Healthy Dubai Chocolate Recipe Without Sugar

Guilt-Free Healthy Dubai Chocolate

If you’ve been to the grocery store anytime in the past year, you’ve probably noticed the latest treat craze in candy aisles and checkout lanes: Dubai Chocolate. But I’m sure you’ve also noticed that these mass-produced candy bars are not healthy Dubai Chocolate without sugar.

Despite the fact that genuine Middle Eastern treats are generally much less sweet than the typical western desserts we consume in the US, candy brands know that Americans won’t buy candy that isn’t “sweet enough”. So they actually make American versions of candy that are sweeter (more sugary) than the versions that go to other parts of the world.

This article on HeadCountCoffee.com explains the fascinating history of how sweetness and excessive sugar intake became the norm in America as a result of economics and regulations.

So when you buy candy for your kids in America, you are automatically filling them with more refined sugar than kids in other parts of the world under no control of your own. But there is an alternative to buying the insanely sweet Dubai chocolate bars that are filling the candy aisles at the store.

Enter this kid-approved, naturally sweetened, healthy Dubai chocolate recipe without sugar 😀 With less sugar and a healthier source of sweetness than the candy brands can offer, this chocolate Dubai bar has been verified by my kids to be “just as good” as store-bought Dubai chocolate.

This reminds me of my naturally sweetened chocolate filled donut recipe. I took my kids to the donut shop to do a taste test, and my 7-year old hungrily ate up both the donut shop donut and my donut, stating they were a tie in taste.

The taste test for the best Dubai chocolate candy went almost exactly the same. My daughter ate both of the samples and asked for more of both. She has told me many times since that she likes my chocolate Dubai bars as much as the store-bought version.

And of course, I like this Dubai chocolate without sugar much better than the options from the store for health reasons. So in my book, a tie in taste plus superiority in health equals a better overall treat 🙂

When to Make Your Own Dubai Chocolate

Now, the intense appeal of this healthy Dubai chocolate recipe without sugar comes from the rich, authentic taste and the fact that it is naturally sweetened. I’ll be honest and tell you this recipe is not going to go viral for being a 5-minute Dubai chocolate recipe.

But that’s okay, because if you want a recipe that quick and easy for making Dubai chocolate, you may as well buy it from the store. The purpose of making it at home is not because it’s easier than buying it. It’s because it tastes better and is much healthier.

Having said that, you are going to want to plan ahead a little bit to make this healthy Dubai chocolate recipe without sugar. You should definitely make this a day ahead of when you want your kids to be able to eat it or give it as a gift (it makes a great gift, by the way).

You will also want to make sure you have the necessary ingredients before you get started, all of which can be found at middle eastern markets and your regular grocery store.

Here’s what you are going to need from the middle eastern market:

• Kuru Kadayif (thin, uncooked pastry strands that provide crunch)
• Tahini (sesame seed butter)

And here’s what you are going to need from your regular grocery store:

• Raw Shelled Pistachios (I got mine from Costco)
• Raw Unfiltered Honey
• Unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate
• Butter

Don’t be intimidated by the ingredients. They really are not scary. And they are so much healthier than using pistachio cream prepared from the store that has added ingredients like oils, powdered milk and sugar.

But since we are making our own pistachio filling, we have to do a minimal amount of prep work. Don’t worry, all it involves is nut chopping and mixing.

I’ve found it easiest to chop my pistachios before measuring them out (by weight) because the amount of pistachios needed in the recipe does not fill up my Ninja Express Chop enough to properly ground them fine. So before focusing too much on how much ground pistachios you need, get them ground up nice and fine.

Then, fry up your Kadayif (this is also really simple and non-scary). Once it’s fried up, just mix all of the pistachio filling ingredients together. Prep work, done.

To save time on the day you want to assemble your healthy Dubai chocolate recipe without sugar, you can totally make the filling in advance. Just store it in the fridge and then remove it from the fridge before you begin melting your chocolate on your assembling day. This way it will have time to soften a bit before it’s time to press it into the chocolate shell.

It does take some time to assemble the bars, some of which is dormant time while the first layer of chocolate is chilling in the freezer. Plan to set aside about 45 minutes start to finish for assembling the Dubai chocolate bars.

So the best time to assemble Dubai chocolate bars is a day before you want to serve them. And the best time to make the filling is either the day you want to assemble them or up to a couple of days in advance. You can also ground up the raw pistachios in bulk and have them ready to use anytime you want to make Dubai chocolate bars.

Ingredients

• Unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate: Using unsweetened baker’s chocolate for the chocolate coating on these Dubai candy bars is the key to keeping them completely refined sugar free. Make sure to purchase unsweetened baker’s chocolate so you can sweeten it yourself wholesomely.

