Here is a healthy and delicious Chocolate Crunchies recipe to try that includes dark chocolate and many other beneficial ingredients.You can make a batch, cut it up and keep it in the freezer. It can also be served from frozen, which makes it wonderfully chewy and a little like a chocolate ice cream bar.
Dark Chocolate benefits:
- It can help prevent heart disease
Dark chocolate has compounds that act like antioxidants called flavonoids. Flavonoids will protect the body from harmful molecules. A piece of dark chocolate each day can lower blood pressure significantly and reduce LDL cholesterol which is the bad cholesterol.
- Improve your mood
Endorphins are produced when you eat Dark Chocolate and it also contains the chemical serotonin which acts as an anti-depressant.
- It can protect your skin
Researchers have found that the flavonoids in dark chocolate absorb UV light. This therefore helps protect and increase the flow of blood to the skin. This too will improve the skin’s hydration and complexion.
Chocolate Crunchies (Serves 10)
Ingredients
200g (7oz) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, broken in to chunks
125g (41/2oz) rough oatcakes
50g (2oz) goji berries
50 (2oz) Brazil nuts, roughly chopped
50g (2oz) pumpkin seeds
4 tsp ground mixed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
50g (2oz) hazelnut butter or unsalted peanut butter
Method
1. Melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmerimg water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
2. Put the oatcakes into a mixing bowl and crumble into small pieces. Stir in the goji berries, nuts, seeds and spices.
3. Stir the nut butter into the melted chocolate and mix until fairly smooth. Stir the chocolate mixture into the remaining ingredients, making sure the ingredients are evenly coated.
4. Spread the mixture over a baking sheet and put in the fridge or freezer to chill and harden. Break into shards or cut into rough pieces when set, ready to serve.
Partick Holford’s The 10 Secrets of 100% Health Cookbook
