Who doesn’t love a Bounty Bar? They do give a slight illusion of being not too bad for you seen as they are filled with coconut, but we are not being fooled right. After getting lots on online inspiration I have experimented with my own take on a bounty bar. The result is my Bounty Balls.
I am forever on the search for healthy snack ideas, for not only myself, but also for the kids. I feel that it is really important to teach children balance when it comes to food. We should not place a ban on certain foods for kids, except obvious items like soft drinks and foods filled with preservatives and additives. When we ban certain foods, we naturally crave them even more. This is just that same in kids, as it is for adults who are restricting foods on diets or other ‘health’ plans. Having said this, we want them to experience all tastes, but lets make it as healthy as it can be.
These Bounty Balls contain healthy fats from the coconut oil which is essential for cellular health, hydrated skin and the brain. The desiccated coconut provides a nice dose of fibre plus vitamin C, folate, iron, potassium and magnesium. When we use a good quality dark chocolate that is made from at least 80% cocoa, then we are getting a nice hit of antioxidants. Put all of this together and these Bounty Balls not only taste great, but will give you a little nutrient hit.
Make a batch of these on the weekend and store them in the fridge as a handy little snack to get you through the afternoon or as an after dinner treat.
- • 1 cup desiccated coconut
- • dash natural vanilla extract
- • 1 tablespoon raw honey vegan – swap honey for coconut syrup or rice malt syrup
- • 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
- • 50 gm dark chocolate at least 80% cococa
- Combine the desiccated coconut, coconut oil, honey and vanilla in a bowl.
- Stir well to combine. If the mixture feels too dry then add a little more coconut oil until it starts to stick together. The amount of oil you need will depend on how dry your desiccated coconut is.
- Place this mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let it firm up. This will make it easier to form the balls.
- Once the mixture is firm, use your hands to form small balls out of the coconut. Set the balls aside.
- Melt the chocolate over a very low heat. You can do this in a double boiler (one saucepan sitting in another saucepan of boiling water), but for such a small amount of chocolate I find a low heat does the same job.
- Once melted, roll the coconut balls into the melted chocolate to cover.
- Place the coconut balls in the fridge to cool. Depending on how thick you want the chocolate coating, you can repeat the rolling in melted chocolate several times. Just cool them in the fridge between rolls.
- Store the finished balls in an airtight container in the fridge.