Recipe details
Ingredients
- 250g nuts of your choice (I used pistachios)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or ground cardamom also works well)
- 50g chocolate of your choice (I used Lindt Excellence Intense Mint)
Instructions
- Pre heat your oven to 170ºc and either line a small oven proof tray with greaseproof paper, or prepare a silicone mould. I purchased one of these from Amazon for less than £10 and it makes life so much easier as the bars are already shaped and uniform in size.
- In a medium bowl, combine your nuts, maple syrup, sea salt and spice. Stir well ensuring everything is evenly distributed and all of the nuts are well covered.
- Spoon the mixture into your tray or moulds, pressing the mix down with the back of the spoon to help encourage them to stick together when baking. Bake for 10 minutes and then leave to cool completely.
- Once your bars are cool, remove from the silicone moulds, or cut into even sized bars if using a tray.
- Roughly chop your chocolate and either melt in a heatproof bowl above a pan of simmering water, or heat in 15-30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring each time until it's melted. Dip the base of each bar in the chocolate, shaking off the excess and lay on a tray covered with greaseproof paper to set. If you have chocolate leftover I highly recommend drizzling over the top.
- Allow the chocolate to set and store them in an airtight container for 5-7 days (if you can get them to last that long!)
What makes these nut bars such a great snack?
Not only are they quick and easy to make, but you only need just five simple ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboards. You can also vary the type of nuts and chocolate you use, meaning you can make them just the way you like them. Peanut and white chocolate is another personal favourite of mine! Baking the bars gives these nuts a lovely roasted flavour, and the addition of sea salt and chocolate is the most delicious combination!
They are a great protein fix!
These nut bars are also a great source of protein. I made 8 small bars from this recipe, meaning each bar contained over 6 grams of protein, not to mention being packed full of fibre and essential fats.
Need some other flavour suggestions?
I used Mint Dark Chocolate and Pistachios for my bars, but here are some other ideas, adding dried fruit and other additions. When using other add-ins I recommend decreasing the nuts by 50g and adding 50g add-ins.
- White Chocolate, Dried Apricot and Macadamia
- Walnut and Blonde Chocolate
- Dark Chocolate, Desiccated Coconut and Cashews
- Honey Roasted Peanut and Milk Chocolate
- Mixed Nuts and Salted Dark Chocolate
- Dark Cherry, Chocolate & Almonds
- Maple Pecan and Dark Chocolate
