Sharing chocolate cheer with a selection of DIY healthy chocolate recipes. Anzac celebration cookies too. Enjoy!
#1 Chocolate Fudge
2 cups coconut oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla paste
1/4 – 1/2 cup Manuka / raw honey, date syrup or another sweetener
1/4 cup cacao powder
Dash of sauerkraut brine / kvass / kimchi brine
3 tablespoons coconut milk kefir
Optional: soaked almonds / walnuts / macadamia + cardamom, green banana flour / 1 cup kefir overnight soaked oats or quinoa flakes (makes more of a brownie), maca powder and other goodies like dried cherries, cranberries, crushed organic candy canes, cayenne, paprika, chilli.
Sky is the limit in flavouring chocolate and fudge.
• Cream coconut oil by rubbing on the side of a bowl with a spoon. • Mya require to be softened (depending on temperature) by putting the bowl in hot water.
• If it melts too much, wait until cool to harden and then mix.
• Add rest of ingredients.
• Refrigerate on parchment paper in 20.32 cm (8 x 8 inch) pan. • Ready when hard! • Cut into squares, sprinkle with anything your heart desires (goji berry, hemp pollen, coconut, crushed activated nuts / seeds, cacao nibs, citrus zest, fresh herbs, or edible flowers).
#2 Cacao Topping
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons sweetness (honey)
1/3 cup cacao
Blitz and pour over treats, cookies, fruit etc.
#3 Cacao Syrup
Combine 3 tablespoons of raw cacao powder, 2 tablespoons honey, 4 tablespoons coconut oil (melt if required) 1 teaspoon vanilla paste. Pour into a pouring bottle and refrigerate.
Note: If the sauce is too cold and too thick, place bottle into a bowl of hot water.
Drizzle around glass before pouring smoothie or for cheesecake in a jar or chia pudding, etc.
#4 Cacao Baked Slice
1 ¾ cup shredded coconut
1 ¾ cup of green banana flour
1 tablespoon cacao powder
10 dates
½ cup tibicos/water kefir
2 eggs
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon coconut oil
• Soak dates in tibicos – blitz in blender with honey
• Mix dry ingredients, add eggs. Add wet ingredients and blend all together.
• Spread in tray and smooth top flat with back of spoon or spatula. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Cut into bars whilst still warm.
• Cool and store in sealed container.
• Serve with coconut yoghurt and berry tibicos jam, Yum!
• Or, ice with cacao frosting, and a sprinkle of coconut (optional: submerge coconut in beetroot kvass or spirulina).
• Drizzle with Cacao topping
#5 Sans Flour Baked Chocolate Torte
2 ½ cups grated beetroot
1 cup raw honey
4 eggs
½ cup coconut oil
Dash of vanilla powder
½ cup cacao powder
Dash of kvass
• In a medium saucepan, heat the beetroot and honey to a boil, then cover
Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, until beetroots are soft
• Transfer beetroot-honey mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth
• Blend in eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, cacao and kvass until thoroughly mixed
• Pour batter into a well greased 9-inch cake or tart pan
• Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes until a knife / skewer inserted into the center comes out clean
• Cool and serve with coconut kefir cacao cream.
#6 Anzacs (25th April)
They come with a history of both love and sacrifice. They make the best cookie sandwich. Sandwiched together with thick chocolate ganache!
1 cup rolled oats (soaked overnight and dried) use rolled amaranth / quinoa flakes for gluten-free
1 cup flour of choice (green banana)
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter / coconut oil / cashew butter or mixture
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup applesauce / apple puree
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tablespoon boiling water
Mix & Match:
Dash of ground wattle seed, vanilla powder, goji berry, incaberry / cacao nibs / cacao buttons / handful of pepitas or and seeds and peanut / seed / nut butter in place of butter / coconut oil or mixture fora spicier variation, add a dash of ground ginger to the flour mixture.
1. Preheat oven to 160C and line two oven trays with baking paper.
2. Gently melt coconut oil with the honey in a small saucepan. Let cool.
3. Combine the rolled oats, flour and coconut.
4. Mix bicarbonate of soda with boiling water and add to the cooled coconut oil / butter mixture.
5. Stir the oil / butter and bicarbonate of soda mixture into dry ingredients, add applesauce / puree and mix until combined.
6. Place teaspoonfuls of mixture (it is normal if quite runny) onto your prepared trays and flatten the mixture with a fork (the thicker the biscuit + softer and chewier the centre will be). Unlike traditional Anzac biscuits, these will not spread any more during cooking.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes @ 120C until golden brown. Remove carefully from trays (they will still be quite soft) to cool on a wire rack.
The cooking time will determine the crispness of the biscuits. They will still feel soft to touch when cooked and will firm up on cooling.
