Hands up who else loves KindSnacks? If, like me, you’re a massive fan of the delicious bars this lovely brand, I’ve got a serious treat for you – a HOMEMADE version! The gang at KindSnacks are full of those good happy vibes I love, and this year I’ve been chatting to them quite a bit – they’ve been so ‘kind’ (pun intended!) sending me a lovely selection of their bars in the past couple of months to try and share around. I’ve been giving friends, work colleagues and family alike little acts of kindness with these bars, and the verdict everytime has been a solid NOM! My personal favourite flavour is the Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt bar. So over the recent Easter weekend, with some extra dark chocolate goodies to create with, I decided to try my hand at my own Kind bars!

Recipe (Makes 10-12 chunky bars/squares) 

Ingredients

• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp whole chia seeds
• 2 tbsp of melted cacao butter or coconut oil (I used the delicious Cocobrew Cacao Butter)
• 3 tbsp agave sweetener (or honey/maple syrup)
• 1/2 cup of Quinoa Puffs (I bought mine in Lidl – you could sub crisped rice
• 300g of mixed unsalted nuts (I used a combination of almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts!)
• 1/3 cup of dark chocolate, broken into small chunks (go for 70% or higher cacao solids!)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C (fan oven). Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper, and when the oven is ready, roast the nuts for about 10 minutes (stir halfway) until golden brown.
2. Remove the nuts from the oven and set aside to cool (use oven gloves obviously dudes, no burns here!)
3. Leave the oven on – you’ll be using it to bake the bars!
4. Take a baking tray (I use a square one but any size is fine!) and line it with grease-proof paper. Rub the inside of the paper into the tray with a little of the melted coconut oil, to stop your bars sticking when they bake.
5. Take a large mixing bowl, and add your puffed quinoa and chia seeds to it.
6. When the nuts are cooled, chuck those in too, and mix these dry ingredients up.
7. Next, add the wet ingredients – vanilla extract, melted cacao butter or coconut oil and agave (or alternative sweetener).
8. Using a large spoon, mix everything together until the dry ingredients are coated with the wet.
9. Scoop the mixture into the oven and flatten it down using the back of the spoon until evenly spread.
10. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.
11. Allow to cool FULLY after this! I leave mine for about 30 minutes.
12. Take a small bowl, add your chocolate pieces to it, and melt in the microwave.
13. Remove the cooled bars from the tray in the grease-proof paper, and place onto a work top or chopping board.
14. Slice the bars into length or square shapes. They will break and crumble with gentle pressure so don’t worry if they aren’t perfectly sliced!
15. Using a small spoon, drizzle the melted dark chocolate on top of the chopped bars.
16. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to set!
17. And VOILA! Your Kind snacks are complete! They should keep in an air-tight container for up to a week, or freeze them for later!

Enjoy guys! I hope you’re as excited by this recipe as me – it’s one of my most food-porn-tastic creations to date, and I’m so delighted with it! Tag me if you try them out – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x