Homemade Cherry Ripe Bites with No Added Sugar

These Homemade Cherry Ripe Bites taste exactly like the bars you get from the shops! Made with only 5 ingredients they contain No Added Sugar – only fresh fruit!

What’s your favourite candy bar?

I would have a hard time choosing between a creamy Bounty and the Aussie Cherry Ripe. See the pattern? Yep, both contain coconut!

Since I’ve already made homemade Bounty balls, it was time to reinvent the Cherry Ripe.

Homemade Cherry Ripe with No Added Sugar

You see the original Cherry Ripe is made with glace cherries, which have extra sugar (and preservative) added. Even dried tart cherries have added sugar, so I passed on that idea. Instead I roasted some fresh cherries myself. But don’t worry, my fresh cherry version, with no added sugar, is still sweet enough.

And because I’ve developed this recipe for the Berry Nice to Meet You Blog Hop, I’ve added some homemade dry-roasted strawberry powder for extra flavour and sweetness.  As this step takes a couple of hours, you could use store-bought strawberry powder, or the same amount of dried goji berries instead.

If you’d prefer to go dairy-free or vegan with these, simply use dairy-free chocolate chips or make your own vegan chocolate.

Moulds to use for your treats

I used a rubber ice cube tray from this range but you can find silicone ice cube moulds online pretty much everywhere. I liked the cherry shape of the mould I used but other shapes can be fun as well.

The mould needs to be silicone, because the filling, although set, is a little soft so it won’t come out as easily out of a regular hard plastic mould. Or, you could just as easily use a small rectangular container to make your treats into bars.

Store homemade cherry ripe bites in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. The chocolate will have a nice crunch as you bite into it.

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4.94 from 15 votes

Homemade Cherry Ripe Bites with No Added Sugar

While homemade dry-roasted strawberry dust is used in this recipe, you can just as well substitute it store-bought powder or with equal amount of dried goji berries. You will need latex gloves to pit the cherries and a silicone ice cube tray to make these cherry ripe bites. Otherwise shape into a block and cut into bars or bites.

Servings: 18

Ingredients

• 250 g fresh cherries
• 2 tbsp dry-roasted strawberry powder* OR 2tbsp goji berries
• 3/4 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 tbsp coconut oil melted
• 140 g dark chocolate melted

Instructions

To make the Dry-Roasted Strawberry Powder:

• Preheat oven to 110C (90C fan-forced, 225F, gas mark 1/4).
• Wash strawberries are remove stems.
• Slice strawberries into 4mm thick slices and spread on a paper-lined baking tray.
• Roast for 2-3 hours, until strawberries have dried out.
• When dry, grind to a powder in a coffee grinder or blender.

To roast the Cherries:

• Preheat oven to 160C (140C fan-forced, 325F, gas mark 3).
• Cut cherries in half and remove pit.
• Spread cherries, cut side up, on a paper-lined baking tray and roast for 20 minutes.

To make the Homemade Cherry Ripe Bites:

• Place roasted cherries and strawberry powder in a 2 cup capacity jug. Blend using your stick blender until smooth.
• Add dessicated coconut and melted coconut oil. Mix to combine.
• Fill a silicone ice cube tray with the cherry berry mixture and place in the fridge for 1 hour to set.
• Once set, remove from the mould.
• Melt dark chocolate in a small bowl (in the microwave is fine, heating for 20 seconds at a time then mixing).
• Dip cherry ripe bites in melted dark chocolate. Set aside on baking paper for the chocolate to set.

To store:

• Keep Cherry Ripe Bites in an airtight container in a cool, dry place or in the fridge for upto 1 week.

Notes

Recipe at Wholesome Cook

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