Finally, here is the recipe for the raw chocolate energy bars I made a few weeks ago as sustenance on an almost 30k walk without having to stop to eat a meal.
I wanted to take something that was easy to nibble on the go, wouldn’t feel too filling and contained all the essential ingredients involved in a sports drink with none of the unhealthy additives and a lot more nutritional value. Apart from anything else, bottled sports drinks contribute to the ever growing problem of plastic bottles in the environment and often contain nothing more than water with synthetic flavour, colour and a few minerals added (namely potassium, sodium and magnesium). All of these minerals are available in actual, real food and it’s cheaper to add a pinch of pink salt and a small amount of fruit juice to a normal bottle of water (and eat a medjool date or two before you take off). Most people who end up in trouble during fast, hot, sweaty endurance events have usually over-hydrated (with plain water which dilutes essential salts in the body and leads to hyponatremia), but initial symptoms between lack of hydration and too much can be similar. In fact, in the rare instances where people have died during endurance events – or at dance parties – it’s usually because the body is quite possibly under stress (thus limiting the ability of the kidneys to work efficiently), combined with intense sweating and over-drinking plain water (which flushes out all the essential minerals and salts needed to keep us alive).
I’m not big on measuring, but I’ve done my best…(organic is always better….) and really, use what you like!
Raw Chocolate Fruit & Nut Energy Bars
– 100g Lindt 70% (or another nice dark chocolate)
– 100g of raw cocoa nibs (or 200g dark choc, you decide..)
– 50 g raw cocoa butter (optional)
– 50 g coconut oil
– Half teaspoon turmeric
– Couple of grinds of black pepper
– 200g of mixed nuts (ground finely in the thermo or processor) – I used almonds, brazils and cashews
– large handful of pepitas or other seeds (dry roasted and ground)
– Half cup of chia seeda
– 200 g dried fruit (I used organic apricots, prunes, medjools and cranberries)
– Dessert spoon of raw cocoa powder (optional)
– Pinch of pink salt
– Spoonful of manuka honey, raw honey or organic maple syrup (optional and to taste – this recipe isn’t overly sweet).
METHOD
– Melt choc/nibs/cocoa butter/coconut oil in a bowl above a saucepan of simmering water. Stir in the turmeric, black pepper and salt.
– Grind nuts and seeds to a powder (or leave coarser – whatevs)
– Stir nut mix / all seeds and cocoa powder into chocolate.
– Process fruit with honey/maple syrup in thermo until small pieces
– Stir fruit into chocolate mixture.
– Line a 20 x 10 (or so) pan with either gladwrap or baking paper. Pour in the choc mix and spread evenly. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
-Cut into bite size pieces.
This is pretty rich, not sweet, and a little bitter – for grown ups really. If you want to make these for the kiddies you might choose to use a good quality organic chocolate they find a bit more palatable. All in moderation right?
Time….always gets the better of me but I’ll be back to pop all the nutritional benefits of all these ingredients on to this blog soon, but, in short, there’s tons of magnesium, potassium and other minerals as well as essential b vitamins, protein/amino acids and anti-oxidants. With fresh water, I’d pick something like this over a sports drink any day.