How To Make A Chocolate Bar Food

CHEF JOHN'S CHOCOLATE ENERGY BARS

Steps:

• Place cashews, almonds, coconut, dates, cocoa, coconut oil, vanilla, cold coffee, cayenne and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off to start. Process about 1 minute; check to ensure mixture is sticky and moist enough to stick together. Add more coffee if needed. Continue to process until mixture becomes a chunky mass.
• Line a baking pan with plastic wrap. Scoop mixture into pan. Press down with a spatula until mixture is even. Place a layer of plastic wrap on the surface and smooth again with your hands.
• Refrigerate until cold and firm, 2 or 3 hours.
• Remove from the pan and unwrap. Cut into bars of your preferred size. Store in a zip top back in the refrigerator.

HOW TO MAKE A CHOCOLATE BAR

Steps:

• Blend ½ cup (60g) of cacao nibs into a paste. Cacao nibs have a dense, rich, chocolate flavor, and will give you the best homemade chocolate as a result. Pour the cacao nibs into a food processor or blender and turn it to the highest setting. Continue processing the nibs until they are ground into a fine paste. Cacao nibs can be difficult to find in some parts of the world but should be available at your local health food stores or online. If you can't find cacao nibs, try a different method to make your own chocolate bars.
• Add ¼ cup (25g) of powdered sugar to the cacao. Pour the powdered sugar into the food processor or blender with the cacao paste. Turn the blender or processor to a medium speed until the two ingredients are fully mixed. If you prefer a sweeter chocolate bar, add a little more powdered sugar. Anywhere between ¼ cup (25g) and ½ cup (50g) will keep the consistency of your bar right while changing the sweetness.
• Melt ¼ cup (40g) of cocoa butter. Scoop around ¼ cup (40g) of cocoa butter into a small bowl and melt it, either in the microwave or over a double boiler. Make sure the butter is entirely melted. Cocoa butter should be available from your local gourmet or health food store. It is also available online.
• Pour the melted cocoa butter into the food processor. Leave the food processor or blender running and start slowly streaming in the melted cocoa butter. Keep blending until all of the ingredients are combined and you have a smooth mixture. The amount of cocoa butter needed will vary based on the amount of powdered sugar used in the recipe. Add it in slowly until you reach a smooth texture that will be just pourable.
• Pour your chocolate mixture into molds or onto a baking sheet. For a traditional chocolate bar, pour your chocolate onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread to all corners. If you want more interesting or varied shapes, look for silicone or chocolate molds available from homeware and cooking stores.
• Freeze your chocolate for 3 to 4 hours or until completely firm. Carefully transfer your chocolate molds to the freezer and leave for several hours or overnight. This will freeze the cocoa butter and solidify your mixture into chocolate bars.
• Remove the chocolate from the molds and store for up to 3 weeks. Once the chocolate is completely solid, remove the mold from the freezer and pop the chocolates out. Transfer to a plastic bag or container and store for up to 3 weeks. As cocoa butter has a melting point around 36 °C (97 °F), it is best to store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat it. This will give you a similar snap to processed chocolate.

VANILLA-CACAO CHOCOLATE BARS

Steps:

• Gather ingredients and preheat oven to 350˚F.
• Place cacao nibs on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and spread them out so they can cook evenly. Then, place the pan in the oven for 12 minutes or until your house smells like chocolate.
• Remove the nibs from the oven and then pour them into a food processor. Process until mixture is liquid. Make sure to push down the excess lumps and crumbs on the side.
• Once the mixture is smooth without lumps, add vanilla and salt first. After, add the maple syrup to sweeten the chocolate. Process the maple syrup only a couple of times or mix with a rubber spatula to avoid clumping.
• Pour chocolate mixture onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and flatten into a bar type shape. Note: If you cannot form a square, wait until mixture is solid, then cut into perfect shape.
• Place the pan into the fridge to solidify the chocolate. This will take at least an hour.
• Remove from fridge and cut into a bar shape. Cover in an aluminum foil wrapper and binge like you've never binged before.

CHOCOLATE PECAN BARS

Steps:

• For the crust: Adjust the oven rack to the bottom position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
• Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33 centimeter) baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, letting the paper overhang the edges of the pan by a few inches on two sides (this will help you lift the bars out of the pan).
• In a food processor, pulse together the butter, flour, salt and sugar until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough begins to pull from the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a floured surface, gather together, and pat into a rectangle. Roll the dough into a rectangle 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick that measures about 13 by 15 inches (33 by 38 centimeters). Trim the rough edges and ease the dough into the prepared pan, pressing it onto the bottom and about halfway up the sides (trim the dough more on the sides as needed). Prick the dough a couple times with a fork. Cover with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the dough starts to set up, about 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and continue to bake until the crust is just golden, about 5 minutes more. Let cool completely.
• For the filling: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Spread the pecans in an even layer on a baking sheet. Toast until fragrant and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then roughly chop.
• Beat the honey and brown sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the eggs. Add in the melted butter and continue to beat. Add the flour, Bourbon, orange zest and vanilla. Sprinkle the pecans and chocolate chips over the crust and pour the honey mixture over the top. Bake until the top of the filling is golden brown and the center sets up, 30 to 40 minutes. Cover and put in the refrigerator until cool. When ready to serve, cut into 12 to 24 bars.