Dinners are simple. Lunches are do-able. But sticking to healthy snacks? That’s tough. The most common downfall people have when trying to stick to healthy eating habits are their snack choices. Unlike dinners and lunches, which are planned ahead of time, snacks are often an impulsive decision based on convenience (and how overwhelmingly delicious that cupcake looks).
But that’s not how it has to be.
You’d be surprised at how big of a difference prepping your snacks ahead of time really makes! The key is to play into your natural cravings (savory, sweet, etc.) and make healthy options for yourself that you actually enjoy eating. That way fast food options seem much less appealing.
For a tasty hit of both salty and sweet, but without loads of sugar, try our keto-friendly chocolatey crunch bars!
Keto-Friendly Chocolatey Crunch Bar Recipe
This recipe is a delicious combination of chocolate and crunchy nuts and seeds, but there’s zero refined sugar. It uses superfoods like coconut oil and an unprocessed chocolate alternative, cacao powder. By using monk fruit sweetener, you can make this 100% keto-friendly, or for convenience’ sake, a pure maple syrup can be substituted.
The best part is you can completely customize the flavor profile by swapping out a variety of nut butters and nuts and seeds. The sky’s the limit!
You’ll want to make a simple homemade chocolate in advance.
Homemade Chocolate Spread Ingredients
- 1 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/2 cup Cacao Powder
- 1/3 cup monk fruit sweetener OR 100% pure maple syrup
Instructions
1. Melt all 3 ingredients together over low heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly.
2. Once they’re fully combined into a rich mixture, spoon it out into a bowl and set aside at room temperature.
Note: If you’re planning to finish the rest of the recipe another day, store your chocolate in the freezer, not the fridge.
Crunch Bar Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond butter (or swap for another nut butter of your choice. Cashew butter is phenomenal)
- 1/2 cup 100% pure maple syrup or monk fruit sweetener
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 3 cups mixed seeds and nuts of your choice (pumpkin, flax, hemp, sesame, cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc)
Instructions
1. Combine the almond butter, sweetener and coconut oil in a bowl (or saucepan over low heat if ingredients are solid at room temperature).
2. Mix in your nuts and seeds. Make sure you’ve mixed thoroughly.
3. Pour your melted chocolate in and mix until evenly coated.
4. Spoon into an 8×8 baking pan, cut into 9 squares, cover tightly, and then allow it to set in the freezer (at least 2 hours). (Tip: You can divide the squares with strips of parchment paper so they’re easier to remove individually)
5. When you’re reading to snack and enjoy, simply take a square out of the freezer about 30 minutes in advance. Don’t microwave to defrost.