If you prefer a chewier biscuit, cook until light golden in colour. For crunchy cook until biscuits are deep golden in colour. The biscuits will lose their crispness over time if not stored in an airtight container.
Other uses:
Use Anzacs as the base for individual unbaked cheesecakes: place a whole biscuit in the bottom of a muffin tin (lined with a paper case to remove easily), top with raw cheesecake mix, chia pudding or blitzed avocado, sweetness, lime and banana, topped with cacao spread or whatever turns your crank and refrigerate.
Use broken biscuits as a crumble topping for poached fruit, drizzled with seasonal Shrub.
8. Store Anzacs without Chocolate Ganache in an airtight container – if they last that long.
#7 Banana Bonanza Soft Serve (Nice Cream)
• Blitz in food processor; one frozen banana, dash of kefir, 1 teaspoon of ginger and turmeric (or slither of fermented), dash of optional cayenne and green banana flour, until it resembles soft serve.
Neapolitan (Harlequin)
Berry flavour (frozen bananas, strawberries, raspberries and finely chopped fermented ginger).
Banana (as above)
Chocolate: frozen bananas with cacao and coconut oil. Place into covered container in freezer with the 3 flavours – berry, banana, and chocolate
It also can be made into a shape and freeze or into a bar pan for a very easy ice cream layered cake.
Drizzle with cacao syrup for something really special. Works with other frozen fruit – mango is delicious.
#8 Banana Cream
4 frozen bananas + 2 tablespoons cacao powder, optional dash of sweetness, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and vanilla. Blend until a cream texture. Freeze or use straight away as a delicious cream or treat frosting.
#9 Banana Split
This is the bomb!
Vanilla kefir ice cream, add sliced bananas, whipped kefir coconut cream, kefir activated nuts and a good drizzle of cacao syrup, and you have yourself probiotic banana split!
#10 Chocolate Banana Bites
(keep a batch in the freezer – great snack treat / dessert / birthday party platter / h’ors d’oeuvre tray).
1 cup coconut oil
½ cup cacao
1/4 cup Sweetness (honey, etc)
Dash of lacto fermented brine
6 bananas
Optional topping/s: shredded coconut (dipped in beetroot kvass), chopped kefir activated nuts, hemp, seeds or drizzle kefir almond butter over the top.
1. Place peeled bananas in freezer. Keep on a parchment lined sealed tight container for 3-4 hours / overnight (best if bananas are not touching).
2. Once frozen remove bananas from freezer. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Place coconut oil (do not heat coconut oil) cacao powder, sweetness and brine.
Blitz until smooth (stopping a couple of times to scrape down the sides).
4. Place chocolate in a bowl big enough for dipping bananas.
5. Place one banana at a time, into bowl. Coat the banana completely with chocolate using a spoon.
6. Place chocolate covered bananas back on parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with topping while still wet (if desired).
7. Let banana set for a few moments and then cut into pieces for bite-sized snacking.
8. Serve immediately. Garnish plate with edible flowers / a mint leaf if desired.
9. Store chocolate banana bites in air-tight container in freezer to maintain proper consistency.
#11 Monkey Tails
¼ cup cacao powder and optional dash of sweetness.
Add dash of cacao butter, vanilla, arrowroot, simmer very low temperature.
Stir until mixture thickens. Cool.
Cut bananas in half crosswise.
Roll in chocolate mixture.
Insert a large toothpick at each end of tail.
Decorate as desired.
Lay bananas on a plate and cover.
Freeze and enjoy when hard.
#12 Banana Choc Bread
100g butter/ coconut oil
250 g unrefined sugar (rapadura / coconut sugar) (optional)
2 eggs, whisked or flax egg or chia gel
3 bananas, mashed
250 g green banana flour + scoop of cacao powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
50g soaked walnuts + ½ cup dark chocolate chips
• Cream the butter and unrefined sugar and gradually beat in the whisked eggs.
• Add the mashed bananas and mix well.
• Sift dry ingredients into bowl.
• Fold in until well blended.
• Mix nuts and chocolate and turn into a greased 20cm x 10cm loaf tin.
• Bake for 45 minutes at 180 C / 350 F.
Nourishing bite:
Panela, panocha, piloncillo, jaggery, muscovado, rapadura and coconut sugar although unrefined, is still sugar, and even if a low Glycemic Index sugar, having a lot at once in concentration, can cause an imbalance to your digestive body, as well as mess with your sweetness cravings down the line.
• My experience in baking with banana and plantains, the fruit often provides enough sweetness – especially if they’re really ripe.
• It may taste fine with only the bananas providing sweetness.
We bake banana muffins, chocolate banana and walnut bread and brownies successfully without any sugar or substitute.
