Chocolate Espresso Crunchy Bars.
Thick, dense, intense and sticky raw chocolate espresso dough bars studded with crunchy roasted buckwheat and topped with a layer of creamy chocolate. Sweetened by nature with chewy caramel dates and packed with wholesome but delicious ingredients – its vegan, its gluten-free and its the BEST easy no-bake recipe.
Serves: 10 small bars or 20 small bites | Total Cooking Time: 20 minutes + 1 hour freezing time
Ingredients
150 g raw buckwheat groats
1 tbsp of instant coffee granules
40 g cacao powder
60 g almond butter (or any other nut butter)
240 g pitted Medjool dates
100 ml unsweetened almond or oat milk
10 g (1 tbsp) vanilla protein powder
60 g oat flour (gluten free, if needed)
Topping
100 g vegan chocolate
1 tbsp coconut oil (or 1 tbsp cacao butter coins)
1 tsp instant coffee granules
Optional : sprinkle of pistachios
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170ºC and spread out the buckwheat groats onto a baking tray, bake for 10 minutes
Soak the dates in a small bowl of boiling water for 5 minutes, if hard. Then in a food processor combine the almond butter, milk, cacao, coffee, and dates; blend until fully mixed (it will still be a little lumpy). If you do not have a food processor, read the instructions below for an equipment-free option.
Add in the oat flour and vanilla powder, then blend again to thicken.
Remove the food processor from power and pour in the toasted buckwheat and manually mix them into the chocolate batter with a wooden spoon.
Line a small square, deep tray (you could use a lunchbox if you don’t have a tray) with parchment paper and press the mixture down firmly into the box, making sure its pressed down into every corner. Smooth down the top as best you can with the spoon.
Melt down the chocolate and coconut oil (or cacao butter coins) together in a microwavable bowl. Then in a separate cup, mix the coffee granules with a small drop of boiling water to dissolve. Then combine both coffee granules and chocolate mix together.
Spread the chocolate mixture on top of the frozen crunchy base and sprinkle on the pistachios, then place in the freezer or fridge to harden.
Finally, remove the chocolate slab from the tin and slice into bars or small bites with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
NO FOOD PROCESSOR? NO PROBLEM.
If you don’t have a food processor then don’t worry, you can still make these chocolate espresso & pistachio crunchy bars with a little bit of arm work, a large bowl and a potato masher.
Roast the buckwheat groats as per original recipe.
Soak the dates as normal for 5 or so minutes, then separate the water from the dates (keep the water for later) and mash as best you can until the dates start to form a caramel mixture.
Add in the almond butter, coffee, milk, and cacao powder and mash again. At this point, add in roughly 1-2 tbsp of the water you saved as this may help you to mash the mixture a little easier. Be careful not to make it too wet, however.
Add in your oat flour and vanilla powder and mash again. Add in another tbsp of water here, if needed, until a thick dough forms.
Fold the roasted buckwheat with a spoon into the mixture.
Line a small square, deep tray (you could use a lunchbox if you don’t have a tray) with parchment paper and press the mixture down firmly into the box, making sure its pressed down into every corner. Smooth down the top as best you can with the spoon.
Melt down the chocolate and coconut oil (or cacao butter) together in a microwavable bowl. Then in a separate cup, mix the coffee granules with a small drop of boiling water to dissolve. Then combine both coffee granules and chocolate mix together.
Spread the chocolate mixture on top of the frozen crunchy base and sprinkle on the pistachios, then place in the freezer or fridge to harden.
Finally, remove the chocolate slab from the tin and slice into bars or small bites with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.