Even though eating healthier can sometimes mean avoiding favorite treats, thankfully chocolate does not have to be one of them. By combining raw chocolate with natural sweeteners such as dates and maple syrup (instead of sugar), the treat starts to become nutritious. I recently tried two recipes from the raw goddess Heathy: the Choco Nana Shake and Carmi’s Dark Chocolate. The shake was cool and refreshing, while the dark chocolate was rich with a coconut flavor.
For the shake, simply blend all of the below ingredients and enjoy! Just one sidenote- I don’t recommend the Magic Bullet for this task because I ended up having to do the dates separately as they just wouldn’t break down.
- 1 frozen banana
- 1-2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
- 1/4 cup cashews (I substituted walnuts)
- 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract
- 2 dates
- 1 1/2 cups water or 1 cup water, 1/2 cup ice
For Carmi’s dark chocolate, I melted 1/2 cup coconut oil in my toaster oven on “warm” for a few minutes (it doesn’t take much to melt this) and then stirred in 1/2 cup raw cacao powder, 4 Tbsp maple syrup, and 1 Tsp vanilla extract. I used a whisk to mix it together, but think that a spoon would have worked fine.
After mixing the ingredients until smooth, I stirred in about 1/2 cup walnuts. I spread the mixture into a small pan lined with wax paper and then put it in the fridge for a couple of hours.
When I removed the chocolate from the fridge I carefully pulled the wax paper from the glass dish and then lifted the chocolate from the wax paper. I carefully cut it into slices (trying to avoid touching it as the heat from my hands began to melt the coconut oil!) to enjoy.