If you want the browning, try coating just the outside with some un-refined sugar: butter /oil and dust the pan with un-refined sugar, and sprinkle some on top.
13 Herbal + Chocolate Infusions in Honey
(preferably raw and local – find your local beekeepers).
You can infuse herbs and edible flowers in honey.
Preserving herbs in honey is a fun and easy way to save a harvest bounty.
The flavour takes a little longer to permeate the honey, a minimum of a month, although if you are using strongly flavoured herbs, two weeks may be enough.
For vanilla honey, add one or two chopped vanilla beans per cup jar, depending on the size of the bean and whether they have been previously used.
Previously used Vanilla beans used to make ice cream and let steep for three months.
Nourishing bite: honey is very high in sugar and low in moisture. The activity of water in honey is very low. This means that by itself, the sugar’s interact with the water molecules so they cannot be used by micro organisms & no fermentation or break down of honey can occur. So, immersion of a product in straight honey is an infusion – very tasty all the same!!
Rose petals, mint, anise, chamomile and lavender are other popular choices for flavouring honey.
1 to 2 tablespoons of herbs per cup of honey should be plenty. Mild honey work best for flavouring.
To infuse cacao powder into honey, you will need to slightly warm the honey.
Use a double boiler or other indirect heating method.
1 ½ cups of honey
Cacao Nibs
Cacao Powder
Bar of best quality Dark Chocolate
Ground cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon)
Ground ginger (1/8 teaspoon)
Ground cayenne (just a few dashes)
• First, bring the double boiler to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and add the honey to the top pot.
Allow to warm, stirring gently every now and again.
• Add two tablespoons of cacao powder, a bit at a time. Stirring with something thin like a chopstick.
It will help reduce tossing cacao in the air and getting it everywhere.
• Grate or finely chop two squares of chocolate bar.
• Add the chocolate to the warm honey and stir.
• Add ground cinnamon, ginger and a dash or two of cayenne.
Stir well.
• Taste! You have to cool a bit first, as you can’t get the full range of flavours while it is warm. Cool off a taste by putting a trickle of warm honey onto a glass plate. Let it sit a moment, and then give it a try!
• Adjust the flavour as you prefer. Want more chocolate? Add some!
Want more spice? Go for it!
• Put cacao nibs in the bottom of small cool clean glass jars. Just enough to cover the bottom of jar, about a tablespoon for a ½ cup jar, for example.
• Transfer honey into something easy to pour from. (Pyrex measuring jug)
• Pour warm honey over nibs.
• Seal jar and set aside.
• Enjoy by the spoonful.
• Drizzle on nice cream / ice cream
• Cake icing.
• Add to smoothies, kefir’s, tea coffee or hot milk for a quick hot chocolate!
#14 Something to be nutty about …
Some nuts/seeds and their butters have a natural sweetness, making ideal choices in recipes like raw cakes, cookies, yum balls, brownies, ice cream etc.
We find almonds naturally a little sweet for example, along with macadamias, hemp seeds and pine nut butter, cashew and hazelnut butter.
Why soak nuts? For ease of digestion, of course!
There is some evidence to suggest that soaking nuts for twelve hours before eating otherwise known as ‘activating’ improves their nutrient availability and absorption within the body.
Chocolate Hazel Butter
1 cup raw hazelnuts
1/3 cup sweetness
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup clean water / tibicos / kombucha
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Dash of vanilla and sauerkraut brine
• Soak hazelnuts – covered with kefir / clean warm water and a good dash of kefir overnight.
• Rinse well and drain.
• Blitz all ingredients until smooth and creamy.
• Use a spatula to help get all the bits off the side of the bowl and blitz 3-4 minutes until mixture is smooth.
• Transfer to jar or airtight container and refrigerate up to one month.
#15 Chocolate comes from a tree! That makes it a plant. Chocolate is salad!
Turn good food into super food with the addition of chocolate.
This cacao quinoa salad with activated nuts and apple cider infused blueberry vinaigrette.
Makes a great side or snack any time of the day!
Nourishing bite:
Remember, the meaning of a snack …. “It is a small meal”. Vinaigrette will require to be made ahead of time.
Quinoa
• Combine 1 cup quinoa (rinsed and soaked overnight in kefir!)
• Rinse quinoa.
• Add 2 cups of water and a slice of ginger in a medium saucepan.
• Bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
• Use fine mesh strainer and drain.
•Return quinoa to pan after draining.
• Cover and sit for 15 minutes.
Nourishing bite:
Letting the quinoa rest in the hot saucepan after cooking dries it out, so you don’t end up with clumpy/wet quinoa.
Vinaigrette
Cover fresh blueberries with best quality Apple Cider Vinegar.
