When I broke up with sugar I had no intention of
A. never “going there” again
B. forgoing sweet treats, especially of the dark, rich, chocolatey variety
As for A, sugar and I hung out over the weekend at a friend’s birthday party. It was kind of like getting it on with an ex, it felt good at the time but also made me realize I’m not missing anything without it.
As for B, I love a little sweet something nearly everyday (at least once a day) and when it comes to chocolate-the less sweet the better.
I am a huge fan of using cocoa to get my chocolate on, as evidenced in recipes for Sweet But Not Refined Chocolate Torte, Chocolate Ganache Pie, Coconut Oil Truffles, and Berry Bliss Tarts, just to name a few, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized I could also use unsweetened baking chocolate for a sugar free fix.
Sugar’s not the devil or anything, I just don’t want to eat it everyday and we’ve already established that I do want to eat chocolate everyday. So yesterday I made up these chocolates, which supply a lovely dose of Omega-3’s, lauric acid, and antioxidents. As a bonus, the anti-microbial and anti-viral properties of both honey and coconut can help ward off colds and flus, which makes these some hard working chocolates.
These may remind you of another kind of candy, a trademarked kind…we’ll just call these little guys…coconut joy?
Or how about
Almond Delight
Makes ~8 little two bite sized chocolates
Gather your natural, whole food ingredients;
- about a dozen raw almonds
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
- 1 1/2 tablespoon good quality, local honey*
- tiny pinch of salt
- 2 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate
Chop nuts coarsely in the food processor or by hand and set aside. Pulse coconut, chia seeds, salt and honey in a food processor until it becomes sticky and starts to clump together, about 2 minutes but you may need to scrape the sides a few times during the process. Add the nuts and pulse a few times to incorporate.
With wet fingers, form 8 little squares with the coconut mixture. Really squeeze it and mash it together here to form the inside of the candy.
Set squares on a plate or tray (or Silpat like mine) and place in the freezer for 10 minutes to make firm.
After the 10 minutes is up, remove from freezer and melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or microwave. If melting chocolate in the microwave keep a close eye on it and remove when there’s still a little hard chocolate left then stir until fully melted and creamy.
One at a time, dip each coconut square into the melted chocolate and completely cover. The best utensil here is your fingers so make sure they’re clean and don’t be afraid of a little hot chocolate. Place each freshly covered candy on a Silpat tray or a plate with foil on it.
Once all the candies are coated, place the plate/tray into the fridge until the chocolate is cool and solid, at least 5 minutes.
My mind is swirling with ideas about what to coat in chocolate next…
P.S If you are interested in doing more (free!) yoga, Yoga Journal is kicking off a 21 day yoga challenge TODAY. Everyday for the next 21 days they are sending participants a link to a yoga class and mediation practice, which you can do at home. There are two tracks, newbie and not newbie so you can pick your level. I received my first e-mail today for the not newbie track but I haven’t done the practice yet. I believe they are all relatively short so that it’s realistic to fit it into your day, 21 days in a row!
These look so, so good! What an awesome healthy treat. I adore the photography too – they look so good placed on the stone (?) like that.
Thanks, I had a lot of fun taking the pictures.
I loveee unsweetened chocolate and I agree- while i don’t love sweets I crave rich dark chocolate every single day. These sound so great and I have all the ingredients, sweet!
I crave dark chocolate every day too! These sound like the perfect bite of sweetness. 😀
oh yum!
i’m just heading out to whole foods right now and i’m definitely picking up some bakers chocolate so i can try these! you are quite a maestro in the kitchen dear faith.
xo
Yes, please! I will have to make these as soon as I can muster a free moment.
i love recipes like this! especially since you used local honey 🙂
Totally delightful blog On my icy way to work I was thinking how I was missing me some Fathie’s blog THANX I will make it All:)
no you didn’t. wow. making these tomorrow to replace my ridiculous Toblerone habit. thanks!
:)!!
Just made these last night – I had to admit that I had my doubts as I was trying to form the little squares, they had a hard time coming together – but it all worked out in the end and they are amazing! Also, I used the slight bit of leftover chocolate to dunk some cranberries – highly recommend!
The keys to getting them to hold together is processing the coconut long enough and using wet hands to it sticks to itself instead of you. It’s a process but I think they are totally worth it!
Dried cranberries or fresh?
Totally agree that they are worth it! I’ll try processing for longer next time to see if that makes the handling a bit easier. Either way, psyched about the final product! Used dried cranberries because those are what I had, do you think fresh would be good or not enough sweetness paired with the unsweetened chocolate?
Unsweetened cranberries would be intense, probably a little too intense even for me (I love tart!). Glad you liked the flavor and by all means let me know if you come up with any techniques to make the process easier!
BasicallyBarefoot » not too sweet.
[…] on over to Gracefulfitness for the Almond Delight recipe! Faith posted a recipe for minted chocolate that looks really good as […]
I could eat this entire recipe right about now. The look delicious Faith, and I love the ingredients. Much better than the Hershey Kisses with almond that I’ve been snacking on as of late. 🙂
Well Heather, seems like we’ve come full circle-you were part of my original inspiration to start using more unsweetened baking chocolate! 🙂
These were so good, perfect with a glass of zinfandel. Thank you!
:)! (is there anything that’s not perfect with a glass of Zin? 😉 )
Made these this morning! They are remarkable and incredibly satisfying! A new favorite! THANK YOU!!!
Lindsey Kay Ovens | Healthy Treats
[…] ran out of dates making the rolos, so I never made date balls. That’s okay though. I made Almond Delights […]