Coconut Honey Joys (Nut-Free, Paleo)

Have you heard of honey joys before? Perhaps, the sweet little morsels of cornflakes, sugar and butter were part of your childhood or you might have seen them at a kid’s party. This somewhat old-school treat is making a comeback, so I thought I’d try and create a slightly healthier, paleo friendly version of honey joys.

Instead of using cornflakes, butter and sugar, I’ve combined unsweetened coconut flakes with broken banana chips, pumpkin seeds, melted coconut oil, vanilla and honey. Once baked briefly and cooled, these little nests are crispy and sweet, and will hold shape really well. You can easily add them to your kids lunchbox (they are free of tree nuts) or enjoy with a cup of tea.

I have to say that they are dangerously addictive, so I wouldn’t make too many. Enjoy mindfully as these are rich in honey. They last 5-6 days out of the fridge, but if it’s too hot, then you can also refrigerate them for longer.

Cook’s notes

• You can find unsweetened coconut flakes in most health food stores and online. Look in the baking section of the supermarket.
• I used store-bought banana chips. These are usually deep-fried sliced bananas, and although they’re probably not ideal due to the oil they were fried in, I think they’re okay in small amounts and they do add fun texture and tropical flavour to these honey joys. Feel free to omit the banana chips, if you like. Add a few extra seeds and coconut flakes instead.
• Make sure to cool these after baking! They won’t hold their shape while hot.

Coconut Honey Joys (Nut-Free, Paleo)

★★★★★ 5 from 8 reviews

• Author: Irena Macri
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Yield: 8-10 1x
• Category: Snack

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup banana chips
• 150 g / 5 oz. unsweetened coconut flakes (about 1 + 1/3 cups)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 heaped tablespoon coconut oil (in solid state)
• 5 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence
• Small cupcake or muffin casings

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C / 320 F (conventional).
2. Add banana chips to a large mixing bowl. Use your hands or something like a kitchen ham to gently break the whole chips into smaller pieces. You can do this on a cutting board or place the chips in a bag and then smash them or press down on them with something heavy.
3. Add coconut flakes and pumpkin seeds to the banana chip pieces in a mixing bowl.
4. Add coconut oil, honey and vanilla to a small pot. Place over medium heat, melt and stir for 15-20 seconds. Pour the honey mixture over the coconut flakes and stir through really well to coat the mixture evenly with the sweet liquid.
5. Place the cupcake casings on a flat oven tray. I used 8 medium muffin cups but you could stretch the mixture into 10, if using smaller casings. I used about 2 -2.5 tablespoons of mixture per casing.
6. Place in the oven, middle shelf, and bake for 8-10 minutes. Check at minutes to make sure the tops aren’t getting burnt. We’re after golden brown look here. Remove earlier or keep in the oven longer, depending on your oven.
7. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the baked flake moulds to cool completely. They will harden and stick together, making them easy to remove from the casings. I store them in the cups in an airtight container or paper bag.

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