Leave for 2 weeks or more. Refrigerate and use as required. The flavour will keep on improving.
•Place blueberries and liquid in jar.
•Add a dash of sweetness (raw honey), lemon juice, rind, dash of olive oil, seasoning and fresh herbs.
•Shake gently to combine.
• Blitz for a smooth dressing (optional).
Salad of success
6 cups mixed fresh and foraged spring greens
¼ cup kefir soaked almonds
2 tablespoons Cacao Nibs
Good scoop of sauerkraut
Toppings – pink grapefruit segments and sprouts
• In a large bowl, combine spring mix, blueberries, almonds, nibs, sauerkraut, tossing to combine.
• Pour blueberry vinaigrette and toss until greens are evenly coated.
• Finally, add cooked quinoa and toss until the quinoa is evenly dispersed and coated in dressing.
#16 Chocolate Crackles
½ cup activated sunflower and sesame seeds
½ cup shredded coconut
1 cup cacao powder
½ cup pre-soaked chopped dates
4 bananas
Good scoop of apple sauerkraut
Dash of fermented lime brine
Slither of fermented ginger and turmeric
2 cups puffed cereal e.g., millet / quinoa / amaranth / rice or mixture of
• Grind seeds.
• Add remaining ingredients, except puffed cereal.
• When well blended, add puffed cereal.
• Roll in balls and sprinkle with extra shredded coconut (soak in beetroot kvass if desired).
• Place in patty papers and chill.
• Ready for party / celebration time!
• For High Tea, omit puffed cereal and spread into an oblong tray and refrigerate overnight.
• Decorate top with seeds, nuts, flowers, fresh fruit etc.
Try a combination of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, marshmallow, etc.
#17 Easter Eggs
Soaked nuts …50 gm almonds, 40 gm macadamias, 60 gm walnuts
100 gm dried dates
50 gm dried figs (both soaked overnight in tibicos)
2 tablespoons cacao powder
Dash of vanilla and sauerkraut brine
• Blitz and roll into egg-shaped balls (or press into a silicone Easter egg mould).
• Leave plain, or roll in additional cacao mixed with desiccated coconut.
• Roll in tempered chocolate for total Easter Delish!
• Wrap in foil squares.
• Refrigerate for a couple of hours to firm up.
#18 Ju Ju’s Slice of Heaven
This, like most layered treats, is a sweet, very concentrated mixture!
Not an everyday menu item.
Our hot nourishing bite is to keep in the freezer and only slice very small portions and serve with plain kefir or coconut yoghurt. This will help Ju Ju not to eat the whole slice (he he)!
The recipe is very forgiving and can be manipulated into your wildest dreams.
Base
A handful of soft soaked dates (approximately 10 -12)
1 cup of cashews (soaked in kefir for 1-3 hours)
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
Dash of goji berries
3 tablespoons coconut oil
Optional dash of shredded coconut
• Blitz in food processor. and press into pan, place in freezer whilst preparing filling.
Fruit filling 2 cups of fresh fruit (avocado and lime, mango or berries – raspberries are divine, especially for Valentines Day).
2/3 cup cashews (pre-soaked in kefir) 4 tablespoons coconut, 6 tablespoons honey or date syrup, 1 tablespoon cacao powder.
Blitz and pour over base.
Place back in freezer.
Topping 1/3 cup coconut oil 2 tablespoons honey 1/3 cup cacao.
Blitz and pour over filling.
Shake the tin slightly to even out.
Return to freezer for about 1 hour or until completely set.
Keep covered.
Once set, place pan in the fridge to soften slightly, cut into slices, decorate if desired and enjoy!
Store ANY remaining bars for up to 1 month in the freezer.
Variation
#19 Caramel filling
Blitz 1 1/2 cups soaked soft dates, 1/2 cup coconut milk kefir, 1/2 cup coconut oil.
Salted caramel filling Blitz 1 tablespoon tahini, 2 tablespoons cashew / macadamia butter, 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted if required.
Dash of vanilla powder, dash of brine
Sprinkle chocolate topping with dehydrated and blitzed sauerkraut brine / fine pink Himalayan salt, for those extra salty taste buds.
Refrigerate salted caramel for approximately 4 hours prior to slicing into small pieces, with a hot knife and store any left- over in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
#20 The base makes for a fine treat or a base for raw cheese cake.
We love a base / moulded treats of overnight kefir soaked macadamias, next day blitz with a handful of goji berries, shredded coconut, lime zest and fresh mango. Roll into balls or press and cut in small pieces.
Decorate as required.
#21 Hazel Fudge Bites
1/2 cup almond and hazelnut butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup purees (pumpkin / sweet potato)
1/4 cup optional sweetness
Place all ingredients into food processor and blend until completely smooth and buttery (this could take a few minutes).
