Healthy Vegan Chocolate Crackles

I am all into NZ and Australian recipes lately, and I love them, like my Feijoa Loaf, Feijoa Crumble, and Vegan Anzac Biscuits. Today, I am sharing a healthier version of popular treats called chocolate crackles.

What Are Chocolate Crackles?

Chocolate Crackles are an Australian recipe created by the brand Kellogg’s to showcase their puffed Rice Krispies cereals into an easy chocolate treat recipe. It’s a simple no-bake recipe that combines Rice Krispies, melted Copha (a vegetable shortening), cocoa powder, and icing sugar.

What Is Copha?

Copha is a vegetable shortening made from hydrogenated coconut oil. It means that the small amounts of unsaturated fats in the oil is hydrogenated in order to extend the shelf life of the product. But, this chemical process results in the formation of trans fat. Trans fat is the worst type of fat for your heart and health in general.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Puffed Cereals – The classic Australian dessert contains puffed rice. To make this dessert healthy, try a blend of puffed brown rice, puffed quinoa, puffed millet, or even puffed amaranth. Amaranth has a smaller grain size and doesn’t add the same crunchiness so it’s not the best swap for texture. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Using unsweetened cocoa powder, avoid the added refined sugar from cocoa powder found in the classic recipe. Extra-Virgin Cold Pressed Coconut Oil – While this oil has as much saturated fat as regular copha, it’s virgin which means it also contains vitamin E, and bioactive polyphenol. Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut – or shredded coconut. Date Syrup or any refined sugar-free liquid sweetener you love, like maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or coconut nectar. Date syrup contains fewer total carbohydrates than maple syrup, and the taste and color it brings to the chocolate crackle recipe are amazing. Vanilla Extract – This is optional, the authentic chocolate crackle recipe doesn’t use vanilla. Sea Salt – A pinch of salt brings out the chocolate flavor.

How To Make Healthy Chocolate Crackles

I do prefer to call these healthier chocolate crackles rather than healthy because even if they are way better for you than the classic recipe, they still contain a good amount of saturated fat from coconut oil.

Storage Instructions

Since coconut oil melts under 23°C (73°F), you must store these treats in the fridge, or they soften fast at room temperature, especially on warm days. You can also freeze the chocolate crackles for later in a zip-lock bag and freeze them for up to 1 month.

Allergy Swaps

Below are some ingredients swap ideas if you have some allergies to the ones used in this recipe.

Coconut-Free – You can swap desiccated coconut for an almond meal or simply skip the ingredients. For coconut oil, swap for cocoa butter. However, cocoa butter is much more expensive. Gluten-Free – Make sure the puffed cereal you use is wheat-free like rice or quinoa. Cocoa Powder can be replaced with cacao powder.

Here are my answers to the most common questions about this recipe.