This blog has been awfully snacky lately, hasn't it? That's ok, it's summer and all the kids are hanging around much more. That means that food is disappearing fast! While the last two posted treats were more for them (kids and husband), this one I made with me in mind. Not that I won't share. ;)
I love to have a little piece of good chocolate. Unfortunately, good chocolate with acceptable ingredients is hard to find. Then when you do find it, it's so expensive!
Last week Tim and I went on a bike ride and ended up downtown. We had lunch at one of our favorite places that serves local food, then we went on a little walk. We came across a little chocolate shop and went in for a treat. One of those little treats was dark chocolate with some nuts, seeds, and course sea salt on top. It was so good! The sweetness of chocolate mixed with the salt was a delicious combo.
I decided to try it out at home.
I got my inspiration from The Nourishing Gourmet's mounds candy bars recipe - which I LOVE! This time I only used the chocolate part of the recipe.First prepare the tray. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper then sprinkle about a cup or so of chopped walnuts evenly over the paper.
In a double boiler I melted one cup of coconut oil. Why coconut oil? Because it's SO GOOD FOR YOU! Once that was gently melted, I added 1/4 cup raw local honey, 3/4 cup of cocoa powder (yes, it was hershey's), and a tablespoon of vanilla. Whisk all that together until smooth. Then gently pour the chocolate mixture over the chopped nuts being careful not to let it run off of the wax paper. Sprinkle about a teaspoon or so of course sea salt over the whole thing. The salt won't sit on top, but rather mix in the chocolate. If you wanted it to sit on top you could freeze it for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle with salt and return to freezer. I didn't think of that till after so I just let the whole tray freeze for about a half hour. At that point the coconut oil will have become solid making it easy to peel the whole thing away from the paper. I broke it up into bite sized pieces and put in a glass bowl. Since coconut oil is liquid or soft at a warm room temp, it's best to keep these stored in the freezer or fridge.
These treats would lend themselves for many variations - nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, dried fruits. So many options! This recipe could also be made more nutritious by soaking the walnuts first and dehydrating them into crispy nuts. I didn't do that this time, but maybe with some advanced planning I will next time. Also, a higher quality organic cocoa powder is preferred. Again, maybe next time for me. ;) But hey, a yummy piece of chocolate with only these ingredients: coconut oil, cocoa powder, raw honey, vanilla, walnuts, and sea salt - that's better than anything I could find in the store. And it was so easy!!
Of course, this is part of Tuesday Twister at GNOWFLGINS. :)