Spray an 8×8 baking dish
Place batter and spread evenly.
Cover with eco wrap and freeze for 3-4 hours.
Remove from freezer and cut into 18-20 bites.
#22 Salami
50 gm cashew butter
3 tablespoons cacao powder
2 tablespoons coconut cream
20gm mixed activated seeds and chopped nuts
Dash of kimchi brine (optional)
Blitz until a paste.
Place in eco wrap.
Roll up in a long sausage shape.
Freeze until firm.
Unwrap and slice.
Wipe the knife blade clean in between each slice.
#23 Yum Balls
2 cups walnuts (pre-soaked in water with added Kefir overnight)
2 1/2 cups soft dates, pitted (soaked in Tibi (water keifr) / water overnight)
Handful cranberries / goji
1 cup cacao powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Dash of vanilla
Pinch of Himalayan salt / dash of ‘kraut brine (optional)
• Soak dates overnight in water or tibicos (aka water kefir).
• Add pre-soaked and well-rinsed walnuts, cacao and brine/ salt to food processor and blend until finely ground.
• Add dates and blend until combined. The mixture should resemble cake crumbs but when pressed will easily stick together.
•Place mixture into fun ice cube trays / shape into small balls and roll in coconut.
• Pop into freezer, for at least one hour. Refrigerate and enjoy!
• We store in the freezer and are quiet yummy even frozen!
#24 Truffles
1 cup coconut cream, 1 cup of dark chocolate pieces, dash of kimchi brine, Cacao to coat.
Can add almond meal / coconut flour / green banana flour or combination
Melt chocolate.
Take off heat.
Add coconut cream + other ingredients.
Set in fridge for 4 hours.
Roll out mixture and form into balls.
Roll in cacao powder or chocolate topping.
#25 Cacao Brandied Cherries
Make sure to label for adult cocktail party food and store out of reach of little hands.
1 ½ cups of fermented cherries / glasso cherries
Brandy
155 g best quality dark cacao chocolate / Organic Cacao Butter Buttons
• Put cherries in a jar and cover with brandy.
• Seal and leave a few days.
• Drain cherries and place on paper towel.
• Melt cacao block or buttons, dip cherries in and leave on parchment paper to set.
• Serve at luncheon parties or after a celebration dinner with hot chocolate.
Nourishing bite:
True maraschino cherries (originated in Croatia) have been preserved in liquor made from fermenting the pulp from the marasca cherry.
#26 Sauerkraut Raw Brownies
Makes 28 delicate bite sized serves.
1/2 cup sauerkraut
2 cups soaked nuts (walnuts) or coconut butter for nut-free
10 fresh soft pre-soaked pitted dates
2 tablespoons coconut butter or your choice cacao butter or coconut oil
Dash of vanilla powder and chia and hemp seeds
3 tablespoons cacao powder
• Whiz nuts until roughly chopped. • Add sauerkraut and cacao. • Process until combined. • Add dates and coconut butter and process until all combined.
• Press into a 15 cm square tray lined with baking paper.
• Set in the freezer until firm.
• Cut into small delicate portions.
• Garnish if desired or serve with coconut yoghurt and berry chia tibi.
• Garnish kraut brownies by using the same soaked nut, dried or fresh fruits such as goji, raspberry, cherry or strawberry, fresh herb or fermented citrus rind to decorate. Can also press into moulds or roll into bliss balls with coconut. Or top with Frosting.
Frosting
• Handful cashews (will need soaking)
• Handful dates (will need soaking)
• Dash of vanilla powder
• Desiccated coconut to dress
• Soak cashews and dates for at least 2 hours to make them soft enough to blend. This is a minimum soak time. You can leave for a lot longer if you prefer. Once soaked, drain thoroughly; add a dash or pinch of vanilla (Pinch for powder).
• Blend until a thick cream.
• Spread frosting evenly and thickly to coat brownies.
• Serve or sprinkle with desiccated coconut and garnish with walnuts or edible flowers etc.
#27 Raw Chocolate Sauerkraut Donuts
You can use any nut meal — cashew meal works well (makes them sweeter), hazelnuts give a strong hazel nutty flavour ❤ Brazil nuts, etc. or hemp /sunflower seeds / tiger nuts / green banana flour ( / mixture of) for a nut-free option.
Donuts
½ cup pitted dates, presoaked and strained *
1½ cups almond meal
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon sweetness
Handful of sauerkraut
Chocolate Glaze
1 melted chocolate bar
1-2 tablespoons coconut cream
Edible dried flowers
• Process all donut ingredients in a food processor into a uniform mixture. • Divide this mixture between 4 silicone donut mold cavities and press into the shape of a donut. Or use donut pans, made from high quality 100% food grade silicone.
