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Dark Chocolate Love

Valentines Day is almost here, and along with cupid, roses, and diamonds, Valentines Day is mostly known for the consumption of lots and lots of chocolate. There was one unfortunate Valentines Day, my junior year of high school I believe, that I decided I was only going to eat chocolate all day long. Why? I have NO idea. I have to say, my taste buds were dancing with joy all day long, but by the time the school day was over I was sick to my stomach, and giggling drunkenly from my chocolate intoxication. I recovered (thankfully), and never repeated that mistake again!

For this Valentines Day we wanted to post a few “healthier” options for Valentines treats. For this post we are presenting you with a couple simple home made candies, and a couple easy chocolate and fresh fruit recipes. Feel free to get creative with these, and add your own tasty twist.

Peppermint Hearts

  • Heart shaped candy molds
  • 1 cup Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp Organic peppermint oil
  • 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1 dropper Liquid stevia extract

Process:

  1. Melt chocolate on low, and add 1/4 tsp of peppermint oil.
  2. In a small mixing bow, combine coconut oil, shredded coconut, stevia, and peppermint oil.
  3. Stir all ingredients until well blended.
  4. Finger paint chocolate in the bottom of each heart mold.
  5. Place the hearts in the freezer for 10 minutes
  6. Fill molds with mint filling, and place in the freezer for another 10 minutes
  7. Cover tops with a layer of chocolate and freeze at least 10 minutes, or until you are ready to enjoy them.

Dark chocolate dipped strawberries

  • 1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
  • 12 fresh strawberries

Process:

  1. Melt chocolate on low heat.
  2. Dip strawberries in melted chocolate and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  3. Place in freezer for 5 minutes.
  4. Store strawberries in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Dark chocolate dipped clementines with chopped pecans

  • 1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
  • 2-3 clementines
  • 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
  • Pinch of clementine zest for garnish

Process:

  1. Peel clementines, and place wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  2. Melt chocolate on low heat
  3. Dip clementine wedges in dark chocolate, remove with a fork, and place on parchment paper.
  4. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, and place in freezer for 10 minutes.
  5. Store in fridge until ready to enjoy. Garnish with zest of Clementine to put this treat over the top!


Dark chocolate almond hearts

  • Heart shaped candy molds
  • 1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
  • 10 raw almonds, chopped

Process:

  1. Place chopped almonds in each heart mold.
  2. Pour chocolate over almonds, and fill each mold.
  3. Freeze for 10 minutes, or until ready to enjoy.

All of these quick treats were delicious, and the perfect way to celebrate the sweetness of valentines day.

As always, enjoy!

Primal Palate Spice Blends

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    COMMENTS

    1. February 9, 2011

      These are some great ideas! I was going to forgo any desserts this Valentine's Day, but perhaps I've make up a few of those chocolate almond hearts – really a great way to have just a little treat!

    2. February 9, 2011

      These look amazing, as usual! What type of liquid stevia do y'all use? I've been reading a lot about it and there seem to be lots of mixed emotions concerning baking/cooking with it.

    3. February 9, 2011

      Thanks Cari!

      We use the Whole Foods brand liquid stevia. We don't use it too much in baking. It is our go-to sweetener when we want to add just a touch of sweetness to a recipe. We really enjoy the Whole Foods brand liquid stevia, because it doesn't have a bitter after taste. It seems to enhance flavor well, and is fabulous in coffee or tea. Less is more with stevia though. Packs a powerful punch!

    4. February 9, 2011

      Looks incredible! What kind of candy molds do you use?

    5. February 9, 2011

      Thanks! We got them from a store called In The Kitchen here in Pittsburgh. While they do not have them on their online store, it looks like these ones are the same: http://bit.ly/ejf6Zx

    6. February 13, 2011

      Is peppermint oil the same as peppermint extract? Can't find "oil"!

    7. February 13, 2011

      Yes, that's the same thing.

    8. February 17, 2011

      the mints were awesome! I haven't had a peppermint paddy in nearly 6 years and this was super simple, cheap and fun. I enjoyed "finger painting" and they came out delicious. Thank you!

    9. April 12, 2011

      I am very tempted to try the peppermint hearts recipe but I don't have molds. Do you think it could be made as a bar of some sort? I saw another recipe on fast paleo but it uses coconut oil and coconut butter and agave necter. I was thinking the agave necter could take the place of the liquid stevia but not sure why the other recipe calls for coconut butter! Any suggestions?!

    10. April 13, 2011

      Hi Rebecca,

      You could try molding the coconut oil into little balls and pour the chocolate over top. You could also make it into a bar or bark type treat. Just flatten the coconut oil and pour the chocolate over top, and cut it when it is frozen. We would not recommend using coconut butter, coconut butter has too strong of a flavor, and the texture would be off slightly. You can use raw honey or maple syrup to sweeten it. We avoid agave being that it is pure fructose.

      Hope that helps!

    11. April 14, 2011

      Thanks for the input! I actually used your recipe and did use Agave since I wasn't sure and although a bit messy I got it to work without the molds. I wasn't sure though…do you melt the coconut oil first? The other recipe I had melted it so that what's I did and not sure I needed to. I have Vanilla Stevia in liquid form, so I suppose I could have used that and it just would have given a bit of a diff flavor. And also, if I were to use the pure maple syrup or raw honey, would it be about the same amount I used of agave (I think it was 1/4 or 1/2 cup). Thanks again…I'm loving your site!

    12. April 18, 2011

      Hi Rebecca,

      Sorry for the late response! We do not melt the coconut oil. We just mashed it with a fork and combined the shredded coconut, peppermint oil, and stevia. You just want to stir everything together until it is well blended, and it makes a nice paste similar to the consistency of the inside of a real peppermint patty. You definitely could have used the vanilla stevia. That would have been just fine. You would want to sub the same amount for honey or pure maple syrup for the agave. Hope that all helps!

    13. April 18, 2011

      @Rebecca. We would recommend starting out with 2 tablespoons of the honey or maple syrup and give it a quick taste before using that recommended amount. We only used 1/2 cup of coconut oil, and equal amounts of the maple syrup would be too much. We would suggest 1/4 cup max of honey or maple.

    14. November 2, 2011

      Hi! Thanks for your recipes — I haven't tried any yet, but they look fantastic. I'm so glad I found your site (from a rec from NomNomPaleo's site). If I don't use chocolate chips, but rather chocolate bars — do you know how much I would use (in grams, perhaps — but I can do conversions, of course)? Instead of "1 cup Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate chips" — how much in grams or whatever measurement?

      Thanks in advance for your help,
      Kristin

    15. December 1, 2011

      Can I use raw cacao 100% with a bit of raw milk ?
      Thanks for letting me know

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