Strawberry Chocolate Bars with Coconut

These delicious strawberry chocolate bars are tender, creamy and lightly sweetened. Layered with a crumbly oat-strawberry crust and topped with a spongy chocolate goodness, it makes for a great snack or dessert that's super satisfying, but still super healthy. Completely vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free.

I'm more of a savory treat kind of girl, but oh boy, these bars are something else.

You can imagine that when I work on a recipe for the blog, well, we end up eating that recipe almost daily until it is just right, usually in a short period of time. I try to wait until we finish eating a batch before the next testing. So, to speed up the process, I served these bars to my kids for breakfast, lunch, snack, dessert, special-movie-night-treat, etc.

So when I do this, have my family eat the same food over and over again until I get a recipe right, and no one is complaining or noticeably getting tired of it (including my husband), well, this is good sign. And these vegan chocolate bars are a good example of that. I mean, our 4 y/o Zach is still asking for "the special chocolate bars" for breakfast.

Not that they are meant to enjoy at breakfast, trust me, they are decadent enough to feel like a nice sweet treat, but they are also super healthy. So, no guilt if you want to grab one to start the day.

You will need 10 simple, wholesome and plant-based ingredients to make these. The crumbly oat crust binding to the rich creamy topping is so satisfying. And I'm such a fan of the strawberry-chocolate combo. I mean, who is not anyway, right? This strawberry baked oatmeal is my go-to healthy recipe when I crave the classic combo or, I'll often generously dip fresh strawberries in a thick avocado chocolate pudding to satisfy that itch. But, these bars are really next level special and they make for such a great summer dessert.

They are more of a softer kind of bar that can be enjoyed using a fork or if you want to hold them to eat, then you can cut them in smaller squares. And smaller portions means that you get to have seconds too. Very smart.

They also make for a great meal-prep recipe. The top chocolate portion will need some fridge time to set anyway, so add these bars into your Sunday batch cooking to-try list, transfer to the fridge overnight and you will have delicious treats during the week.

How to make strawberry chocolate bars

The recipe itself is quite simple and quick, but you need to plan ahead as it needs a few hours to cool down in the fridge. This will allow the chocolate topping to set and firm up.

Make the crust

• Combine the rolled oats, almond flour, shredded coconut, maple syrup and coconut oil together. I like to press on the mixture with a spoon to crush the coconut oil to help incorporate it with the rest of the ingredients. Keep going until it creates a uniform crumbly texture.
• Transfer to a 8 x 8 baking dish, press tight using your hands and cook in the oven for 12 minutes. Don't forget to first cover the dish with parchment paper so the bars are easy to remove after done.

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Make the chocolate filling

• While the crust is cooking, blend together the silken tofu, cacao powder, maple syrup, corn starch and vanilla extract. Blend for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is very well combined and feels like it's almost whipped. Make sure you drain the tofu first.

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Build the bars

Transfer the chocolate mixture over the cooked crust. Spread evenly using a spatula and bake again. Once baked, then let it cool down slightly at room temperature, then transfer to the fridge for at least 2-3 hours. Then, you can take the whole dish out by pulling on the parchment paper and cut it into bars.

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Watch how to make it

What kind of tofu to use

You will need the soft or silken kind of tofu (the one you use to make pudding). This tofu has a higher content of water as it was not compacted and drained like the firm regular tofu. Thus, it is much softer and crumbles/breaks easily. Do not mistaken with the regular-soft tofu, which is simply a softer version of the firm tofu, but still looks like a sturdy cut-able block.

Also, silken tofu can vary in between different brands. A few kinds of silken tofu were tried for this recipe and even though the result was sometimes slightly different, it was always delicious. Here in USA, I used the silken tofu from Nasoya, and my sister in Canada had better result with the silken tofu from Sunrise (she had to use 1 ½ packages, as it comes in 300g., well drained).

In any cases, try to drain the tofu as much as you can (you can pat dry with paper towel).

Cooking tips for these vegan bars

• Resist the temptation to cut and eat before cooling down completely! And I mean, a real chill, all the way to the fridge until nice and firm.
• Make sure to work the crust really well before transferring to the baking dish. The room temperature coconut oil is firm and you will have to break the lumps as much as you can while combining with the other ingredients. Use a spoon to press on it or your hands, and do not melt the oil first.
• I do not recommend using frozen strawberry as they usually release more water while cooking and this could create a super soft and soggy crust.

Serving suggestion for these strawberry chocolate bars

They make for a great afternoon snack to be enjoyed with a cup of warm tea.

For serving, since the bars are not overly sweet, I like to melt a few chocolate chips, then drizzle over the bars. Add more strawberries around for a fresh addition. Would pair well with coconut whipped cream or ice cream too.

Storage

Once chilled, you can cut the entire dish in bars or squares and store in a air-tight container for 2-3 days. I noticed that more the bars were resting, more the crust was getting soft. It was still really good, but definitively had to be eaten with a fork opposed as to hold it after a few days.

Other healthy bar recipes you might like

• Oatmeal raisin bars with pears
• Vegan millionaire shortbread
• Vegan blondies
• Nut-free Granola Bars
• Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Bars

Other strawberry recipes you might like

• Vegan strawberry mini trifles
• Vegan strawberry muffins
• Strawberry overnight oats
• Strawberry almond milk
• Barley breakfast bowl with strawberry-rhubarb compote
• Strawberry baked oatmeal with chocolate
• Vegan strawberry pop tarts

*THANKS TO MY SISTER SONIA WHO HELPED DEVELOP AND TEST THIS RECIPE*

I hope you enjoy these strawberry chocolate bars recipe as much as we do! If you try them, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!

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