These days, everyone seems to identify with a certain label when it comes to the foods they put into their body – keto, paleo, gluten-free, vegan, clean-eaters. I imagine most people base their food choices on lifestyle, necessity (we all need to eat to live), dietary issues and intolerances, religious reasons, or simply the ease of getting food into our bodies.
I like to think of myself as a fairly healthy or “clean” eater, although I have been referred to as “Garbage Guts” in certain company because yes, I love candy! I’ve talked about this before in this column.
But I try to give myself good options for sweets, which has lead me down the Pinterest rabbit hole on more than one occasion.
I think we’ve all done this before, look in the fridge and the pantry, take a quick inventory of what you have and start searching for recipes with those ingredients.
Last week, during a Pinterest spree, I stumbled upon an awesome blog called https://thebigmansworld.com. It features some great travel stories and recipes that are gluten-free, dairy free, vegan, paleo and sugar free! I know to some of you, this must seem awful but I went through a bunch of the recipes, and I think the author has the same sweet tooth as me! One article for sure caught my eye: Irresistble Lemon Coconut Bars.
Irresistible Lemon Coconut Bars
Here’s the recipe as I made it and please check out the site for more amazing treat ideas!
Ingredients
3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1-2 tbsp grated lemon rind – the more you add, the more intense the lemon flavor
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
¾ cup maple syrup
Making these is pretty much the easiest thing ever; start by preparing an 8x8 dish (for thicker bars) or a 9x12 dish (for thinner bars) with baking paper and side aside for a minute. Combine all of the ingredients in the food processor until mixture starts to combine and everything is distributed evenly.
Turn mixture out into your prepared dish, and press firmly into the dish. Place the dish into the freezer for about an hour, when everything is set, carefully cut into little squares. Important to note – keep these bars in the fridge or freezer because they get really soft and melty quite quickly! Also – no matter how much you like them, don’t eat too many at once because you will get a sore tummy.
Shannon Yacyshyn’s Kitchen Confessions column runs every second Thursday in the Red Deer Advocate.