All Day I Dream About Food

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Homemade Sugar-Free Mounds Bars and Acts of Kindness

Sugar Free Homemade Mounds Bars
The other day, I shared some stories from my readers about random acts of kindness and it really got me thinking. Being kind and putting someone else’s feelings above your own, especially those of someone you don’t know, takes a little extra effort. It might be inconvenient and it might mean making yourself a little uncomfortable, putting yourself out there where you otherwise wouldn’t do so. But it’s almost always worth the effort. One of the stories I received from my readers illustrates this perfectly. It was a little longer than the others so I saved it to share separately. It touched me deeply.

Vicki learned a lesson in kindness at a young age, when her father took her into their small town on Thanksgiving Day.  All the aunts and uncles, the whole extended family, were gathered at her house for the festivities, but her father had an important errand.  He went to town common, where a homeless man name Pete lived with his dog under the bandstand.  Vicki’s town was very small, and everyone knew Pete and typically avoided him.  But on that day, Vicki’s father invited Pete to share their Thanksgiving meal.

Homemade Low Carb Mounds Bars

Pete had been through World War II and had suffered serious shell shock.  He felt uncomfortable around most people, preferring the company of his dog.  He tried to decline Vicki’s dad’s offer, but eventually he agreed, as long as he was allowed to eat in the kitchen and not in the big crowd of Vicki’s family.  So home they went with Pete, much to the consternation of several of Vicki’s aunts and uncles.

While the rest of the family ate in the dining room, Pete, Vicki and her father enjoyed their meal in the kitchen.  Vicki recalls this as the best Thanksgiving ever, laughing and talking with Pete, hearing his stories.  And afterward, when they dropped Pete back at the bandstand, there were tears in his eyes.  Vicki’s father also set up an account at the local eatery for Pete, so that whenever he needed a hot meal or a cup of coffee, he could go there.

Homemade Mounds Bars Low Carb andn Gluten-Free

Vicki’s father embodies true kindness.  His gesture went above and beyond giving Pete a few free meals.  He risked making his family members uncomfortable to make a homeless man a real part of his Thanksgiving Day.  He welcomed him completely and made him feel at home.  Then, and only then, did he offer his charity at the eatery.
Stories like these are truly inspirational.  I know I am not always the kindest person.  Like anyone, I have my bad days and my good.  I have times where I am so caught up in the stresses of my daily life, I can hardly see past my own nose, let alone reach out to a stranger. I also have times where I go out of my way to be kind, to make sure someone else is more comfortable and happy than I am.  And I never, ever regret it when I do.
Low Carb Homemade Mounds Bars
Sometimes, however, the people we are least kind to are those in our family.  Sounds counter-intuitive, but think about it a bit.  They are there all the time, they see us in our good moments and in our bad.  They are oftentimes the source of some of our stress (small children, anyone?).  And we are comfortable with them enough to allow ourselves to be impatient, frustrated and unkind, because they have to love us anyway.  I have made great efforts lately to be kinder to my family members.  Because I love them deeply and I want them to know that.
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So my husband mentioned offhand the other day how much he has always loved chocolate and coconut together.  Mounds Bars were a particular favourite of his growing up.  Instantly, I knew I wanted to make him a healthy sugar-free version, just to see him smile. Sometimes I express my love, and my kindness, in food.  That’s not a bad way to show some love, now is it?

Print
Homemade Sugar-Free Mounds Bars and Acts of Kindness
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Chill Time
2 hrs 30 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 55 mins
 
Clusters of sweet coconut covered in rich dark chocolate. Making your own low carb, gluten-free Mounds Bars is easy and healthy.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Servings: 18 small bars
Calories: 167 kcal
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides for easy removal.
  2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the Low Carb Sweetened Condensed Milk, coconut oil, and cocoa butter, stirring until smooth.
  3. Stir in powdered sweetener until well combined and no clumps remain. Stir in shredded coconut and coconut extract.
  4. Spread mixture into prepared baking pan and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
  5. Remove from pan by lifting with the overhanging parchment. Cut into desired size and shape (I made 18 long, thin bars).
  6. Freeze bars for 30 minutes.
  7. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper.
  8. Melt chocolate in small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Drop a frozen bar into melted chocolate and gently toss with a fork to cover. Remove and shake off excess chocolate, then place on prepared baking sheet.
  9. Repeat with remaining bars. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.
Recipe Notes

Serves 18. Each serving has 4 g of carbs and 1 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 3 g.

