like Duncan, you consider 10 km (6 miles) run at a brisk pace a mere warm up.

PS: If you make my chocolate nut bars, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

chocolate nut bars mixing

chocolate  nut bars pressing

chocolate  nut bars baked

chocolate nut bars cutting

chocolate nut bars marble stack

chocolate nut bars marble

5.00 from 3 votes
Print
  • makes: 8
  • prep: 10 min
  • cooking: 40 min

Ingredients

  • 100 g / 1 cup almonds
  • 30 g / ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
  • 65 g / ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • 25 g / ¾ cup puffed rice
  • 28 g / ¼ cup ground flax seeds
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 75 ml / ¼ cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 85 g / 3 oz dark dairy-free chocolate

Method

  1. Line a small baking tin (I used a 2lb / 900 g baking tin*) with a piece of baking paper. Grease the bottom of the tin (lined with baking paper) with tiny amount of oil as the bars tend to get stuck to the paper.
  2. Preheat the oven to 160° C / 320° F.
  3. Place all the dry ingredients (up until vanilla essence) in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Mix vanilla essence and maple syrup in.
  5. Spread the mixture in the paper lined baking tin. Press the mixture down really well so that there are no gaps / air pockets and the bars hold together well. Use a piece of baking paper with a flat-bottomed glass on top to be able to pack the mixture better.
  6. Bake for about 40 minutes.
  7. Take out of the oven and compress the mixture again using the upside down glass trick, I also tend to weigh it down with something heavy while the mixture is cooling down. Allow it to cool down completely before cutting or applying melted chocolate.
  8. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler slowly. Once the chocolate has melted, spread it on top of the bars using a spatula. Pop the tin into the freezer for 15 minutes for the chocolate to set.
  9. Cut into equal size pieces with a sharp knife. Store the bars in an airtight container.

Notes

*I used a 2 lb / 900 g cake tin of the following dimensions: 18.5cm / 7″ x 8cm / 3″ x 6cm / 2.5″. (I used one like this).

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Sarah | Well and Full says

    February 25, 2019 at 8:31 pm

    These bars look so tasty! 🙂 Hope Duncan has a fun time at his camp!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 25, 2019 at 9:38 pm

      Thanks, Sarah! He did although he pushed it too hard and he is sick again 🙁 (he hasn’t quite fully recovered before the camp), poor thing. Hopefully, some more rest will sort him out! x

      Reply
  2. Judy says

    March 3, 2019 at 12:51 am

    Trying this recipe tomorrow…. I don’t see a mention of the salt. Which type of salt do you like to use on top of the chocolate? These look delicious!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 4, 2019 at 12:01 am

      Hi Judy,

      Any type you like is fine, I simply use coarse sea salt. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  3. Sprinklerbird says

    March 12, 2019 at 7:00 am

    Hi Ania, I just found your blog after searching for gluten free seed bread. You are very talented and I love your recipes. I’m also originally from Krakow, but I live in Canada now. I look forward to seeing more of your recipes.
    papa, Ola.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 17, 2019 at 12:59 pm

      That’s great to hear, Ola! I hope you’ll enjoy my recipes! Pozdrawiam serdecznie! x Ania

      Reply
  4. Tina H says

    March 13, 2019 at 8:19 pm

    Hi Anita. These look delicious. I hate the taste of flaxseed. Would ground chia seeds work instead, or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 17, 2019 at 12:56 pm

      Hi Tina,

      Yes, ground chia seeds would work well also. They are probably your best bet. Hope you’ll enjoy these! Ania

      Reply
  5. Elizabeth says

    March 14, 2019 at 3:32 am

    This look amazing!!! I’m confused by “75 ml / ¼ cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup” – sorry!! Is that 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup? Thanks

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 17, 2019 at 12:53 pm

      Hi Elizabeth,

      Yes, that’s exactly what that means. I am strive to provide both metric and US measurements and 75 ml does not translate to US measurements neatly so I have had to say: ¼ cup (which is 60 ml) + 1 tbsp (which is 15 ml). Hope that makes sense! Ania

      Reply
  6. Vegan em says

    March 16, 2019 at 4:45 am

    These bars are absolutely delicious. Yummmy.. however, mine fell apart.. even following the directions to a T… #devo.. but I won’t give up.. I’ll try again.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 17, 2019 at 12:50 pm

      Hi Em,

      I’m glad you enjoyed them! I am sorry to hear that you had issues with them staying together. Assuming that you used ground flax and did not reduce the amount of maple syrup (they are both responsible for holding these together), I would suggest that next time you make them a little more compression would be good. I use an upside down jar over a piece of baking paper and go over the mixture many times, pressing hard, to ensure that everything is compact and stuck together before baking. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  7. Kim says

    July 26, 2019 at 3:00 am

    Ania, these bars are amazing. I have made them many times now and they are easy, fool proof and delicious! I use rice malt syrup instead of maple syrup and occasionally LSA instead of flaxseed meal and sometimes I swap out the nuts and seeds depending on what I have at the time, so it’s easily adaptable . Thank you for sharing your beautiful recipes.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 26, 2019 at 1:25 pm

      I’m so pleased to hear that, Kim! Thank you for taking the time to let me know and to rate the recipe – it helps me grow this blog! Much appreciated! x Ania

      Reply
  8. Ritu says

    October 30, 2019 at 5:29 pm

    Thanks for this amazing recipe Ania…I’m going to try it tomorrow but needed a suggestion…what could I replace maple syrup with ? Don’t have it ready at hand and also do you think dry roasting the nuts would be a good idea ???

    Thanks Ritu ( Mumbai )

    Reply
    • Ania says

      October 30, 2019 at 8:33 pm

      Hi Ritu,

      Maple syrup could be replaced with brown rice syrup or agave syrup, I am pretty sure – basically any other liquid sweetener. Otherwise, you could make a sugar syrup instead. I would advise against roasting the nuts in this case as the bars get baked and some of the nuts may get burnt as a result. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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