Homemade KIND Bar Recipe - Dark Chocolate with Nuts and Sea Salt

One of my favorite daily treats are KIND Bars. They are low in sugar, tasty and hit the spot for an afternoon chocolate indulgence without taking me off track of my eating plan. They make the perfect breakfast on-the-go (who doesn't love chocolate for breakfast?!) or afternoon purse snack when I'm out running errands. And they are 21 Day Fix friendly!

They're a bit pricey and seem to use basic ingredients, so I thought, why not make them and see if it's worth the effort? These can be made for about 44 cents a bar, whereas you'll pay around $1 a bar at Costco (and not always get your favorite flavor) or $1.49 at Trader Joe's.

So I hopped onto TheYummyLife, a food blog I love, and tried out Monica's recipe.

I anxiously awaited by husband's reaction as he bit into one...

"Whoa! These are AMAZING!" I followed his lead and tried one and, I have to say, I was not disappointed! These bars taste BETTER than the original in both of our opinions. They even top his all-time favorite homemade granola bar from a high-end boutique hotel in La Jolla.

My 3-year-old gobbled one up and said, "Thanks for dessert, mom!"

I will definitely make these again, they weren't hard to make, especially now that I've made them once. In the future, I will make a double batch and keep them in the freezer.

These are gluten-free and can be made vegan, as well.

Homemade KIND Bars - Dark Chocolate with Nuts and Sea Salt

Servings: 20 bars
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: None if nuts roasted, or 10 if roasting nuts
Container equivalents per serving: 1 blue, 1 tsp

Ingredients:

FOR NUT MIXTURE:

2 cups whole roasted unsalted almonds
3/4 cup whole roasted unsalted peanuts
3/4 cup roasted walnuts, chopped (I was out of walnuts so subbed in cashews)
1/2 cup puffed millet or rice
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal

FOR SYRUP:

1/2 cup honey (sub out for all brown rice syrup to make it vegan)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla

FOR CHOCOLATE DRIZZLES:

1 cup dark chocolate chips (use Enjoy Life brand for vegan version)
1 tablespoon vegetable, grapeseed, or coconut oil

Directions

Grease/spray large bowl, 9x13 baking sheet/pan, wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Set aside.

IF NUTS AREN'T ALREADY ROASTED:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on large baking sheet and bake for 10 min. until lightly toasted and fragrant.

Add toasted nuts to large bowl. Add puffed rice/millet and flaxseed meal. Stir to combine; set aside.

In 1-1/2 or 2 quart saucepan, combine honey, rice syrup, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and vanilla over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches 260 degrees (hard ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Immediately, pour mixture over nut mixture, stir until evenly coated. Quickly transfer to greased/sprayed 9x13 pan, use hands to spread mixture evenly in pan; press the mixture to close in holes and distribute evenly all over the pan. Using bottom of greased/sprayed drinking glass to tap and compact mixture in pan. Sprinkle top with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Let cool 20 minutes.

While still slightly warm, invert pan on cutting board and tap until mixture falls out in one piece. Cut into 20 bars. I cut them to weight about 40 grams each, as that's the weight of KIND bars. (If they cool too much and become too hard or brittle to cut easily, put in warm oven for 1-2 minutes to soften; proceed with cutting.) Allow bars to cool completely before proceeding with chocolate drizzles.

FOR CHOCOLATE DRIZZLES: Add chocolate chips and oil to microwave safe bowl. Cook on high power in 20 second intervals, stirring each time, just until last chips melt into mixture (approx. 60 seconds total). Use fork or squeeze bottle to drizzle chocolate over nut bars. Let cool until chocolate hardens.

STORAGE TIP: I wrapped mine burrito-style in parchment paper and put them in the freezer, where they can be left for probably a month or so (although they'll never last that long before being eaten!). They can be left for a week in an airtight container at room temperature.