Adapted from Chocolate Nourish Bars in “gather A Dirty Apron Cookbook” by David Robertson
Ingredients
- 100g Hazelnuts*
- 2 cups quick oats
- 100g chopped pecan nuts
- 170g unsalted butter**
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 300g chocolate chips 70+% cocoa
- ¼ cup hazelnut butter*
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- ½ tsp Kosher (ie large flake) salt
- 17g cocoa powder
Set oven to 350F. Toast hazelnuts on a baking tray until skins beginning to fall off and nuts golden. Transfer to cool plate so skins can be rubbed off between sheets of kitchen paper towel. Put oats on tray and start toasting before adding pecan nuts which brown more quickly. Nuts and oats should be golden. When hazelnuts are cool and skinned, chop coarsely.
In a heat proof bowl combine maple syrup, chocolate, butter, nut butter, vanilla, salt and cocoa powder. Place bowl over gently simmering water and stir until chocolate melted. Or use a heated bowl set to 120F. Remove from heat and add toasted oats and nuts, mixing in with a spatula.
Line a 9 inch square metal baking tin with parchment paper and pour chocolate mixture into it, smoothing to ensure no air bubbles are trapped. Chill in fridge for several hours or preferably overnight. Cut into small rectangles and store in fridge. NB it is quite difficult to cut – use a sharp knife, possibly run under the hot tap and dried.
I think this would work just as well with mixed nuts.
*recipe uses sliced almonds (and almond butter) which are toasted with the oats
** recipe calls for coconut oil which I used first try but I think unsalted butter will work just as well if not better as it stays firmer at a slightly higher temperature. The butter must be unsalted as salted butter has a higher moisture content.
The original recipe uses twice my quantities and a pan 9 by 13 inches.