Chunky Dark Chocolate Dipped Cardamom Granola Bars
If you're anything like me, you often find your hand mindlessly wandering into the jar of granola throughout the day, with no idea how it got there! This is what inspired the creation of this granola bar, packed full of nuts, seeds and spices and, of course, dunked in 85% dark chocolate. It's a perfect nutrient-dense afternoon snack or on-the-go breakfast (you can leave off the chocolate if you'd prefer). I've included my favourite recipe for cardamom and coconut granola below but you can simply use your favourite recipe and follow from step 3.
Servings: 12-15 bars Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
Dry:
200g rolled oats
200g mixed nuts (eg almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans), roughly chopped
40g pumpkin seeds
40g sunflower seeds
3 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp flaxseed
25 g dried fruit (eg cranberries, apricots, dates or raisins)
25g desiccated coconut
1 tbsp ground cardamom
pinch of salt
Wet:
5 tbsp olive oil
80ml maple syrup
200g dark chocolate (70 – 80%)
black & white sesame seeds
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C fan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil and maple syrup then pour this over the dry ingredients and mix everything together thoroughly.
3. Ideally using a silicone tray with square or rectangular-shaped moulds, press the mixture in firmly using the back of a spoon. If you don’t have silicone moulds then a normal brownie tray will do. The mixture should be about 2cm thick.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.
5. Leave to cool completely before turning out.
6. Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie, dip in the granola bars and sprinkle with some black and white sesame seeds.
7. Leave to set in the fridge then store in an airtight container.
