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Let me just tell you, right off the bat, my favorite fat is Bacon Fat. That said, my second favorite might just be Coconut Oil. Not only does it taste awesome, but what other fat can you simultaneously bake and slather on your skin to moisturize?! Okay, I’ve done it with pork fat but…let’s focus here.

Tropical Traditions sent me their Virgin Coconut Oil to taste test and review and when I received the quart container, I was giddy with excitement. Fat in a glass container?! This baker was in heaven! I transferred some into a squeeze bottle and rubbed it on my skin; I wanted to bite it off! Ahem. It smelled so beachy!

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Coconut-Chocolate Bars
Yield: 10 small-squares
These are great energy bars, as well as an extra side to your breakfast! 
Frost them with your favorite nut butter, and you’ve got a great afternoon snack! 

Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup oat flour
1 medium carrot, shaved
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/4 cup raw sugar
1 tbsp curd/jam/jelly*
1 large egg
2 tbsp golden flax seeds
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup chocolate chunks

Method
Simple as pie (if pie were simple): Stir all ingredients together until incorporated. Pour unto pan greased with coconut oil (not ONE crumb stuck to the pan!) Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool; cut into squares. Enjoy!

*Jam/Curd: I added an organic Cranberry-Orange Curd I had in the fridge. For flavor, for moisture, for fun. You can add any jam you have in the fridge or just add a little more coconut oil to replace the moisture.

Substitutions
These bars are gluten-free and dairy-free but can easily be adapted to become:
Vegetarian: Remove egg and replace with flax seed paste.
Sugar-Free: Use dark chocolate chunks and replace raw sugar with agave. Also use sugar-free jam/jelly.


Win a Quart of Virgin Coconut Oil! Just leave a comment telling me what you would make with it if you won.   Anyone with a U.S. & Canada shipping address can enter! Deadline Friday, June 10th at 9am EST.
For Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each one completed at the end of this post):

  1. Follow @nella22
  2. Follow @troptraditions  
  3. Like Cooking with Books on Facebook here
  4. Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter here

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

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67 Comments

  1. Oh boy! Someone gave me a huge jar of coconut oil and I had no idea what to do with it! I love coconut with chocolate so these bars are just perfect!

  2. I love TT coconut oil, and their coconut cream! It is so addicting. I was so surprised when I found out how many uses it had. These bars look so yummy, and moist!

  3. following Tropical Traditions too! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity 🙂

  4. ooh, what I wouldn’t do with a quart of coconut oil! I’ve been using it in all kinds of baking lately. Next up is a peach muffin.

  5. I’ve just liked your FB page. And I’m usually very stingy with my likes.

    I’ll think about something else to cook. But right now, we’re taken with the thought of creating the perfect coconut cream pie.

  6. Thanks for entering my giveaways! We love coconut oil. Use it for all our cooking, but perhaps if I won, we’d try some baking with it! 🙂

  7. Such a great way to show the ingredients, and I love that you added shredded carrots to the bars. I always love carrot and coconut together. Yum! I use a little coconut oil in my cashew milk to give it a creamy consistency. Since most people would bake with it, I’ll go with using it as a marinade base for chicken or shrimp. Or how about using it to deep fry coconut shrimp for an extra oompf of flavor?