The Summer Roll. A delicious nutty, chocolate, coconut, nougat treat. A treat that I’ve recreated in a slightly more nutritious manner… it’s made with nutrient dense seeds, nuts and coconut, far less sugar (just some maple syrup and the chocolate), and contains no wheat or dairy. Also tastes like a dream.

I was so happy with the ‘nougat’ in this. It’s a vegan version that has that chewiness you’d expect and is studded with peanuts. It’s also easy to handle which is a win when you’re trying to make mini chocolate bars.

The chocolate part in this recipe suggests using dark chocolate, I always use 75% or higher. You could also make a vegan chocolate by mixing cacao powder, maple syrup and coconut oil together (equal quantities oil and cacao + sweetener to taste).

I made sunflower seed butter myself, but you could use almond butter and you can buy that at most supermarkets these days or online. I have been wanting to try and make a seed butter for a while and I very lightly roasted the seeds first which gave a lovely flavour.

Makes 8 fun sized bars.

Ingredients

1/3 cup almond or sunflower seed butter

1 1/3 cups coconut flakes

2 Tbs Maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbs coconut flour

1/3 cup peanuts (roasted preferably)

1 cup dark chocolate pieces

2 Tbs coconut oil

Directions

Place 1 cup of the coconut flakes in a small food processor bowl and process until they almost become a butter. It should be wet but with pieces of coconut still visible, you want this texture.

Turn the oven to 150 and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Put remaining coconut on this and cook in the oven for a few minutes until just turning golden. Remove, crumble slightly and set aside. You can skip this step if you want to keep it ‘raw’.

Add the sunflower seed butter, vanilla extract and maple syrup to the coconut mixture in the food processor and pulse to combine. Then add the coconut flour and blend until a dough like ball forms. You have your nougat, now to shape it. Divide the dough in half, then half again then half again. You should now have 8 lumps, mould them into little bars, the size of fun sized chocolates. Place in the fridge to firm.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl above a pot of boiling water. Add the coconut oil and stir to combine. Place the cold bars on a wire rack with parchment paper underneath. Spoon chocolate over each bar, you’re doing this in layers so don’t worry if it’s not perfect this time. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm the chocolate, then repeat. You should have enough chocolate to do this 3 times. After the third time sprinkle the tops with coconut (be generous) before placing in the fridge again. You will probably have a fair amount of chocolate on the parchment paper, if you have any coconut eft over, sprinkle it over this chocolate and allow it to set and you’ll have some chocolate bark – bonus!

Keep the bars in the fridge for a few days or the freezer if you like them firmer.

HH. x