Bounty Jars

. August, 2016
Bounty Jars

Coconut lovers unite! New recipe book Green Kitchen Smoothies presents the Bounty Jars of your dreams. 

Serves: 2–4

INGREDIENTS

Dark Chocolate Sauce
4 tablespoons cold-pressed coconut oil
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
4 tablespoons cacao powder
Coconut and Banana Smoothie
1 frozen banana (see cook's tip)
½ cup) desiccated coconut
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
pinch vanilla powder or extract
2 ice cubes
To Serve
toasted coconut chips

You can’t go wrong with this healthy interpretation of a classic chocolate bar – a super-tasty and sweet coconut and banana smoothie is layered with a simple silky smooth dark chocolate sauce that makes it look spectacular. It can be prepared in no time and is a real showstopper. We tend to serve this type of smoothie as a dessert, but we are not going to stop you from indulging in it for breakfast...

METHOD

Melt the coconut oil and maple syrup in a saucepan on a low heat. Stir through the cacao powder and mix until well combined and silky smooth. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the coconut and banana smoothie.

Put all of the coconut and banana smoothie ingredients in a blender and blend on a high speed until completely smooth.

To assemble, pour just under half of the chocolate sauce into the base of two medium-sized glass jars (as featured in the photo) or four small ones. Cover with half of the coconut and banana smoothie. Repeat with all but a drizzle of the chocolate sauce and the rest of the coconut and banana smoothie.

Finish with a drizzle of chocolate sauce as well as a sprinkling of coconut and serve straight away, while the chocolate sauce is still molten.


Cook's tip: Freezing bananas

Frozen bananas are one of the best things to keep in your freezer if you plan on making a lot of smoothies as they make them deliciously creamy and last for months in the freezer. We always freeze our bananas when they are quite ripe and brown spots start showing.

Peel the bananas and chop them into 1.5cm-thick slices. You can chop them thicker, but thinner slices are easier for the blender.

Spread out the slices (to prevent the bananas from sticking together as they freeze) on a baking tray or chopping board lined with baking paper and place in the freezer overnight.

When frozen, scoop them into freezer-proof containers or zip-lock bags (one banana per serving, around 10–15 slices) and freeze until needed.