STRAWBERRY BARS WITH YOGURT AND COCONUT LIKE BOUNTY
Remember the Bounty, the famous coconut snacks covered with chocolate?
When I was little, they were a must, loved by both adults and kids. They were often my snack at school or my afternoon treat.
Inspired by them, I created these STRAWBERRY and COCONUT BARS covered with chocolate, with a soft and melting heart and the typical chocolate shell that crunches when you bite it.
An easy and quick recipe, which compared to the original Bounty recipe is lighter because it doesn’t use cream or butter but only Greek Yogurt, shredded coconut, and strawberries.
They are delicious, in my opinion even better than the originals because they are less cloying. Plus, as long as you use lactose-free yogurt and dark chocolate, they are suitable for both lactose intolerant and celiac people as they are gluten-free.
You will fall in love with these Strawberry Coconut Chocolate Bars perfect for a delicious snack, a morning break, practical to carry to the office or school, and they also keep for a month in the freezer ready for a sudden sweet craving!
It’s such an easy recipe that you can have fun preparing it with your children.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No baking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 236.00 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 22.01 (g) of which sugars 15.89 (g)
- Proteins 3.49 (g)
- Fat 15.53 (g) of which saturated 11.03 (g)of which unsaturated 3.05 (g)
- Fibers 3.69 (g)
- Sodium 59.44 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 70 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 lb strawberries
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup Greek yogurt (plain or coconut flavor)
- 3 oz 70% dark chocolate
- shredded coconut (optional)
Tools
- Immersion Blender
- Loaf Pan
- Parchment Paper
Steps
Wash the strawberries thoroughly, remove the leaves, and cut them into pieces. Put them into the glass of the immersion blender, add the shredded coconut, the Greek yogurt, and blend until you turn everything into a puree. Pour the mixture into a square or loaf pan (7×7 or 8×6 inches) covered with parchment paper and put it in the fridge to freeze for about 5 hours.
Chop the chocolate into pieces, put it in a bowl and melt it in the microwave using the defrost function, it will take about 3 minutes, or if you don’t have a microwave, you can melt it in a bain-marie.
Take out the yogurt, coconut, and strawberry mixture from the freezer, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to soften. Then cut it into bars about 3/4 inch wide.
Quickly dip the bars obtained in the dark chocolate and immediately move them to a tray or serving plate. As they are very cold, the chocolate will solidify immediately. Once you have covered them all, you can decorate them with shredded coconut and drizzled chocolate. If you don’t consume them immediately, put them back in the freezer
NOTES
STRAWBERRIES: You can prepare these sweets using other types of fruit such as blueberries or red fruits.
YOGURT: For this preparation, it is necessary to use Greek Yogurt because it has a denser consistency. If you want to enhance the coconut flavor, replace the Plain Yogurt with Coconut Yogurt.
COCONUT: You must use only shredded coconut and not coconut flour.
CHOCOLATE: The classic bounty uses milk chocolate, but I preferred to use dark chocolate. Decide based on your tastes, you can also use half milk and half dark chocolate.
SUGAR: I did not add sugar to the preparation because the ingredients are already naturally sweet, but if you prefer, you can add 1 teaspoon of sugar or half a teaspoon of honey.
PRESENTATION IDEA A fun idea is to transform these bounties into small bites like “CAKE-POPS.” To do this, instead of pouring the mixture into a mold, shape it into small balls and place them in the freezer. After about 1 and a half hours, when they are slightly solidified, skewer them with sticks and finish hardening them. Once solidified, you just need to glaze them upside down in the chocolate, holding them by the stick. You can decorate them with small chocolate stripes or by adhering shredded coconut flakes while the chocolate is still fresh.
STORAGE
You can store the Strawberry Bounty in the freezer for up to 1 month. They cannot be kept in the refrigerator, otherwise, they would become too soft, almost liquid.
