Vegan Chocolate Silk Coconut Crunch Bars
Try this Vegan Chocolate Silk Coconut Crunch Bars recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Vegan Chocolate Silk Coconut Crunch Bars recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup flax/hemp seeds
- 4 tbsp brown sugar substitute
- 1 can full fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight, liquid discarded
- 4 squares unsweetened baker's chocolate use dairy free for vegan option
- 1/2 cup brown sugar substitute
- Carbohydrate 219.201799961602 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 143.145275020707 g
- Fiber 27.8299998880246 g
- Protein 43.2331250102534 g
- Saturated Fat 58.2617750043188 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (425g)
- Sodium 239.11750017536 mg
- Sugar 191.371800073578 g
- Trans Fat 11.2425675006176 g
- Calories 2207 calories
Step-by-step
- Line a square cake pan with parchment for easy removal.
- In a food processor, pulverize the sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, and hemp/flax, scraping down the sides of the food processor cup, until it is a very fine texture. About 5 minutes.
- Add coconut oil and pulse a few times to combine.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the granola mixture for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Divide the mixture in half and press into the lined baking pan.
- In a saucepan, heat the coconut cream and brown sugar substitute on medium and bring to a simmer. About 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add in chocolate squares and whisk until smooth.
- Return to low heat and stir in peanut butter until melted. A few chunks are ok!
- Pour into the prepared granola pan and top with remaining granola and extra coconut flakes.
- Cool in freezer for at least 1 hour.
- Cut into squares.
Swapping almond butter for the peanut butter alters the emulsion stability entirely, yielding a firmer final square due to different saturated fat profiles. Seeds and coconut flakes must be processed continuously for five full minutes in a food processor to break down rigid plant cell walls, releasing natural oils that act as binders without requiring traditional flour or grains. Because the recipe relies heavily on chilling to set, utilizing the freezer for one solid hour allows the high concentration of saturated fats from the full-fat coconut milk and baker's chocolate to form a stable crystal lattice.
The Chemistry of Coconut Cream and Chocolate Ganache
Simmering the coconut cream with the sweetener drives off excess water content, which is a critical step because even a few drops of stray moisture can cause melted chocolate to seize and turn grainy. Whisking the unsweetened baker's chocolate directly into the hot, reduced coconut cream melts the cocoa solids while the remaining fat coats the sugar particles uniformly. Peanut butter enters the warm mixture last, introducing emulsifiers like natural lecithins that help bridge the gap between the cocoa butter and the aqueous coconut liquids, producing a glossy silk layer that resists separation. When this mixture meets the compressed sunflower seed and coconut crust, thermal transfer happens rapidly, requiring immediate freezing to halt crystallization before the layers bleed into one another.
- If the ganache appears grainy, excessive heat likely scorched the cocoa solids or residual moisture introduced a seizure, which can sometimes be rescued by vigorously whisking in a teaspoon of warm coconut oil.
- Should the bars remain too soft to slice cleanly after sixty minutes in the freezer, transfer them to the deepest part of the chilling unit for an additional thirty minutes to harden the saturated coconut fats further.
- Store these squares exclusively in sub-freezing conditions because room temperature exposure causes the high oil content to soften the structural integrity within minutes.
