Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Chunky Chocolate Fruit-and-Nut Bars

January 14, 2020 at 1:59 pm | Posted in BCM, candy, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 Comments
Tags: candy, chocolate, nuts

Dorie describes these Chunky Chocolate Fruit-and-Nut bars as both nougat’s crunchy cousin (a very timely comparison, since we made her Honey-Nut Nougat just last month) and as a homemade version of a Chunky candy bar. The raisin-hating child version of me would not have touched a Chunky with a ten foot pole, but the adult version of me has more evolved tastes and would now gladly consume this mass-produced packaged product. Haha.

This is an easy recipe– it really is. You just need some toasted nuts, some chopped dried fruit and some melted chocolate to make it. It’s totally customizable to your tastes and to the contents of your cabinet. It’s not even really a recipe, it’s just stuff mixed together. And yet, I managed to screw a few things up and fumble my way through it. Ironic, since my day job is actually making chocolate candy.

For my nuts I used cashews, which I burned when I toasted them, so I toasted more. For my dried fruit, I used a pre-mixed blend of golden raisins, cranberries, cherries and blueberries that I buy at TJs. I also put in some crystalized ginger and some candied orange peel. For my chocolate, I used a bittersweet 72%. I decided I didn’t need to eat a full 8×8 pan of this, so I scaled everything back by a third to fit in a small loaf pan I have. Or I tried to, at least…I must have divided the chocolate incorrectly in my head, because I only had enough to coat my add-ins, not to stick them together. I just eyeballed a little more to seal my fruit and nut glob together and pressed it into the pan. Even if it looks a little rough and I needed a nap afterwards, it was all good and tasty in the end (I secretly ate up all the little bits with a spoon and they were fab!), and that’s the moral of today’s story.

Dorie recommends lining your pan with cocoa-dusted parchment paper and then dusting more cocoa on top of the finished chocolate mix and laying another piece of parchment on top as you press it in to the pan. I did line my pan with parchment, and I lined it so it acted as a sling, but I skipped all the cocoa powder and also the top parchment sheet. I’m guessing the cocoa is to help the mass release from the pan, but when chocolate gets cold it contracts, and since this is stored in the fridge, I didn’t see the need for it.

For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here, along with a great video). Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

7 Comments »

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Yep, not really a recipe – more like “fun with chocolate”. That’s why I don’t really get mendiants. Oh well, it’s delicious, and it’s another recipe in BCM done. I am sure my colleagues will like it when the smoke haze reduces and I finally take it into the office. I used the cocoa but not the top parchment – at $6 for a 25m roll (I just bought some), I am conserving that stuff.

Comment by Cakelaw— January 14, 2020 #

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I wish I hadn’t used the cocoa powder – yours look so nice without it.

Comment by Zosia— January 14, 2020 #

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I wish I did not use the cocoa but next time. We loved these.

Comment by Diane Zwang— January 14, 2020 #

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There was not enough chocolate to make “bars” … Mine was more like stuff covered in a bit of chocolate. Disappointing because I really wanted it to be a chunk of chocolate with dried fruit and nuts (like Cadbury Fruit and Nut bar), wish I would have followed my gut and added more melted chocolate…

Comment by Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)— January 15, 2020 #

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- I seriously thought I had screwed up my calcs. Until I added the extra, it was just enough to coat the bits…kind of like puppy chow or whatever that’s called. Now I’ll note in the book to add more.
  
  Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— January 15, 2020 #
  
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Definitely adding extra chocolate when I make these!

Comment by Type & Cakes— January 16, 2020 #

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Looks great…looking forward to making these next!

Comment by isthisakeeper— January 16, 2020 #

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