• Freeze for 1 hour (or longer) to set.
• Prepare the glaze by mixing the glaze ingredients together. Make sure the glaze mixture isn’t too hot; otherwise allow it to cool a little. • Lift out donuts carefully. • Dip donut into glaze mixture to coat. • Set on parchment paper. • Immediately sprinkle with flowers or other toppings (if using). • Return to freezer. Set for another 20 minutes and enjoy!
• Store leftover donuts frozen or refrigerated until further use.
* To soak dates, place in a glass bowl and cover with tibicos overnight or warm water or herb brew for an hour or two.
And suddenly, Sauer is sweet!
#28 Cacao Pops
6 cups buckwheat
3 cups sweetener of choice (raw local honey or maple syrup)
3 cups raw cacao powder
1. Soak buckwheat in clean water overnight
2. Drain and rinse buckwheat
3. Mix buckwheat, sweetener and raw cacao
4. Spread onto dehydrator sheet or two
5. Dehydrate at 42 degrees for 12-18 hours (this will depend on how thick the mixture has been spread)
6. Break into small pieces
7. Serve with kefir / coconut kefir or milk of your choice and store the remainder in an airtight container.
• Can also be used as a treat base or topping.
#29 Nut Free Chocolate
1 cup soft dates, pitted and roughly chopped and soaked in water or Tibicos
1/2 cup *chia gel
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon coconut kefir
1/2 cup popped buckwheat (soaked in kefir overnight, rinsed and dried)
Scoop of sauerkraut
½ cup grated beetroot, carrot and zucchini
1/4 cup goji berries
Dash of vanilla
• Combine dates, chia gel, cacao, sauerkraut, beetroot, and zucchini in a food processor.
• Mix until well combined.
• Add popped buckwheat and goji and coconut kefir and pulse to process.
• Shape into small shapes or place in small chocolate containers.
• To prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands, fill a little bowl with some water to wet your fingers. It will be much easier to shape.
• Can also roll in balls and top with coconut/ seeds.
• Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
• They will stay fresh for at least 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or at least 1 month or more in the freezer.
Variation: Add cinnamon, ginger (fermented ginger and turmeric) nutmeg and process.
Nourishing bite:
* Chia Gel – take ¼ cup chia seeds.
Add 2 cups of clean water in a jar.
Shake well to combine.
Give a few more shakes. Refrigerate – will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge – ready to pop into smoothies, thicken sauces, quick desserts, treats, egg replacement in baking.
#30 Nut Free Chocolate
1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup cacao
1/4 cup sweetness
Dash of lacto fermented brine
Filling (alternatively use * chia tibicos (water kefir) berry jam)
1/2 cup kefir cashew / macadamia butter
1 1/4 cup strawberries (fresh /thawed)
1/2 cup coconut oil
Dash of sauerkraut brine
3 tablespoons sweetness
**dash of ginger lemon / lime brine, vanilla powder
**piece of fermented ginger and turmeric
• Blitz filling ingredients until smooth in food processor and set aside.
• Blitz chocolate ingredients until smooth.
• Oil moulds / ice cube trays with coconut oil
• Using a spoon pour the chocolate into each mould.
• Coat the bottom and the sides of each mould using spoon.
• Tip: tilt the tray to make sure the trays are fully covered / coated.
• Fill each with filling.
• Top with a layer of chocolate coating.
• Place in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
• Remove from freezer and set on the counter for a minute or two.
• Gently twisting the ice cube tray, as you would to remove ice cubes, remove each truffle and place on a plate.
*Berry Chia Jam
1 cup strawberries or seasonal berries (frozen and thawed)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon Tibicos (aka water kefir) / water
Sweetener of choice – like raw honey (optional)
Mash berries with a fork or pulse in blender.
Mix in chia, tibi and honey.
Cover and place in fridge while it sets – 30-60 minutes.
Chia seeds taste like seeds in jam.
Grind chia if preferred to remove this texture.
You can add soft- petal flowers or herbs.
As well as being a filling can be served with coconut yoghurt and a tempting chocolate treat or a layer in overnight soaked oats.
#31 Chia Chocolate
Mix with coconut oil and some cacao. Freeze.
#32 Chocolate Pudding
Add cacao powder (about a tablespoon for a 250ml jar) a teaspoon of desiccated coconut, fill the jar with coconut water Kefir / straight coconut water / water.
#33 White Chocolate Cups
¼ cup cacao butter
2 tablespoons cashew butter
¼ cup coconut butter
Dash of vanilla
2 tablespoons sweetener (raw honey or your choice)
Dash of sauerkraut brine / kvass
1/3 cup raspberry chia jam
• Combine butters over boiler.
