"Healthy" Chocolate Candy "Bark"!

 My recipe for healthy chocolate candy can easily be made gluten free and sugar free. Try different nuts, dried cherries, even cinnamon and chipotle spice! 

Consuming a little chocolate and a little coconut oil daily has been shown to have many health benefits!

1 1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 to 1/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
stevia or coconut sugar to sweeten
3/4 cup salted peanuts or other nuts of choice
 a few teaspoons of caramel,
optional

Place chilled (this helps the chocolate to set up more quickly) nuts in the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. 

Melt oil over low heat in a small saucepan on the stove. Whisk in sweetener of choice until the sweetener is thoroughly dissolved. Pour the chocolate mixture over the nuts, making a thin layer in the bottom of the pan. Place pan in freezer to set up until firm, for approximately 30 minutes.

Remove from freezer and drizzle a small amount of the caramel (if using) over the chocolate with a spoon. Allow the caramel to harden a bit, then break up the now solid chocolate bark with a table knife and store in the refrigerator.

Makes: 2 cups of chocolate candy "bark".

This recipe is taken from my cookbook:
"The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free"
which is available at various retail stores and at my website: www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org