Homemade “Heavenly Hunks”
When I first saw Heavenly Hunks in a giant bag at Costco, I was a bit thrown off by the name. But these bite sized chewy oatmeal goodness won over my kiddos immediately. While they do have some sugar, which our family avoids buying for daily consumption, I do like their limited ingredients and have been known to buy a bag whenever Costco has a super sale. I love having easy premade treats on hand for last minute special occasions.
What I don’t love is how expensive store-bought healthier treats can be. And, if we are being nit-picky (which let’s face it, I am), then I don’t LOVE the fact that they have “natural flavors” which are anything but natural.
So, today I attempted to make my own versions of these yummy treats. My daughter is super picky. The ultimate test was seeing if she liked them. I was awake at 4am this morning, so after a little quiet time, I decided to try making a new recipe while my family slept in. I made 2 different batches. One sweetened only with honey and the other with honey and some organic turbinado sugar. I had high hopes to win over my daughter with the honey only batch, but I made both batches knowing she might think the “honey only” was not up to par with the store-bought ones. Thankfully she LOVED both batches. She even loved the honey only batch best. However, she said the honey/sugar batch tasted the most like Heavenly Hunks. So, if you are looking for the most “copycat” versions, you may want to go with a little added sugar.
I’ve only seen the store bought Heavenly Hunks on sale at Costco until recently. Now Thrive Market sells them as well (including a birthday cake version which we have yet to try).
Here are both recipes! Version 1 is the copycat (tastes most like the store version) recipe using sugar and honey. The second version uses only honey and is a favorite of both my teenagers.
Version 1:
Heavenly Hunks Copy-Cat Recipe:
Ingredients:
*1/4 cup coconut oil
*1/3 cup raw unfiltered honey (the thicker the better) I like to get my honey locally but there is an amazing brand called Really Raw at Thrive Market
*1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips or shredded coconut (I used chips since that’s all I had on hand)
*1/2 cup organic oat flour
*1/4 cup arrowroot powder (we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*1/2 cup collagen powder (I love the chewy texture this adds to the recipe)
*2 cups organic rolled oats
*1/4 cup organic turbinado sugar (we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*1/4 tsp Redmonds Real Sea Salt (we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1/2 cup chocolate chips of choice (I used Hu chocolate chips sweetened with dates -we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*1/4 cup filtered water (give or take) You will need more or less filtered water depending on the thickness of your honey to get the right consistency (See directions below).
*Optional: I add 16-32 drops of my vitamin D K2 liquid supplement to this recipe as a great way to get this into my teens diet. It’s flavorless! So why not?
Instructions:
- Melt the coconut oil in a small sauce pan on ultra low heat until melted. Set aside to cool some.
- Grind up the coconut chips or shredded coconut in a food processor.
- Add the oat flour, arrowroot powder, collagen powder, rolled oats, turbinado sugar, and sea salt. Blend until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the raw honey to your coconut oil and mix. At this point it should be cooled enough to not cook your honey. You want to keep in raw so that you keep all the amazing benefits of the honey.
- Add your coconut oil honey mixture to the mix in your food processor. Use a spatula to make sure you get all the oil and honey into the recipe.
- Add vanilla and Vitamin D/K2 if using.
- Blend all the ingredients with the food processor. You will need to use the spatula occassionally to scrape off the sides and help it mix well.
- This is when you will add water to get the right consistency. Heavenly Hunks are a little dryer. I like them less dry, my daughter likes them drier like the actual product. You can decide for yourself how much you would like to add. You just want to make sure that ever sticks together enough to not just crumble apart.
- Add chocolate chips and stir in as evenly as possible.
- Using a spoon and spatula, press the mixture into a parchment lined 8×8 glass Pyrex dish. Be sure to press the mixture down really well to help it stick together. I like to use another piece of parchment paper on to to do this.
- Place in the refrigerator to set for about an hour before removing and cutting into squares.
- You could also use a loaf pan if you want more square like pieces like the actual Heavenly Hunks, or you could roll them into little balls.
- Store in the fridge or freezer in an air tight container.
- Enjoy!
Version 2
Just Sweetened with Honey!
Ingredients:
*1/2 cup coconut oil
*1/3 cup raw unfiltered honey (the thicker the better) I like to get my honey locally but there is an amazing brand called Really Raw at Thrive Market
*1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips or shredded coconut (I used chips since that’s all I had on hand)
*1/2 cup organic oat flour
*1/4 cup arrowroot powder (we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*1/2 cup collagen powder (I love the chewy texture this adds to the recipe)
*2 cups organic rolled oats
*1/4 tsp Redmonds Real Sea Salt (we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1/2 cup chocolate chips of choice (I used Hu chocolate chips sweetened with dates– we buy ours at Thrive Market)
*Filtered water: you may need to add a TBS or so of filtered water to get the right consistency (See directions below).
*Optional: I add 16-32 drops of my vitamin D K2 liquid supplement to this recipe as a great way to get this into my teens diet. It’s flavorless! So why not?
Instructions:
- Melt the coconut oil in a small sauce pan on ultra low heat until melted. Set aside to cool some.
- Grind up the coconut chips or shredded coconut in a food processor.
- Add the oat flour, arrowroot powder, collagen powder, rolled oats, and sea salt. Blend until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the raw honey to your coconut oil and mix. At this point it should be cooled enough to not cook your honey. You want to keep in raw so that you keep all the amazing benefits of the honey.
- Add your coconut oil honey mixture to the mix in your food processor. Use a spatula to make sure you get all the oil and honey into the recipe.
- Add vanilla and Vitamin D/K2 if using.
- Blend all the ingredients with the food processor. You will need to use the spatula occasionally to scrape off the sides and help it mix well.
- This is when you will add water to get the right consistency. Heavenly Hunks are a little dryer. I like them less dry, my daughter likes them drier like the actual product. You can decide for yourself how much you would like to add. You just want to make sure that ever sticks together enough to not just crumble apart.
- Add chocolate chips and stir in as evenly as possible.
- Using a spoon and spatula, press the mixture into a parchment lined 8×8 glass Pyrex dish. Be sure to press the mixture down really well to help it stick together. I like to use another piece of parchment paper on to to do this.
- Place in the refrigerator to set for about an hour before removing and cutting into squares.
- You could also use a loaf pan if you want more square like pieces like the actual Heavenly Hunks, or you could roll them into little balls.
- Store in the fridge or freezer in an air tight container.
- Enjoy!
There you have it! Two delicious versions of homemade Heavenly Hunks!
I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. Feel free to leave any comments or questions in the comment section below.
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