• Whisk until smooth.
• Mix in remaining ingredients (except chia jam).
• Pour into silicone muffin moulds.
• Freeze until set.
• Once set, pour two tablespoons chia jam on top of set chocolate.
• Pour remaining melted chocolate.
• Place in freezer for 15 minutes.
#34 Dark Chocolate Cups
¾ cup cacao powder
½ cup melted cacao butter
Dash of sauerkraut brine / kvass
¼ cup raw honey or alternative of choice
Filling: 1/3 cup raspberry chia jam
Prepare as above (white chocolate cups).
#35 Chocolate Ice Cream
4 tablespoons cacao
10 soft dates
600 m tibi / clean water
4 cups of cashews / 4 tablespoons raw cashew butter
1. Soak cashews for 2-3 hours (rinse well and discard water)
2. Blend the cashews (or cashew butter) with the water to create cashew milk.
3. Add in remaining ingredients and blend well.
4. Pour into an ice-cream maker and process until ready to eat OR pour into a freezable container with a lid and freeze.
#36 Chocolate Mousse
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 ripe avocados
Optional dash of raw honey
3 tablespoons coconut oil
Dash of vanilla + Himalayan salt
Garnish with raspberries and mint
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend. Top with toppings!
#37 Chocolate Coconut Gelato
½ vanilla bean split lengthways, seeds scraped
55 g coconut sugar
375 ml almond kefir
250 ml coconut milk kefir
325 g chopped coconut flesh
90 g sweetness … Manuka / raw honey / date syrup etc
30 g unsweetened cacao powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil
• Whisk vanilla seeds and coconut sugar together to combine well.
• Put the vanilla sugar, almond kefir, coconut milk kefir, coconut flesh, honey, cacao powder and coconut oil into food processor and blend until smooth.
• Transfer mixture to an ice cream machine bowl and place in freezer.
• When mixture is cold, churn in ice cream machine and freeze.
• Alternatively, transfer to a shallow tray and freeze, whisking every 15 minutes until frozen. Freeze in a covered container.
Makes 1 litre
#38 Chocolate Coated Coconut Magnum
(6-8 coconut ice cream bars)
Coconut cream ice cream
1 Cup Cashew Butter
1 1/2 Cups Coconut Cream
Good dash / pinch of vanilla
1/3 cup coconut (Optional)
Dash of sweetness
Chocolate coating
1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup cacao
1/4 cup sweetness
• Using large food processor bowl and blade blend all coconut ice cream ingredients (excluding the shredded) coconut until completely mixed.
• Add shredded coconut and pulse until mixed.
• Fill Popsicle moulds with the coconut cream ice cream.
• Freeze overnight.
• Using small food processor bowl and blade blend the chocolate ingredients until completely smooth.
• Place in a bowl and set aside (*you will have lots of chocolate left over so feel free to place left overs in a sealed-tight container on the counter).
• Remove coconut ice cream bars from freezer.
• Using a spatula evenly cover each ice cream bar with chocolate coating.
• Serve immediately after chocolate has set or wrap and re-freeze.
Dip It!
#39 Chocolate Dessert Hummus
(Makes about 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups sprouted / cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 cups soft, pitted pre-soaked dates
1 cup water
1/3 cup cacao powder
Dash of vanilla and beet kvass / sauerkraut brine
1/2 cup almond / cashew butter
• Blitz all ingredients and blend until smooth (adding a little more water if necessary).
Mint Chocolate Chip… Add a large handful of spinach and one teaspoon peppermint extract, mint leaves and 2/3 cup dark cacao buttons / vegan chocolate chips
Combine all ingredients but the chocolate chips in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth (adding a little more water if necessary).
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Store in the refrigerator in sealed container for one week.
Serve with a platter of seasonal fruit, veggie sticks, sauerkraut crackers and dippers of choice.
Drink it!
Upper class Aztecs drank chocolate made from cocoa beans. It was flavoured with vanilla and honey.
#40 Hot / Cold Chocolate Bar
Trink Kakao (Chocolate milk)
• Use organic milk of choice.
• Heat it up.
• Add one part sweetness to one part cacao powder.
The amount will vary.
Start with 2 teaspoons cacao and 2 teaspoons sweetness to 1 cup of milk.
Taste and alter as you see fit.
You may find over time you will acquire a taste for it with more cacao and less sugar.
• Mix using a whisk, or blender, and pour into your favourite mug!
Nourishing Bite:
• Can substitute with organic drinking chocolate, more expensive, however, your local organic and bulk food stores have an amazing selection – e.g. beetroot, mushroom and more.
Grocery store chocolate mixes will have a load of sugar.
• In Mexico, hot chocolate is made with water, not milk.
