{recipe} chocolate & oatmeal mini bites

I try to stock our freezer with healthier treats. You know, for those times when I walk in the door in the evenings and dinner is not ready, and I just need one little snack to tide me over. Not just any snack, but a sweeter snack and eating a fruit will not squash the craving.

Or when my little guy ask last minute to have picnic at the park on our way out the door to the park, so I go thru our pantry and see what snacks we can bring to make it a “picnic” (i.e. cheese sticks, yogurt and granola, crackers and cheese and these mini bites)

I made these mini treats recently. I purposely made it with brown rice syrup because it’s great as a binder when it comes to no-bake treats and it’s the perfect sweetener for me. Depending on the recipe, sometimes I find honey to be too sweet for my taste.

Because I used dark chocolate and brown rice syrup, these are barely sweet at all, which is how I wanted them. I also love the crunch that the toasted almonds and shredded coconut add to the bites.

No bake Chocolate & Oatmeal mini bites

(makes 24 mini muffin sized bites)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup almond butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats (I use GF oat from Trader Joe’s)
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds (toasted)

In a medium saucepan, melt the almond butter and coconut oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, stir in the brown rice syrup and vanilla until combined.
Immediately stir in the chocolate chips until melted
Add the oats, shredded coconut, cocoa powder and almonds and stir until well-combined.
Use a cookie scoop and fill a lined mini-muffin pan. Refrigerate until set.
I stored the cookie in the fridge in a tightly sealed container.