Healthy, Delicious Christmas Chocolate Treats

OK, as promised, here are the results of my "baking" (you don't actually bake these treats) experiments to find Christmas treats that are both delicious, and also healthy.  I love improvising and finding new recipes, but it usually takes a few times to get one that really works.  Here are the ones that turned out great.

The recipes below are healthier than normal treats in 3 main ways:

1. They don't have any refined sugar -- only whole sweeteners like dates and maple syrup.  They also aren't as sickly sweet as many other goodies tend to be.  It lets the other complex flavors like nuts, chocolate, salt, vanilla etc stand out, and reduces the sugar you take into your body
2. Cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar levels, which helps keep you having the insulin spike that normally follows sugar consumption.  Read here and here.
3. Acerola powder is high in vitamin C.  Added in small quantities to these recipes, it cannot be tasted, but is nourishing your body as you eat it.

Chocolate Almond Squares

Essential Ingredients

2 oz 100% bakers chocolate
1/2 cup almonds
1 Tablespoon Cream
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional Ingredients (these make it yummier and healthier):

1/4 teaspoon acerola powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

1. Blend or chop the chocolate into small pieces that will melt quickly.
2. Also blend or chop the almonds into coarse pieces
3. Heat the cream, syrup, salt in a double boiler.  You can use a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan if you don't have a double boiler.
4. Add optional ingredients, stir together, and let the mixture get hot.
5. Remove the hot mixture from heat, and add the chocolate right away.  Stir until melted.
6. Add the chopped almonds and stir.
7. Spread the mixture out on parchment paper, and let it cool and harden.  After sitting for a few hours, cut into squares.  Putting it in the fridge will help it to harden faster.

Try using pecans too!  If you want to be even healthier, buy your nuts raw, soak them for 12 hours in salt water, then dry them crispy in an oven on low heat, or in a dehydrator/  This reduces the phytic acid in the nuts, and activates enzymes to make them more digestable.

Chocolate Truffles

Essential Ingredients

4 oz 100% bakers chocolate
1/4 cup cream
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon acerola powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings:

Finely Chopped Almonds or Cacao Powder (We use a raw organic cacao powder from Amazon.)

1. Blend or chop the chocolate into small pieces that will melt quickly.
2. Heat the cream, syrup, salt in a double boiler.  You can use a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan if you don't have a double boiler.
3. Add optional ingredients, stir together, and let the mixture get hot.
4. Remove the hot mixture from heat, and add the chocolate right away.  Stir until melted.
5. Let the mixture partially harden for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
6. Roll into balls, and let them cool on parchment paper.
7. Optionally, roll them around in a bowl with finely chopped almonds to coat them.
8. If you use cacao powder to coat them instead, wait until the truffles are little bit harder than if you use the almond meal.

Variation:  use 20 dates blended into a thick paste instead of the syrup.  Stir / fold in the dates after melting the chocolate in the hot cream.  The result will be a slightly stickier, more fruity truffle -- still quite good!  Don't forget to let the mixture partially cool before strying to form into balls.
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Chocolate Mints

Make these exactly the same as the truffle recipe, but add 3-4 drops of food-grade peppermint essential oil to the mixture.  Shape them into balls, or patties, or whatever you like.  These taste best on their own with no extra coating on the outside.

Chocolate Covered Dried Cherries

Use the truffle recipe above and form balls of truffle surrounding a dried cherry in each one!  You can also do this with raisins to make chocolate covered raisins, but this is pretty time consuming since they are so small.  The cherries go a lot faster!  Also try putting a whole almond or pecan in the middle.