Granola Bars and Chocolate Mousse
Yum!
These recipes use chocolate chips, which can be hard to find without sugar. I haven’t succeeded yet, so I have an upcoming recipe for how to make your own chocolate chips too! In the meantime, I have found that we don’t have a reaction to Enjoy Life brand, although they do have sugar. They only have three ingredients, however: Evaporated Cane Juice (there’s the sugar,) Cocoa, and Cocoa Butter. Unless you make your own, you probably aren’t going to find any more allergen-free.
You might remember this post about Dream Bars awhile ago. I mentioned the possibility of turning them into cookies in that post, but hadn’t yet tried it myself. I changed the recipe just a little to make a chewier version of the crispy dream bars, and then painted one side with melted chocolate for a very Keebler-ish granola treat. These could be cookies or bars. I happened to make mine like drop cookies tonight.
Chocolate Covered Granola Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Covered Granola Bars/Cookies:
(makes 10 cookies or bars)
1 1/4 cup oatmeal- certified gluten free (mine was previously soaked and toasted)
1 pinch sea salt
1/2 stick butter (or 1/4 c coconut oil)
1 tsp maple syrup (or honey)
2 large eggs
1 tbs coconut flour
1 tbs shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp lucuma powder (optional)
Cream together maple syrup, butter, and eggs, and then mix in dry ingredients until well blended. Drop by tablespoon onto parchment-lined cookie pan, or spread with spatula over parchment. Batter will be thick and quite malleable. Shape with hands or spatula to tuck in any wayward pointy parts where coconut or oats stick up in order to prevent those from burning.
Bake at 350*F for about 20 minutes.
You can stir in the chocolate chips if you want, for an easier recipe, or mix 1/4 c chocolate chips with 1 tbs coconut oil (optional- I added for extra fat and flavor, but it does make them melt easier) and melt. Using the back of a spoon or pastry brush, “paint” the mixture across part or all of the cookies or bars. Put in refrigerator for about 20 minutes to harden. Serve cold or at room temperature. (You could also wait until chocolate hardens in the fridge and go back to paint the other side of the cookies if you want to be really indulgent, or even dip them if you melted more chocolate and put it into a shallow dish suitable for dipping.)
I want to try these dipped in chocolate and then rolled in crushed pecans. Adding raisins in the cookie mixture would tip the sugar content over the top if you’re looking for super-duper sweet.
I get these menu mailers to my email, and have for about eight years now… ones from all the major food brands. I have canceled most of them, but sometimes one will spark an idea or I will be able to convert a recipe even within the constraints of our diet. A few days ago, I received one for chocolate mousse. It used Cool Whip, which is definitely not a part of our consumption, so I amended it and changed it to homemade whipped cream with a little maple syrup and it worked wonderfully. I’m excited to play with this recipe more and try it with different flavors. We love a good mousse, and it was pretty quick and easy to make, as far as desserts go!
Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Mousse:
(Makes 4-6 servings)
1 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp maple syrup (or honey)
3/4 c chocolate chips
1 pinch fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 envelope Knox plain gelatin powder
Pour the milk into a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin across the top. Let sit for 1 minute and then whisk into milk. Add chocolate chips and salt and heat over low heat, whisking now and then until chocolate is all melted and combined. Remove from heat and set aside.
In clean bowl, whip the cream with maple syrup. Slowly add the chocolate mixture and vanilla and stir gently with spoon until mixed. This will melt your whipped cream some, but don’t worry! Put bowl in freezer (I used a stainless steel bowl so it would get cold faster) and stir gently every 10 minutes for about 40 minutes until it looks frothy and mousse-like. Spoon into pretty bowls, glasses, or dishes ,and top with more whipped cream, chocolate curls, sifted lucuma powder, cookies, biscotti, raspberries, mint leaves…. the sky is the limit!… or just leave plain.
Lil Pea enjoyed it 
*Linked to Sweets for a Saturday and Gluten-Free Wednesdays
Those bars sound delicious and healthy too. Your mousse looks so creamy. I’m not surprised that it was enjoyed so much. I have a linky party on my blog right now called “Sweets for a Saturday” and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link this up.
Hi Lisa! Thanks for the invite! I stopped by and linked up
How would one go about soaking/toasting oats before using them? I haven’t found a good granola bar recipe yet and can’t find any without trace of peanuts in the store.
I put certified gluten-free oats- I use Bob’s Red Mill- (if you are fine with gluten, you can disregard that part!) in a bowl and then add water until covered. Then I add 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tbs whey (if not using whey, increase the salt to 1 tbs) and stir gently. Let sit for about 8 hours and then rinse and rinse and rinse some more until they don’t feel or look slimy. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can and then put in dehydrator on low or in a very low oven (with the door cracked open) until oats are completely dry and crispy. Mine usually take about 8 hours on the lowest setting to really dry out.
Then I crumble them and use them as normal.
You can find soaking/toasting information through the Weston A. Price foundation, or in the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. The reason for soaking and toasting grains and nuts is to remove the components that make them less digestible. According to the research of Weston A. Price, this was done in ancient societies, as well as more modern societies who practice traditional eating- societies with a track record for excellent health, strong teeth and bones, as well as beauty.
Hope that helps!
Thanks! I’ve nearly bought that book many times. It’s just that we don’t do dairy and everything is so heavy on dairy, but I’m sure there’s lots of other useful knowledge/recipes in the book that would make it worth it to me.
No problem! It is dairy-heavy, for sure. You can sub extra salt or apple cider vinegar for your soaking though.
Don’t you work with Twig? If this is the Alisha I think it is, you can borrow my NT book any time you want- I can send it with him
I’ve never made chocolate mousse, but I’ve always wanted to. Your recipe looks easy enough, too! Yum.
Thanks! Hubby said it was the best dessert EVER and is begging me to make more. Gotta wait for the roads to be passable and go get more milk from the farm first!
The granola bars and the mousse both look good. I love the picture of Lil Pea!