Low Carb Chocolate and Coconut Bars are made with a coconut crumble, mascarpone and ricotta cream, and dark chocolate glaze.
January is the month of good intentions. Many people embark on a diet after the Christmas frenzy.
So I thought, why not try to meet the demand?
Like for my other low carb recipes, they are keto as in low carb but not low fat. Even more accurately they are lchf (low carb high fat).
Here I can freely use the term “keto”. In Italian I usually get a “uh?!” in response.
I think keto doesn’t stick easily in the land of carbs.
My low carb recipes try to meet the needs of people that for whatever reason need to keep their blood sugar levels in check.
These low carb chocolate and coconut bars consist of a coconut and almonds crumble, a mascarpone and ricotta cream flavored with coconut, and glazed with 90% dark chocolate. A 85% chocolate can also be considered low carb.
Low Carb Chocolate and Coconut Bars
Ingredients
For the coconut crumble:
- 100 g white almonds 3.5 oz
- 45 g desiccated coconut or flakes 1.6 oz
- 50 g sunflower oil 1.8 oz
- 25 g protein powder vanilla flavor 0.9 oz
- 25 g erythritol powdered 0.9 oz
- 20 drops stevia 0.71 oz
- 60 g coconut oil 2.1 oz
- pinch of salt
For the mascarpone and ricotta cream:
- 170 g whipping cream 6 oz
- 170 g mascarpone 6 oz
- 100 g ricotta 3.5 oz
- 30 g erythritol powdered 1.1 oz
- 20 drops stevia 0.71 oz
- 25 g desiccated coconut or flakes 0.9 oz
- 5 g gelatin sheets approx 1 sheet (0.18 oz)
- powdered vanilla bourbon the tip of a tsp. or vanilla extract*
- * = optional
For the glazing:
- 400 g dark chocolate 90% or 85%
- desiccated coconut
Instructions
For the coconut crumble:
- Melt the coconut oil, either in a pot or in the microwave.
- Powder the erythritol in the mixer. You might consider powdering also the erythritol for the next preparation (30g), the cream, and set it aside.
- Add the sunflower oil and the desiccated coconut and blend.
- Add the almonds, protein powder and salt. Pulse the mixer briefly a few times.
- Add the melted coconut oil and the stevia. Blend until all ingredients are combined.
- Transfer the mixture in a silicone mold. I used a rectangular bar silicone mold with 2 x 12 cm cavities (0.8 x 4.7 in).
- Press the crumble down with your finger.
- Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
For the mascarpone and ricotta cream:
- If you haven't done so in the previous preparation, powder the erythritol in the mixer.
- In a large bowl combine the mascarpone together with the ricotta cheese. Work with the handheld mixer for 1 minute.
- Add the erythritol, stevia and vanilla.
- Blend until all ingredients are combined.
- Heat 50g (1.8 oz) of whipping cream without reaching boiling point. Add the desiccated coconut and stir. Leave it in infusion for 10 minutes. Then filter it through a strainer, squeezing down the coconut to extract all the cream possible. You should end up with approx 30g (1.1 oz) of cream.
- Soak the gelatin sheet in cold water for 10 minutes.
- Heat up the prepared cream and add the wrung gelatin sheet. Stir to dissolve.
- Whip the remaining cream (120g / 4.2 oz).
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the other ingredients.
- Take the silicon mold from the freezer and fill the cavities with the mascarpone and ricotta cream. Level the top with a spatula.
- Freeze for at least 2 hours.
For the dark chocolate glazing:
- Chop the chocolate in the mixer or with a kitchen knife.
- Melt the chocolate, either in a bain marie or in the microwave. If you opt for the microwave, cook at maximum power for 10 seconds at the time, stirring the chocolate each time to prevent burning it.
- Take out the bars from the molds. If necessary smooth out the edges using a knife.
- Dive each bar in the melted chocolate, turning it on every side using two forks.
- Place each bar on a cooling rack or alternatively on a piece of parchment paper. Immediately sprinkle the top with desiccated coconut, so that it will stick.
- Repeat for each bar.
- Store in the fridge.