Sugar free chocolate bark + your favorite toppings!

Here's a really simple recipe that looks and tastes completely decadent, but it's low carb/South Beach diet friendly, because it's sugar free! You can top it with whatever toppings float your boat; I first tried it with a mix of chopped almonds and unsweetened coconut on one end (shown above), and salty pepitas (roasted hull-less pumpkin seeds) on the other.

I served this for dessert last night -- just the hubs and me. Here's what it looked like when we started...

Here's what it looked like when we were done:

And no, he is not putting that back in the pan!

Clearly, the almond/coconut end was the favorite! The slight sweetness of both coconut and almond goes nicely with the semi-sweet, almost bitter flavor of this chocolate. I think the pepitas would taste great with a sweeter, perhaps milkier chocolate. I'll try that another day.

But today, there's a new batch in the fridge that's all almond/coconut!

Recipe: Sugar-free chocolate bark

Note: If you're not avoiding sugar, substitute up to 1/4 c. of sugar for the Splenda.

6 T. butter
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (one square of baking chocolate)
1/4 c. + 2 T. cocoa (unsweetened)
6 pkts. Splenda
1/2 t. vanilla
toppings of your choice, probably around 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Prepare a 10x15 pan by lining it with parchment. Trim the parchment if necessary so that it extends over the long sides of the pan, but does not come up the short sides of the pan at all. (My photos above show how not to do that!) Clip the parchment to the sides, if you like, with some clothespins or other large clips. Set aside.

Melt the butter and the baking chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add in the cocoa and Splenda, and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth. Add in the vanilla, stir until combined, then pour it into the prepared pan. Spread the chocolate out to a fairly even smoothness. It doesn't need to be perfect.

Sprinkle your toppings of choice over the chocolate, then chill for a couple hours at least. Keep it refrigerated when not serving (or snitching) it, because it softens quickly.

If you're looking for a recipe with a different sweetener, here are some other options:

• Here's one from Chocolate Covered Katie, using agave syrup or stevia drops.
• For the Love of Food, using fructose.
• Candice's Low Carb Recipes, using liquid sucralose. (You have to scroll down past the scone recipe to find the recipe for chocolate chips.)