Green Chocolates and Other Sweet Treats!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  How are you celebrating?
I know some people celebrate this day as an excuse to get together with friends and drink (green beer).  I spent the day with family and friends- including meeting up with Brandon of hyperion herbs to make green chocolates!
I've been dreaming of making white chocolate since I got my hands on raw cacao butter.  The light colored base was perfect to add a little chlorella to make it green and festive.  This version of white chocolate was made rich, creamy and sweet by lucuma powder.  Its an energizing sweet treat with maca and bee pollen- and I added in some vanilla, mesquite powder, and stevia just to make it extra delicious.

Green Chocolate Bites with Goji Berries

1/4 cup melted cacao butter

1 tbs coconut oil

3 tbs lucuma

1 tsp mesquite

1 tbs maca

2 tbs bee pollen

1 tsp vanilla

6 drops of liquid stevia

1 tbs of chlorella (optional)

Stir everything into cacao butter that's been melted in a double boiler.  Top with gojis, or throw them in the chocolate.  Freeze for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

What is chlorella?  Its an algae that's cousins with the better known spirulina or blue-green algae.  I like the name because it reminds me that its full of chlorophyl.  Any green powder will work to tint your chocolates.  Or add to dark chocolate for a nutritional burst :)

We weren't done making chocolate- Brandon brought over some of his awesome reishi , he shou wu , and cordyceps to mix in with raw cacao powder and other goodies to make some truly medicinal chocolates.

We made cinnamon herbal chocolate squares with gojis thrown in, chocolate maca butter cups,

chocolate coconut truffles, and chocolate turtle bites.  All raw, all sugar free and dairy free.

Chocolate Turtle Bites

10 dates soaked and pitted
2 tbs coconut oil
12 raw walnut halves plus 1/4 cup to grind up (all soaked)
pinch sea salt
vanilla
melted chocolate

In your food processor make date caramel using finely chopped dates and coconut oil and let it run until its the consistency of caramel.  Take half of the date caramel out of the processor and add 1/4 cup walnuts, a pinch of sea salt, and vanilla in with the remaining caramel.  Process until sticky.  In mini-muffin cups, or just on a plate- layer a small round flat thingy of the date/walnut stuff, a rolled ball of the date caramel, a walnut half, and spoon some melted chocolate over it.  Freeze and enjoy!
I got all fancy with my melted chocolate with raw cacao butter and raw cacao powder and the whole shebang.  You can keep this recipe casual by melting a chocolate bar or chocolate chips you have hanging out around the house.  In the picture the one on the left is cut in half.  You can make these bite sized or roll them out into a layered bar or get as fancy/casual as you'd like.  I'm not precise in my food making- it should be a stress reliever not a stress causing thing for you!

Chocolates To-Go!

What is your favorite chocolate treat?  I love blended hot chocolate drinks with plenty of spice (cinnamon and cayenne), but my maca butter cups and raw chocolate truffles are favorites too.  Sometimes I bring a bag of cacao nibs to snack on at work or school.  How do you add chocolate into your daily routine?

Also, get ready for a change.  I'm working on aura-celeste.com ... Aura's Vegan Kitchen will still be around, but I'm looking to gain more readers by taking away the vegan emphasis (not that I'm switching up my diet) and talk about other stuff besides food that I'm into.  Did you know I'm passionate about massage and body work and especially natural healing?  I'll be talking about that more.

Thanks for stopping by,
<3 Aura