Easy baked snack bars with dried fruit, ginger, oats and chocolate.
" data-orig-size="3750,5334" data-image-title="Ginger and dark chocolate snack bars" data-image-caption="" aperture="aperture" />I had to play around with this recipe a few times to get it just right, and I’m so glad I persevered because these ginger and dark chocolate bars are absolutely delicious! They’re chewy and oaty with a tasty hint of ginger. The dark chocolate layer at the bottom finishes them off perfectly. I would definitely classify these as a treat snack, and they are rather lovely as an afternoon pick-me-up.
Ginger and oat snack bars dipped in dark chocolate.
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Ginger and oat snack bars dipped in dark chocolate.
" data-orig-size="3830,5074" data-image-title="Ginger and dark chocolate snack bars" data-image-caption="" />The most important thing to remember when making these is to make sure you wait until the tray is completely cold before cutting into bars. The mixture will be hot and soft when it comes out of the oven and if you try to remove it too soon you’ll end up with a crumbly mess. Once the mixture is cool it’ll firm up nicely and will be easy to cut and dip.
I tried subbing the apricots with dried mango and that was delicious. You could definitely change up the dried fruit and nuts with whatever you have available in your pantry. You could also use milk or white chocolate for dipping, but I prefer a dark chocolate as the bars provide enough sweetness and a slightly more bitter chocolate balances that out.
GINGER & DARK CHOCOLATE SNACK BARS
- Servings: 15
- 100 g honey
- 100 g butter
- 100 g brown sugar
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) cocoa
- 140 g rolled oats
- 40 g dried apricots, finely chopped
- 20 g dried ginger slices, finely chopped
- 50 g raw almonds, finely chopped
- 75 g 70% dark chocolate, melted
1.) Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
2.) Place the honey, butter, sugar and cocoa in a small pot. Stir over a low heat until the butter has melted and everything is combined. Remove from the heat.
3.) Add the oats, apricots, ginger and almonds and mix very well to coat all the ingredients in the chocolate mixture. Tip everything into the prepared tin and press firmly into an even layer (I find it easiest to do this with a spatula or damp hands).
4.) Bake for 30 minutes. The mixture will look bubbly and soft and the edges will be slightly darkened. Set aside to cool completely.
5.) Remove the cooled square out of the pan and transfer to a chopping board. Use a large, sharp knife to cut into 5 equal strips, then cut each strip into 3 to make 15 bars. You can also cut the strips into squares if you prefer.
6.) Place a piece of baking paper on a baking tray. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate, let the excess drip off, then transfer to the tray to cool and set. Once the chocolate has hardened store the bars in an airtight container.