167 Calories; 17g Fat (86.5% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 22mg Cholesterol; 21mg Sodium

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Sugar-Free Mounds Bars and Acts of Kindness
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 167 Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g 26%
Cholesterol 22mg 7%
Sodium 21mg 1%
Total Carbohydrates 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Protein 2g 4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

  3. Thanks for sharing another inspirational story Carolyn – it always amazes me what a huge reward I get from giving so little of your myself to others. It’s the small acts of kindness that mean so much to others. As for your husband, he’s lucky to have you as his wife making these mounds bars!

    Reply

    • No, in this case you really need a bulk sweetener to make the candy come together. Can you get a different sort of erythritol or xylitol?

      Reply

      • I will look into it. I REALLY LOVE Mounds and Almond Joys so I will figure something out. Thank you for responding.

        Reply

  10. lovely post. while not a big candy eater i have always liked mounds bars…even tho we do not eat them anymore…so will have to make these! i have organic virgin coconut oil…is this the same as coconut butter? if not what is the difference? thank you.

    Reply

    • You need coconut oil and cocoa butter, not coconut butter. The cocoa butter helps it form properly. If you don’t have it, you can skip it but they will be a lot softer and you may need to freeze them for a while before cutting.

      Reply

  14. Made these yesterday, but used the chocolate coating from your peanut butter egg recipe. Didn’t have the other kind of chocolate…… DELISH! Oh well…..added an almond in there too for an almond joy. That, was an act of kindness for me!!!!! Oh thank you! Thank you so much for this recipe!!!!!!

    Reply

  15. I just found your website tonight and LOVE it already!!! This is going to make the low carb life so much easier.
    I do have a question- Does low carb automatically mean low sugar? I’m doing Atkins so its both and I wanted to double check before stuffing my face with these amazing candies and other treats on here.
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Yes, for me, low carb means low sugar. I typically don’t use any sugar in my recipes, although I do use some chocolate (85 or 90% cacao which means very little sugar in the chocolate). And on occasion I use a few teaspoons of molasses to help things brown up properly or to imitate brown sugar flavors, but it’s such a small amount, it only adds about .5 g of carbs per serving

      Reply

  17. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t!

    Couldn’t help myself. Thanks for sharing such a sweet story and some of my favorite candies.

    Reply

  18. Hi Carolyn,
    had a go at making these and for some reason they are very wet, as in, still pourable after 15 hours in the fridge. I used everything as specified except regular condensed milk. Do you know where I might have gone wrong? A great story, and this is the first of your recipes I’ve ever had trouble with, love this blog!

    Reply

    • You used sweetened condensed milk from the store? Like Eagle Brand? Because that’s very high in carbs. Or did you use unsweetened, evaporated milk, which is a VERY different thing. I am trying to figure out what you did here to help solve the problem. My condensed milk contains xanthan gum to help thicken it, which would make the end result thicker and less gooey.

      Reply

      • I’m in Aus but yes an equivalent of Eagle Brand regular sweetened condensed milk. Will try evaporated milk instead and see if that fixes the problem! Thank you 🙂

        Reply

        • No, no, don’t try evaporated milk, that would be far worse! What you need is some sort of thickener in the condensed milk. Can you get your hands on xanthan or guar gum? If not, how about a little sifted coconut flour?

          Reply

  19. Carolyn, can I use coconut cream (not oil, using that, as called for) in place of the condensed milk. I just don’t have the time to make the milk, and no real use for it after that. But I do have organic coconut cream – it’s thick, almost but not quite pourable. It would also give more coconut flavor, too. What do you think?

    Reply

  20. Wow, I just made these and they are absolutely amazing. Far surpassed my expectations. The filling is soft and delicious and just the right texture and flavour.

    Thank you SO much for making this recipe available. I think I am going to make these again and again and again. I can’t believe how healthy they are for me, but they taste EXACTLY like my favourite candy bar! Lol. The only way I can tell that they aren’t the same is the slight aftertaste of the sweetener but that’s all. On first bite they are completely identical.

    I used Truvia instead of your Swerve. It’s 3x the sweetness of sugar because it’s a combination of erythritol and stevia. I’d rather have just plain erythritol but Truvia is all I can find, and it worked out just fine. I used 1/4 cup Truvia in the sweetened condensed milk, then 3 tbsp of powdered (with magic bullet) Truvia and 6 drops of liquid sucralose for the sweetener for the filling. I also don’t have any stevia drops so I didn’t use any (used sucralose instead).

    It turned out AMAZING. I can only imagine that the flavour would be even better with pure erythritol instead of Truvia but this was really, really great. I am so happy right now. My only problem is I ran out of chocolate halfway through coating them, so I froze the rest so I can coat them later 😀

    Reply

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