If you love the combination of nuts and dark chocolate, here is the recipe for you!! It is simple and certainly outweighs the taste of commercial candy bars. This recipe was given to me by my friend Sharon, whose passions and interests in eating healthy foods are aligned with mine. For the past 13 years we climbed together the uphill road bringing nutritious, good-tasting and aesthetically pleasing food to our children's school cafeteria.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Place walnuts in a single layer in a roasting pan and lightly roast for 15 minutes. Let cool a bit. (If using already-roasted seeds, skip this step.)
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
- Combine walnuts (or seeds) and melted chocolate together, covering all surfaces with melted chocolate.
- Spread onto parchment paper in a single layer and freeze for 15–20 minutes.
- Break into pieces and serve.
℞ M.D. Notes
- If you enjoy a darker, more bitter taste when eating chocolate, use half 70% and half 85% of your favorite chocolate. If you enjoy milk chocolate, like my children, combine milk chocolate with 60% bittersweet chocolate.
- Optional additions: 1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt; orange zest; coconut.
- Extras can be stored in airtight containers and placed in the freezer.
- Dark chocolate is rich in the phytonutrients called flavonoids, which act as antioxidants and may have protective benefits to the cardiovascular system, as well as possessing other potent health-promoting properties.
- Nuts seem to play a protective role against inflammatory diseases. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011 supported the protective role walnuts have against inflammatory disease mortality.
- Seeds are a good source of minerals and fiber. Seeds are a source of tryptophan, an amino acid the body uses to make serotonin.