The water is brought to a boil and then the chocolate is spooned into it.
Options …
Want it spicier? Add a dash of cayenne pepper / kimchi brine!
Want it sweeter? Add honey or a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup. If you need an extra kick, a couple pinches of nutmeg will do.
Drop a truffle into your mug. Then pour cacao milk over it, and savour all that mind-blowing, chocolaty goodness!
Want it nutty? Add hazelnut butter into the saucepan. This one teams well with whipped coconut cream garnish.
Affogato / Eisschokolade (Chocolate Floats) – A chocolate milk float with a scoop of kefir ice cream.
Bonus add-ins:
dash of golden paste (turmeric) 1 teaspoon Maca Powder; and /or coconut oil blended in! DIY salted caramel sauce!
A mere teaspoon of cinnamon in a saucepan of hot chocolate is all it takes to create a delicious mix of cinnamon hot chocolate.
For a full batch of hot chocolate to taste like cherry and liven up; it takes a few tablespoons of homemade maraschino cherry juice.
For a batch of peppermint hot chocolate For the festive spirit … organic candy canes!
Crush it for topping, use it as a stirrer, or turn it into simple syrup.
To make hot chocolate taste like gingerbread, add one piece of ginger, ten cloves, dash of ground wattle seed and two cinnamon sticks while cooking.
Maca powder flavour profile pairs well with chocolate and bright fruit
flavours (red dragon fruit / acai powder).
Adults Only
If this is an adults-only DIY hot celebration chocolate bar, break out the spirits!
There are many different types of booze that go well in hot chocolate.
Some options include organic vodka, brandy, peppermint schnapps, raspberry liqueur, tequila, amaretto, and Bailey’s Irish Creme.
Toppings:
For a DIY hot chocolate bar, the rule is: the more toppings the better!
Bringing out a wide variety of toppings allows everyone to get creative.
White, Dark, and Milk Organic Chocolate Chips
Cacao nibs
Chia seeds
Nut free chocolates
Cacao Puff cereal
Activated Chocolate Granola
Grated Cinnamon
Finely chopped nuts
Peanut / nut Butter
Coconut Shavings
Marshmallows
Ginger
Crushed Peppermint Sticks
Whipped Coconut Cream
Chia berry jam
A Variety of Chocolate Bars – Raw, Vegan, Organic e.g. Orange, Chilli, Mint, Salted Caramel, etc.
Stirrers
Cinnamon sticks, organic candy canes, churro, crostoli
The Little Extras
• It’s the little extras that pull a DIY hot chocolate bar together.
Whether you’re using stickers, mini chalkboards, empty frames, give your hot chocolate bar a little extra something by labelling all the goodies you have out there.
• Don’t forget to include labels for people’s mugs so there are no mix-ups!
• We hosted a #10 disco birthday party.
The hot chocolate bar was the star of the show! It outshined the disco laser lights and smoke machine.
#41 Lassi / smoothie?
For a nice variation to a kefir lassi / smoothie Why not try the additions of an avocado, cacao powder and a few soft soaked dates, blend, serve and enjoy!
Nourishing bite:
• The difference between lassi and smoothie:
In a smoothie, fruit plays the leading role.
In a lassie, yoghurt /kefir / mix of both play the leading role.
Both are beverages.
Both may or may not have fruit.
But yoghurt (or kefir) has to have the majority stake, and a lassi does not have to include fruit.
Smoothies have to be fruitful but do not have to contain milk/ yoghurt / kefir.
Avocado known as “butter fruit” in Vietnam, are used as a dessert ingredient throughout South East Asia.
Sinh to Bo
Ripe avocado
1 cup of ice cubes
1/2 cup coconut milk / kefir
Optional dash of honey
Blitz until smooth. Add more coconut milk kefir if desired. A squeeze of lime juice or a fine slice of fermented ginger and turmeric are tasty additions.
Drizzle cacao syrup around inside glass, before pouring mixture into glass.
#42 Chocolate leaves truly are a glam decoration
The leaves require to be washed well in advance, so they have time to dry completely.
Organic Rose leaves or fresh bay leaves
75 g best quality organic chocolate
Break the chocolate into a small glass bowl.
Put a little hot water in to a large bowl and stand the small bowl in it.
The water needs to come above the level of the chocolate in the small bowl.
Add more water if required but be careful not to splash water into chocolate as even a drop will spoil.
Line a baking tray with eco parchment paper.
Gently dip the backs of the leaves in the chocolate and place carefully, chocolate side up, on the baking tray.
Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, until the chocolate is quiet hard.
Carefully peel off the leaves.
Awesome, You’re All Set!
Let me know when you indulge!
Enjoy!
Love and bacteria, Xo, Lynnie
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