During the holidays, my mom always looks forward to dark chocolate peppermint bark. She typically tries to pace herself and only purchases one package in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I inherited my chocoholism from her (that’s why I published my Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook!), and we both find it hard to exercise self-control around anything with dark chocolate!
As Santa’s special stocking helper at our house this year, I wanted to stuff Mom’s with plenty of her favorite dark chocolate bark. I picked up three packages of the individually wrapped pieces at Target—one for each of my amazing team members (hi ladies!) and one for Mom—but after I mailed my teams’ gifts…
I realized I had no dark chocolate peppermint bark left. In my holiday shopping haste, I had accidentally picked up a bag of regular dark chocolate squares as the third package. Oops!
I frantically texted my brother, and he graciously agreed to stop by another Target when he drove home for the holidays. Yet Ghirardelli must have had a shortage last year because he only found milk chocolate peppermint bark… And I saw absolutely nothing at the Targets and Walmarts in my town when I went back to check!
On a whim, I dashed over to our local grocery store just a few days before Christmas, and despite their very limited holiday candy section, I managed to snag a few full-sized bars of the dark chocolate bark up by the registers. Crisis averted!
And Mom thoroughly enjoyed her stocking stuffers!
However, it seems silly to me that Christmas is the main holiday associated with chocolate bark… Especially when Valentine’s Day is famous for chocolate treats! So I decided to change that this year (at least in my house!) and created this Healthy Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bark recipe. It’s really easy to make, and with just 6 wholesome ingredients and 84 calories, it’s completely guilt-free!
Would you blame me for wanting to keep it all to myself?… ?
To make this healthy chocolate bark, you’ll start with unsweetened chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate is exactly what it sounds like: a bar of chocolate with no other ingredients! No sugar, no flavorings, no artificial ingredients. This brand and this brand are my two favorites, and you can usually find both of them on the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.
You’ll sweeten your bark with a combination of vanilla crème stevia and powdered stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s very concentrated. A little goes a long way! This is the vanilla crème stevia that I prefer, and I love Wholesome!’s organic powdered stevia. Both of those products don’t have a strange aftertaste like some other stevia sweeteners. I always buy my vanilla crème stevia online here because it’s the best price I’ve found, and you can buy Wholesome!’s stevia powder online here. Most grocery stores and Target also stock Wholesome!’s products as well! (And you’ll use stevia in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Now for the fun part… The toppings! You’ll use finely chopped almonds, freeze dried raspberries, and a sprinkling of sea salt. I found my freeze dried raspberries at Trader Joe’s and Target! (Can you tell how much I love those stores?) They’re very flavorful, and they contain no other added ingredients. They’re great for mixing into your morning cereal or muesli too—or just munching on as a snack!
Doesn’t it look so fun and festive?? ?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your dark chocolate bark and feature it in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bark | | Print |
- 4 oz (113g) unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped (typically, 1 full bar)
- 1 ½ tsp Wholesome! organic stevia, or adjusted to taste
- ½ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- ¼ cup (8g) freeze dried raspberries
- 2 tbsp (14g) almonds, diced very finely
- ¼ tsp coarse sea salt
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Add the chocolate, Wholesome! stevia, and vanilla crème stevia to a microwave-safe bowl, and stir to combine. Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Stir with a fork for at least 2 minutes. Microwave on HIGH for 20 seconds. Stir with a fork for at least 2 minutes. If there are still small bits of un-melted chocolate, continue to microwave on HIGH for 5 seconds at a time, stirring for at least 1 minute after each microwave interval, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
- Immediately transfer the chocolate to the prepared baking sheet, and spread it into a thin layer about 1/16” thick with a spatula. Quickly sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top, and gently press them down into the melted chocolate with your hands. Let the chocolate cool and harden completely before breaking into small pieces.
If you prefer, other granulated sweeteners may be substituted for both stevia products. You’ll want the equivalent of ½ cup of granulated sugar. I haven’t tried liquid sweeteners like honey or pure maple syrup, and I’m not sure whether they’ll work.
I prefer this brand and this brand of unsweetened chocolate!
For a quick shortcut, substitute your favorite dark chocolate bar for the unsweetened chocolate and stevia products!
It’s important to dice all of the toppings very finely, no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips, (a) so they adhere to the melted chocolate, (b) to make the bark easier to break into pieces, and (c) ensure each of those pieces has all of the toppings on it.
Any freeze dried fruit or regular dried fruit may be substituted for the raspberries, and any nuts may be substituted for the almonds. I highly recommend using the salt though—it adds a wonderful flavor!
I highly recommend these mini spatulas! They’re much more convenient to use for this recipe than standard-sized ones.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, paleo, low calorie, low sugar, low carb}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Detox Superfood Dark Chocolate Bark
♥ Healthy Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles
♥ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
♥ Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
♥ Skinny Single-Serving Raspberry Chocolate Chip Mug Cake
♥ Raspberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Drizzled Raspberry Banana Bread
♥ Chocolate Raspberry Protein Parfaits
Hooray for chocolate!! This bark is calling my NAME! 🙂 I’ll definitely have to make this for Cal and I for Valentine’s Day!
I hear it too… “Marina, Marina — make me soon!” 😉 I hope you and Cal have an amazing Valentine’s Day weekend!
Your recipe says raspberry, but your ingredients saystrawberries, and link to raspberries. Just wanted to let you know! 🙂
Thanks so much for catching that! All fixed! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try the chocolate bark Jennifer!
Looks yummy but a bit confusing in the recipe list says strawberries but its called raspberry bark 😛
Thanks so much for catching that! All fixed! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try the chocolate bark Amanda!
AMY! These are amazing. The photos are so vibrant I felt like I could bite through them.
You’re such a sweetheart Brittany — thank you!! Do you think your gut could handle this bark?? I can’t remember where you stand on stevia and chocolate…
Good idea! I eat freeze dried strawberries next to my chocolate chips, taking turns to stretch out the chips:)
Thanks Tracy! That’s such a great idea. I definitely need to remember that during my next chocolate snack break! 😉
This looks so gorgeous, Amy! Just perfect for Valentine’s Day! I think we’d both agree that chocolate is a MUST for Valentine’s – especially dark chocolate!?
100% YES, Katie!! 🙂
Hi Amy. What a photogenic and delicious looking recipe! I cant wait to try it out. Could you please tell me how long the bark will keep for once it’s made? Thank you ?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Oshiarne! I’ve actually included that information already in the text directly beneath the recipe title in the recipe box. It can be easy to miss! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this dark chocolate bark!