HOW TO MAKE SUPERFOOD CHOCOLATE BARK

December 8, 2017

Delight your friends and family (or yourself!) with this DIY superfood chocolate bark. It makes for an easy and delicious handmade gift and a great addition to a holiday potluck.

While there’s nothing wrong with an indulgent dessert, the idea behind this bark is to create a ‘better for you’ treat that’s tasty and has some nutritional value. Getting a boost of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (while eating a chocolatey treat) sounds pretty super to me!

Below is a handy list of ingredient ideas. Don’t use all of them in one bark. That might be nutritious, but probably wouldn’t taste very good. (I like a topping mixture of pumpkin seeds, pistachios, goji berries, plus a touch of matcha and hemp hearts mixed into the chocolate)

BUY CHOCOLATE

Ingredient Inspiration

Nuts + Seeds

Almonds
Hazelnuts
Pumpkin Seeds
Hemp seeds
Shredded coconut
Chia seeds
Brazil nuts
Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Pistachios
Sesame seeds
Cashews

Dried Fruit

Cranberries
Goji berries
Freeze dried berries
Candied ginger
Papaya
Mango
Banana chips

Powders

Maca powder
Matcha powder
Wheatgrass powder
Beet powder
Spirulina or chlorella powder
Turmeric
Salt
pepper

*see note below for powder use

Other

Puffed quinoa
Crispy rice
Cacao nibs
Bee pollen

How to Use Powders

There are a couple different ways you can incorporate powders – you can mix them into the melted chocolate or sprinkle them on top. Because powders are fairly concentrated, be careful not to add too much or they may leave an overpowering flavour. The idea with most of these is to bump up the nutrition of the bark, not to flavour it. Do powders seem too intimidating? No problem – skip ‘em!

Tip: try melting some white chocolate, mixing it with matcha powder or beet powder and drizzling it over your bark for a festive pop of green or red!

How to Make Superfood Chocolate bark

I’m not going to give you hard and fast measurements here, because you can really customize that to make it your own. Want it to be really chocolatey? Don’t add as many toppings. You get the idea.

Set up the ingredients that you want to include. Do any chopping and such before the chocolate is melted. You don’t want to be messing around with toppings only to find that your chocolate has already hardened.
You also want to set up your tools – line a baking sheet with parchment paper and ready a chocolate spreading spatula (the bigger the better, you want to work quickly).
Grab your dark chocolate of choice and melt it – use the stove or microwave. (Obviously use whatever chocolate you want – but if the idea is to be a superfood bar, dark chocolate is great!)
Mix any addition that you want to be fully incorporated into the chocolate at this point (not toppings). If you’re mixing in a powder like maca, do so gently and incorporate it slowly. Don’t use anything with water or you risk your chocolate seizing.
Spread your chocolate evenly over the parchment lined baking sheet.
Start placing your ingredients on the melted chocolate – you can be as random or ordered as you want! You may need to give the toppings a gentle push down so that they stay stuck in the chocolate.
Once finished, place the pan in a cool place to harden. The fridge is not recommended because it can cause chocolate bloom (white sugar crystals on the surface of the chocolate).
Once fully hardened, haphazardly break apart your bark. (Use a knife or your hands)

Are you going to give it away as a gift? Why not use a glass jar, compostable bag, or reuse a vintage tin. #LetsNotWaste (And while you’re at it, you should probably make homemade irish cream to go with your gift!)

SHOP NUTS + SEEDS
+ DRIED FRUIT

Fiona

When Fiona's not spending her time as a social media and content coordinator at SPUD.ca, you can find her playing with her kitten, tending to many house plants, or messing around in the kitchen creating new plant-based recipes for her blog, Plantily.com