• Butter: Butter is used to add flavor and creaminess to the chocolate and the pistachio filling. I buy Irish grass-fed or organic butter.

• Raw Honey: By using raw honey to sweeten both the chocolate coating and the pistachio filling, this healthy Dubai chocolate recipe is not only naturally sweetened but also has the immune-boosting benefits of beneficial bacteria found in raw honey.

• Raw Pistachios: Pistachios are the base of the Dubai chocolate bar filling. It is preferable to use raw pistachios or at least unsalted. You will also want to get shelled pistachios as shelling them is time-consuming and tiresome. I got my raw shelled pistachios from Costco.

• Tahini: Tahini is simply sesame seed butter. It helps add to the creaminess of the pistachio filling without using refined oils and processed milk powder. You can find it at middle eastern stores and some grocery stores. Make sure you buy true tahini that only contains sesame seeds. Do not get the sweetened blocks of tahini that have added ingredients.

• Kuru Kadayif: Kuru Kadayif is what adds a bit of crunch to the pistachio filling. It is basically shredded pastry dough used in middle eastern treats. You can find it at middle eastern stores or online.

Instructions

Melt Chocolate

Step 1

Place baker’s chocolate and butter in a double boiler and heat on low, stirring occasionally, until fully melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Step 2

Once chocolate has cooled a bit, add in the honey and mix thoroughly until fully combined.

Make Pistachio Filling

Step 1

Add 28 grams of butter and kuru kadayif to a small frying pan and heat over medium heat for 5-8 minutes until golden. Remove from heat onto a paper towel-lined plate to soak up excess butter.

Set aside to cool while mixing other ingredients.

Step 2

Add all ingredients except kuru kadayif to a medium-size bowl. Mix with a spoon until fully combined.

Step 3

Add in kuru kadayif and mix until evenly distributed.

Assemble Dubai Chocolate Bars

Step 1

Place Dubai chocolate bar mold on a baking sheet or tray to keep it flat and stable.

Sprinkle some chopped or ground pistachio nuts in the bottoms of the molds for decoration.

Step 2

Spoon chocolate into each mold, using the back of the spoon to gently spread the chocolate up the sides of the molds to create a shell.

Be careful to leave plenty of room for the filling. You should only use as much chocolate as you need to coat the bottoms and sides. You will need the remaining chocolate for covering the pistachio filling later.

Step 3

Once all molds have been coated in chocolate, place in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden.

Step 4

While chocolate is chilling, divide the pistachio mixture into six equal parts.

* See note in recipe card.

Step 5

Once chocolate has firmed up (it does not have to be fully hardened), remove from freezer and place each portion of pistachio filling into a candy bar mold, pressing it into all the corners and sides so that it evenly filles the mold.

Smooth out and flatten the top of the filling the best you can.

Step 6

Use the remaining chocolate to spread over the flat surfaces of the pistachio filling, making sure to spread the chocolate all the way to the edges of the hardened chocolate sides so that the filling will be sealed inside the chocolate shell once hardened.

* See note in recipe card.

Step 7

Place Dubai chocolate bars back in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge for one hour until chocolate has fully hardened.

Step 8

Once chocolate has fully hardened, remove from molds and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month.

To give as a gift, wrap neatly in foil and store in the fridge.

Substitutions & Tips

• I recommend using this 6-bar Dubai chocolate mold to correspond with the ingredient measurements in this recipe. This is the type of Dubai chocolate mold I use and I have not tried Dubai chocolate molds of different sizes yet (although if you do try it in another type of mold, please let me know in the comments how it goes).

• The best way to prepare the pistachio filling is to first ground up the pistachios as fine as you can in a blender, chopper or food processor. I like the use my trusty Ninja Express Chop. You may have to grind up a lot more pistachios than you need for one batch in order to ground them fine enough.

What I like to do is grind up however much I need to in order for my chopper to grind them enough, and then I measure out the amount of ground pistachios I need for the recipe.

If you try to grind up just a small amount of pistachios, you will not be able to get them ground up very fine. You can still use them if this is all you can do, but your pistachio filling will have a different texture and less cohesive flavor.

• To make this Dubai chocolate bar recipe gluten free, simply leave the kuru kadayif out of the pistachio filling.

• It is easiest to work with the pistachio filling when wearing rubber gloves to prevent it from sticking to your hands.

• These homemade Dubai chocolate bars need to stay refrigerated. If left at room temperature, they will not melt into a puddle, but they will become soft and will smoosh easily.