Healthy Chocolate Bark for Christmas

If you are looking for a low carb homemade gift to make for Christmas, try some of this healthy chocolate bark. It’s very simple to make and full of healthy ingredients like berries, nuts and seeds. The chocolate candy base is sugar free and there good for those who are diabetic or on a keto diet. A healthy sweet snack as well!

You might also like these keto toasted coconut chocolate candies!

Every year I like to make simple homemade food gifts and this year I thought I’d make this festive looking healthy chocolate bark. It’s filled with good for you ingredients like coconut oil, pumpkin seeds, goji berries and pistachios.

It’s also really easy to make and sugar free so if you are on a low carb diet or have someone who is diabetic in your life this would be the perfect recipe for both. Without the add ins it’s a tasty dark chocolate bark you can make in minutes.

Or you can be like me and my hubby and store it in the freezer and grab a piece when you want a sweet treat but don’t want to blow your diet.

Recipe ingredients for sugar free chocolate bark base.

Below you can see the simple ingredients I used to make the sugar free chocolate bark – cacao butter, coconut oil, Swerve confectioners sweetener, vanilla stevia and Divine cocoa powder. Note I’m using cacao butter and not cocoa butter. It is slightly different. (learn more)

I am able to find the Divine cocoa powder, coconut oil and Swerve sweetener at my local grocery store so I think it should be readily available. The Sweetleaf vanilla cream stevia and cacao butter wafers maybe harder to find but I have them in my Amazon store if you are interested.

I like Divine cocoa powder because it has a richer flavor and virtually no carbs. Also I have been using Swerve confectioners sweetener for years now. I love it for anything sweet while on a low carb diet. However you can use regular cocoa powder and your sweetener of choice.

Another option is to substitute unsweetened bakers chocolate for the cacao butter, cocoa powder and coconut oil. You would still have to sweetened it and I like the combination of Swerve and stevia.

And if you don’t care about sugar or carbs, try melting a good dark chocolate bar or dark chocolate chips as the base. 

Healthy add ins for the chocolate and other ideas.

As for the add ins for this candy, you can use whatever ingredients you want. I chose the following for color and healthy benefits. I used roughly 2 tablespoons each of:

• dried goji berries – high in fiber, iron, antioxidants and vitamins A and C (source)
• pistachio kernels – high in protein, fiber, vitamin B6, potassium and antioxidants (source)
• freeze dried strawberries – high in vitamin C and freeze drying preserves nutrients (source)
• raw pumpkin seeds – high in protein, fiber, iron, magnesium and zinc (source)
• unsweetened shredded coconut flakes – high in fiber, iron and zinc (source)

Other ideas to try are pecans, macadamia nuts, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, cacao nibs (cocoa nibs), dried berries or cranberries (no sugar added), flaxseed, hemp seeds, chia seeds, etc.

How to make healthy chocolate bark.

Step 1: Get a small rimmed baking sheet or baking dish ready and set aside. I used a very small 7″x10″ cookie sheet that was perfect because it fits in the freezer easily.

Step 2: Get out a medium saucepan and heat to medium high heat. Add the cacao butter, coconut oil, Swerve sweetener, cocoa powder and liquid stevia. Whisk to combine and heat until everything is melted and mixed well. Taste and see if it is sweet enough for you and adjust accordingly.

Note you can also do this in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. A pyrex measure cup works well if you are going to do this. Cook for 30 second intervals and mix in between. Don’t over cook!

Step 3: Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the baking pan or sheet to make the base layer. Then get out your add ins and sprinkle evenly around the melted chocolate. If you like salt with your sweets you can grind some rock salt or kosher salt on top.

Step 4: Place the baking sheet or dish in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes until the chocolate is solid.

Step 5: Bend the pan or use a sharp knife to break the bark into pieces. It comes out very easily from the cookie sheet.

You can see below that I had a bit of trouble with my ingredients sliding to one side. I didn’t have it placed evenly in the freezer so the bigger pieces slid to one side. It all tasted delicious though!

Store pieces in an airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator. The chocolate will be a bit melty if you leave it out and it comes to room temperatures.

Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

Other healthy sweet treat recipes to try.

If you have been following my blog you know I have a sweet tooth but like to keep my sweet recipes as healthy as I can. So here are a few more healthy sweet treats to try.

• healthy cookie dough fudge – just 4 ingredients and gluten free
• keto coconut protein balls or chocolate coconut cookies
• low carb granola cookies or pumpkin cookies
• cinnamon toast cashew cream cheese or gluten free cinnamon sugar biscotti
• healthy brownie bites, chocolate tahini balls or dried fruit balls

Well I hope you enjoy this healthy chocolate bark recipe. I intended to give this as a homemade Christmas gift this year but my husband and I ate it all! At least it’s a healthy treat we can feel good about indulging in. Enjoy!

The nutritional info for 1 piece is 145 calories / 14g fat / 3.6g carbs / 1.9g fiber / 1.8g protein = 1.7g net carbs**

** This was difficult calculate because first of all you can chop this into as many pieces you want. I kept it at 10 pieces for simplicity. Secondly a lot of the ingredients had nutritional labels in ounces and grams and the conversion was difficult. I suggest you calculate your own nutritional information if you are worried about the exact macros. I did the best I could. 🙂

You can the ingredients in my Amazon store if you wish!