White Chocolate Dipped Puffed Millet Bars with Strawberries & Pistachios

*These White Chocolate Dipped Puffed Millet Bars are gluten, refined sugar, and dairy free, with a vegan option.

You may think of cereal bars as a casual, austere child’s treat. I used to. Until I met these bars. And while I love a chocolate dipped cereal bar, I couldn’t help but think that a white chocolate bar would be just as good, maybe even better.

Except for one issue. Conventional white chocolate is loaded with milk and sugar. It’s not exactly a wholesome version of chocolate and I wasn’t about to dip my “better for you than other cereal bars” bars into it.

So I pulled out my blender and made a white chocolate with a few of my favorite ingredients:

Cocoa Butter (edible grade, of course)

Coconut Butter

Coconut Oil

and soaked Cashews.

Cocoa Butter is an absolute must for white chocolate in any form and gives the chocolate that classic white chocolate flavor. Coconut Oil and Coconut Butter stretch the cocoa butter further, act as the base of the chocolate, and solidify when cold. Cashews blend into the mixture and give a creamy, rich quality to what would otherwise be a somewhat clear chocolate.

The bars themselves are made up of puffed millet, chopped cashews, chia seeds, and freeze dried strawberries. You can use any puffed cereal that you like, but the small size of the millet works wonderfully in the bars. Freeze dried strawberries allow these bars to last for several weeks in the fridge since they have no moisture to make the bars soggy.

The pistachios and chia seeds add crunch, and of course, a yummy dose of nutrition.

Kept in a sealed container in the fridge, these bars can keep for several weeks. I LOVE to grab on as a snack on the go, or even for a little dessert. It’s nice to have both chocolate and white chocolate bars available so that you can choose depending on your mood.

More nutritious snacks?

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Crunch Macadamia Bars

Chocolate Superfood Matcha Mint Slice

Raw Sunflower Butter Cups

White Chocolate Dipped Puffed Millet Bars with Strawberries & Pistachios

 

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Serves: 16-18 bars

Ingredients

• FOR THE BARS:
• ⅓ cup Honey (if vegan, use brown rice syrup or agave)
• ⅓ cup Brown Rice Syrup
• ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
• 3½ cups Puffed Millet
• ½ cup Pistachios, roughly chopped
• ⅓ cup Freeze Dried Strawberries, plus extra for garnish
• 1 tablespoon Chia Seeds
• FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE:
• ¾ cup Cacao Butter
• 4 tablespoons Coconut Butter
• 7 tablespoons Coconut Oil
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla
• 2½ tablespoons Agave Syrup
• ½ cup Cashews, soaked

Instructions

1. FOR THE BARS:
2. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper (make sure it runs at least 1 inch over the sides). Set aside.
3. Place the honey and brown rice syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Whisk in the sea salt.
4. In another large mixing bowl, toss together the puffed millet, pistachios, strawberries, and chia seed.
5. Pour the honey mixture into the bowl of puffed cereal and use a rubber spatula to mix everything together until all the ingredients are well distributed and mixture sticks together.
6. Scrape the mixture into the parchment lined pan. Grease your hands with a little oil and press the mixture down firmly until it is level.
7. Place the pan in the freezer for 1 hour.
8. Remove the pan from the freezer and lift the parchment paper out of the pan. Peel the parchment paper off of the sides and cut mixture into bars. You should get about 16-18 bars, depending on how thick you cut them.
9. Place the bars on a baking sheet, spaced apart, and place in the freezer while you make the white chocolate.
10. TO MAKE THE WHITE CHOCOLATE:
11. Place the cacao butter, coconut butter, and coconut oil in a small saucepan and heat on low, stirring occasionally until completely melted.
12. Scrape the mixture into the bowl of a high speed blender. Add the vanilla, agave, and cashews (drained!) to the blender, cover, and puree until mixture is VERY smooth. Pour into a bowl.
13. Remove the bars from the freezer and one a time, dip them into the white chocolate. Let them sit in the chocolate for about 30 seconds, coating all sides in the mixture. The cold bars will help the mixture to solidify around them. Tap off excess chocolate and place bars on a parchment lined sheet. Sprinkle chopped freeze dried strawberries on top of the bars, if you like. Place back in the freezer until the chocolate is hard.
14. Once the chocolate is hard, you can place them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge. They will keep for several weeks.

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