I am going to warn you now, you are going to make these, eat one, then eat the rest, you are then going to make another batch, then another and then another. These are addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
A few weeks ago it was my birthday and I decided to make something sweet and delicious to share with some guests. I have always made my chocolate almond butter cups and wanted to make something similar but with an added twist. Think fruit and nut meets snickers bar then merge them together and this, my friends would be their love child. A chocolatey, nutty, creamy treat of sheer indulgence.
Raw Cacao is incredible as it energises the body and provides it with a good dose of magnesium, iron, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium.  Although cocoa powder is cheaper and more accessible in the supermarkets, I would recommend sticking to raw cacao as it is made by cold-pressing un-roasted cocoa beans to remove the fat without killing the nutritional value. Cocoa might look the same but it has been created by roasting the cacao at really high temperatures which lowers the nutritional value and reduces the enzyme content. Cacao is rich in antioxidants with added benefits including lowering blood pressure, reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, increasing levels of healthy cholesterol, and enhancing blood flow; it is also a natural mood booster too.
I use 100% pure Buckwud Maple Syrup to sweeten this chocolate, I have tried a few other brands during my choco-tasting experimentations and this is certainly my favourite brand. I get asked quite a lot where I buy my more unusual “paleo” ingredients from such as cacao butter, cacao powder and nut butters etc. For me, Perfectly Paleo online is the best place to source all these ingredients and more. It’s a really simple website, where all the products are 100% Paleo compliant and it all comes beautifully boxed. It also has a really good rewards scheme too.
- 170g Cacao Butter (Amended amount 18.06.2015)
- 2tbsp Cacao Powder
- ¼ cup Seeds (mixed: sunflower, linseed, sesame seed, pumpkin seed)
- 2tbsp Cashew Nut Butter (or any other nut butter)
- 1-1.5 tbsp Maple Syrup (add more / less depending on how sweet you like it)
- 2 tbsp Dried Cranberries (optional)
- In to a pan over high heat, place about 400 ml water and bring to boil
- Place a glass (heat proof) bowl on top of the pan, above the water (you do not want the water to touch the bowl)
- Put in the cacao butter in to the bowl and stir until it melts to a golden liquid
- Take off heat before you add powder
- Add in cacao powder and whisk until fully blended
- Add in your maple syrup and whisk for a further 1 minute
- In to a silicon tray pour half the seeds followed by the chocolate
- Add in dollops of cashew nut butter and swirl very gently throughout the chocolate (but leave chunks to give a lovely creamy texture)
- Drop in cranberries and scatter the rest of the seeds
- Place in to the freezer for 1hr before taking out and popping in the fridge
- Keep for up to 10 days in a sealed container (I recommend keeping in the fridge)
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Wow this looks so good. I cannot wait to try it out. I do love having a little stash of Paleo treats ready for when I want something sweet.
Zoe x
http://www.paleoinheels.com
Thank you for your lovely comment! Me too, Paleo treats are the best!
Oh my! Actually drooling in front of my screen right now x
Haha! That’s what I like to hear! Thank you 🙂
Scrumptious! Belated Birthday Wishes Emi. Your USA Friend, Cheryl
Thank you, Cheryl 🙂 x
Quick question. I have some 100% cacao bars im my pantry. Could I melt these in place of the butter and powder, and follow the recipe as normal? They look super yum!
Wow! A they sound amazing- what do they weigh?
Yes you could melt these in place of both! Depending on the weight of the bars and as they will already have cacao in them I would just add 1/4 of a tablespoon of maple syrup at a time. Keep tasting it until desired sweetness and then yes follow recipe as normal! 🙂 do let me know how you get on!
Well sadly I didn’t have enough cacao butter in the pantry, so I used what I had (about 60g) and made the rest up with my 100% cacao blocks. Oh my gosh, yum! I used about 1.5tbsp of maple and it was amazing. Used raisins instead of cranberries as I have never found ‘clean’ cranberries. Best chocolate recipe ever. Thank you. Now to never make these again lol (far too tasty).
Yay ! I am so happy to hear that you loved it! It’s so delicious isn’t it! I know what you mean about most cranberries not being ‘clean’ it’s very frustrating! Thank you so much for sharing x