Sweet & savoury: 8 easy chocolate recipes

Save the money you'd spend on cereal bars and make your own with this chocolate chip cereal bar recipe.

Ingredients 

1 ¾ cups quick-cooking oats (or old-fashioned oats, pulsed briefly in a blender to break up) 

1 ⅓ cup sliced almonds 

 ⅔ cup mini dark chocolate chips 

 1 tsp ground cinnamon 

 ¾ tsp salt 

 1 cup creamy almond or peanut butter 

 ½ cup honey 

 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract 

Method 

1. Line an 8 to 9-inch square baking tray with parchment paper. 

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, almonds, chocolate chips, cinnamon and salt. 

3. Whisk the nut butter, honey and vanilla extract until well blended. If needed, gently warm the liquid mixture on the stovetop or in the microwave to make it easier to mix. Make sure it’s cool before you pour it into the dry mixture (otherwise the chocolate chips will melt). 

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix the 2 together until evenly combined and no dry oats remain. The drier the mixture, the more firm the bars will be, so stir in extra oats if the mixture seems wet. 

5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking tray. Use your spoon to arrange the mixture evenly in the tray. Pack the mixture down as firmly and evenly as possible. 

6. Cover the tray and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Use a sharp knife to slice the bars.   

This fruity, dark chocolate pudding is a great dinner party dish. It's relatively easy to make but sure to impress your pals.

Ingredients 

200g butter, plus extra for greasing 

 300g golden caster sugar 

 4 large eggs 

 75g plain flour 

 50g cocoa powder 

 410g can pear halves in juice, drained 

 100g plain dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) 

 25g flaked almonds (optional) 

 cream or ice cream, to serve 

Method 

1. Heat oven to 190C/ 170C fan/ gas 5. Lightly grease a roughly 20 x 30cm shallow ovenproof dish. Put the butter in a large saucepan and place over a low heat until just melted. Remove the butter from the heat and stir in the sugar until well combined. 

2. Whisk the eggs together in a large bowl. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar, beating well with a wooden spoon in between each addition. Sift the flour and cocoa powder on top of the egg mixture. Beat hard with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. 

3. Pour into the prepared tin or dish and nestle the pears into the chocolate batter. Put the chocolate on a board and cut into chunky pieces roughly 1.5cm with a large knife. Scatter the chocolate pieces over the batter and sprinkle with almonds, if you like. 

4. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 mins or until the mixture is crusty on the surface and lightly cooked inside. Do not allow to overcook, as the cake will become spongy rather than gooey in the centre. Serve warm with cream or ice cream. 

We all love a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, but have you ever tried chocolate chip banana bread? If not, we would strongly recommend that you take the opportunity to make it now - you'll be glad you did.

Ingredients 

3 large ripe bananas (easily mashable) 

 ⅓ cup melted butter 

 ¾ cup brown sugar (packed, light or dark) 

 1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon if using salted butter) 

 1 large egg, beaten 

 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 

 ¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder 

 1 teaspoon baking soda 

 ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 

 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Method 

1. Butter or spray with cooking spray the inside of a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 175C. 

2. Using a blender, food processor, or a fork, purée the peeled ripe bananas until smooth. You should have 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of banana purée. 

3. Place the banana purée into a large mixing bowl. Stir the melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar and salt. Whisk to break up any clumps of brown sugar. Stir in the beaten egg and vanilla extract. 

4. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and allspice. Add this to the wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated, then stir in the chocolate chips. 

5. Pour the batter into a buttered loaf pan. Place in a 175C oven and bake for 1 hour. Because of the melting chocolate chips, it's hard to check for doneness using a tester that you insert. One way to test is to gently push down the top of the chocolate banana bread with your finger. If it feels relatively firm and bounces back when you release your finger, that's a good sign that it's done. 

6. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Gently remove the loaf from the pan and place on a rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated bread knife to serve. 

Perhaps the simplest one out of our recipes with chocolate, this healthy nice cream is perfect for the summer months. Plus, you can easily store it in your freezer.

Ingredients  

2 cups frozen sliced bananas 

 ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

 1 tsp vanilla extract 

 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk 

Method 

1. Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender or Vitamix and mix on high until a smooth, thick consistency has been formed. Option to add more milk by the tablespoon as needed. 

2. Serve immediately or transfer into a parchment-lined bread loaf. Then, place into the freezer for 1 to 2 hours to firm up. Optional: serve with chocolate chips.