First, I want to apologize for not posting for so long. We have been going through some healthy issues in my family and it has taken up a bit of time. I am very happy to be back posting!
So, what do you do when you want a treat, but you want to make sure it is nutrient dense, low sugar and healthy? I got busy and made these little, delicious bites.
I have to admit, I am not a fan of making raw chocolate. It never seems to come out how I want it to. If you don’t temper it, you can have problems and since I am all about simplicity, tempering isn’t something I want to mess with. But I still want good, healthy chocolate treats!
I finally have discovered a great shortcut, Organic Raw Cacao Paste. It is an amazing find. Simply melt, add ingredients and you have a wonderful chocolate base that you can make as sweet as you like.
I worked very hard to keep the sugar low in these treats. Processed sugar is not our friend. And using excessive amounts of any kind of sugar in recipes, even “natural sugars” has become a trend in on-line recipes. It catches people’s attention. It stimulates our appetites. It hooks into our “I have to have that” mentality.
I have a sweet tooth which I am actively reforming to the point of eliminating almost all processed sugar from my diet. It was a choice born from the knowledge that sugar is one of the most harmful “foods” we can put in our bodies. And I’m over it. I want vibrant health 100% of the time and highly-processed sugar doesn’t have a place in that plan.
These bites have super nutritious dried mulberries, and peanuts. I used raw peanuts. You can substitute with any nut or seed. The peanut/mulberry combination is a favorite around here and can taste a little like a Butterfinger bar. The bars are super easy to make, low in sugar and delicious!
Makes 8 1-Inch Bars
8 ounces Divine Organics cacao paste
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup dried mulberries
1/2 cup buckwheat groats (soaked and dehydrated if not ready to eat)
1-3 tablespoons coconut sugar, powdered in spice or coffee grinder (taste to figure out how much you want)
1/2 teaspoon powdered stevia
Flaked salt (optional)
- Chop the cacao paste into small, thin pieces. To keep it raw, melt in the dehydrator at 115 degrees. It will take under an hour.
- Pulse peanuts and mulberries in food processor until finely chopped.
- Stir mulberry mixture, buckwheat, coconut sugar and stevia into the melted cacao paste.
- Using a silicone mold, drop a few flakes of salt in the bottom (optional) and fill with chocolate and place in refrigerator to cool. The silicone will give you a nice shiny finish.
- Pop out and eat! They store just fine at room temperature.
