Chocolate Coconut Bars
Chocolate Coconut Bars – packed with coconut, oats, & raisins topped with a dark chocolate coconut ganache. Made with coconut oil & naturally sweetened.
Last year I first delved into baking using coconut oil with my chocolate peanut butter bake, a recipe which included refined sugar. This year you may have noticed some of my recipes have included a few bakes made with natural sugars – nothing wrong with a “everything in moderation” refined sugar treat but I’m enjoying exploring healthier alternatives.
Which leads me to Vita Coco and Foodies 100, who are running a competition looking for recipes using Vita Coco coconut oil. Since I’m always up for a challenge, I’ve enjoyed baking with coconut oil and I’m still researching natural sweetness in bakes, this competition is right up my street. I’ve gone with a naturally sweetened bake, packed it with coconut, oats and raisins and topped it with my chocolate coconut ganache as this worked so well with my peanut butter bake. The finished Chocolate Coconut Bars have been a huge hit with the family (it seems you’d never know they were a healthier bake) and I can’t make enough of them to keep everyone supplied !
You’ll love these seriously good Chocolate Coconut Bars packed full of coconut deliciousness, the dark chocolate ganache topping perfectly compliments the oat and raisin sweetness to blend all the flavours into a tempting treat.
The health benefits of coconut oil have been very well documented for quite some time and it really is a versatile product way beyond a baking ingredient. I use coconut oil in stir fries because its mild flavour doesn’t overpower a dish and its higher smoking point means there is less burn at higher temperatures. Also, coconut oil isn’t limited to being a foodstuff – it works wonders on my rough gardening hands and apparently doubles up as a hair conditioner, although I haven’t tried it on my hair yet 🙂
Chocolate Coconut Bars are so easy to make, simply add all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Whisk together the maple syrup, melted coconut oil and beaten egg, add to the dry mix and mix together.
Spread the mix into your prepared baking tin and pop in the the oven.
Pour over the melted chocolate coconut ganache and spread to cover your bake.
Sprinkle with shredded coconut and leave to set completely before cutting into bars.
Here’s the recipe in quick printable format so you can have it to hand while you try it out.
- 125 g (1 cup) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 75 g (1 cup) porridge oats
- 50 g ( ½ cup) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 150 g (1 cup) raisins or sultanas
- 150 g (½ cup) maple syrup or honey (I used maple syrup)
- 100 g (⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons) coconut oil (I used Vita Coco) melted
- 1 egg beaten
- 150 g (5 oz) plain chocolate chips or plain chocolate broken into pieces
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- Optional: Extra shredded coconut or coconut flakes for sprinkling
- Grease and line a baking tin 18 cm x 26 cm ( 7" x 10½") and preheat oven to 180℃ / 300℉ /Gas Mark 4
- Sieve flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and add oats, shredded coconut and raisins. Stir together.
- Whisk together maple syrup, coconut oil and beaten egg in a jug. Add to the dry ingredients and mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Spread mixture evenly into your prepared tin and pop into the oven for about 20 minutes until soft but not firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl over a pan of hot water and beat together until smooth. Pour over the coconut, oat and raisin bake and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle with extra shredded coconut or flakes. Leave to cool before removing from the tin and cutting into 12 bars or 24 squares.
You can find Vita Coco Coconut Oil at Tescos, Holland & Barret and online through Amazon.
This recipe is an entry into the #Swearbyit challenge with Vita Coco. Find more great coconut oil recipes and tips on using coconut oil at www.swearbyit.com
Can’t beat these bars, really easy to make and taste amazing. Gone down well with all the family, even those not usually so keen on coconut.
Thanks Jay, happy to hear your family enjoyed my Chocolate Coconut Bars and thanks for the 5 star review.
I’m finding more and more uses for coconut oil each week – So versatile. One of the tastiest looking are your bars though! Thanks once again for joining in with #bakeoftheweek. Roundup and new linky now open x
Thanks Helen, a pleasure to link up with #bakeoftheweek & look forward to linking up soon x
These look lovely. I have some coconut oil that I have yet to use so might try these
Thanks Alison, hope you do get to try them, let me know how you get on 🙂
Oh, these look great! I´m a real sucker for anything coconut and I really liked that these are slightly better for you. I also try to swap out the refined sugars every now and then and I´m so glad to another recipe to my collection 🙂
Thanks Petra, happy you’ve found another recipe for your naturally sweetened recipe collection 🙂
Chocolate and coconut, two of my favourite ingredients.
Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog, much appreciated 🙂
These look so good! I’m all up for sugar free treats as well. I wonder what would happen if you left the egg out… Must try! #CookBlogShare
Thanks Mandy, that is a good idea, the egg does hold the mixture together and give it that cookie texture, I would have to add more syrup or another alternative. Let me know if you try them x
I am always drawn to recipes where one of the ingredients is maple syrup and of course chocolate. Bars are always a good treat to have around for a quick bite 🙂
Me too, I love maple syrup and you can’t beat a good dark chocolate. Thanks for popping by Judi 🙂
These sound so tasty. Perfect with a coffee 🙂 Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare
Thanks Hayley & a pleasure to link up with #CookBlogShare 🙂
These bars look absolutely delicious. I am a chocoholic and love love raisins and coconut. I would never have thought to pair them together though. Thank you for sharing with FF!
Thanks Julie, I’d tried raisins and coconut in a cookie with chocolate chips and enjoyed the combination, so tried chocolate as a topping to my bars. A pleasure to join the Fiesta party and thanks for hosting x
Would love to try these yummy bars, I have all the ingredients.
Thanks Loretta, do let me know if you make them.