Its back to school season, which means that I am packing my work lunches again and looking for tasty treats to fill my lunch box. These chocolate seed bites are a favorite because they satisfy my sweet cravings while being wholesome and filling.
These seed bites could not be easier to make. Just stir together the seeds with maple syrup and bake in a silicone muffin tray, or silicone muffin tin liners. To add the chocolate use the residual heat from the oven to melt chocolate chips in the same silicone cups, then press the seed bites into the melted chocolate and let the chocolate set.
Seeds can be a seriously underrated food. They are full of healthy fats and a good source of protein as well, not to mention all the vitamins and minerals that they are rich in like magnesium, zinc and vitamin E. Seeds make the bulk of these treats; there are no refined grains or refined sugars (except what little you get from the chocolate) so this is a treat you can feel good about eating!
Variations to the Chocolate Seeds Bites recipe:
- Type of sunflower seeds: I love the combination of sweet and salty from the roasted salted sunflower seeds and pepitas. You can use unsalted seeds or even raw seeds as well. If you do, I would recommend adding a little salt to balance with the sweet.
- Nuts: Peanuts are a delicious addition to these bites if you do not have a peanut allergy. I prefer to crush my peanuts so they are a more similar size to the sunflower seeds for the best texture. You could do this with any nut you choose to add.
- Other seeds: I have not tried adding sesame seeds or flaxseeds because I fear that they are too small and might burn too easily during baking.
- Size: These bites do not cut well, they tend to fall apart. If you want a smaller sized bite start with adding less to eat muffin cup, or using a mini muffin cup.
- Equipment: Any silicone mold will work for forming these bites. Silicone muffin trays or liners are readily available so they are what decided to use. I tried silicone mini donut molds once and those worked out also.
- Chocolate: The chocolate chips can be reduced to ½ cup but the seeds bites crumble a little more when you bite into them, therefore I recommend 2/3 cup, the amount found on the recipe card.
- Simple swap: Substitute honey for the maple syrup if you prefer.
- ⅔ cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
- ⅔ cup roasted salted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
- 2 TBS maple syrup
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Mix with the sunflower seeds and pepitas. Drizzle with maple syrup and stir to evenly coat.
- Spray a silicone muffin pan or muffin pan liners with oil and divide the seed mixture among 12 cups, pressing slightly to compact, about 2 TBS per muffin cup.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown. They will still be soft to the touch but will firm up when cooled. Remove the seed bites from the oven and turn off the oven.
- Let the seed bites cool for 20-30 minutes on the counter then remove the seed bites from the silicone. Add chocolate chips to each silicone cup and place in the oven (it should still be turned off, but slightly warm from the previous bake) until the chocolate chips are soft, 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and put the seed bites back into the cups, pressing slightly, and transfer to the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the chocolate to set.
- Remove the chocolate seed bites from the silicone cups and keep refrigerated so that the chocolate stays firm.
