Tag Archives: cocoa powder

Chocolate, Nut and Chia Cookies – dairy and gluten free

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Do you love chocolate? I do! rather too much sadly! So I’m always on the look out for chocolate goodies that will hit the chocolate spot but are a little bit better for me! These cookies are awesome – they’re chocolatey, they’re healthy and they’re full of omega-3’s and good protein and fat. They’re also dairy, gluten and unrefined sugar free! Whoop!

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You will need:

1/2 cup Buckwheat flour (you can also use quinoa or rice flour)
1 cup Almonds
1 cup Hazelnuts
1/4 cup Medjool dates (approx 2 – 3 chopped)
1/3 cup Maple syrup
2 tbsp Coconut oil (melted)
3 tbsp Raw cacao powder
3 tbsp Chia seeds
1/4 cup Water
Cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar – for dusting

For the cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar you can buy pre-mixed sugar, but I prefer to make my own. It’s easy! Just mix 100g coconut sugar with 10g of cocoa powder, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp chilli powder (or more if you want it hotter!). Adjust the amounts depending how much you need but keep them in those ratios. Make up a batch and keep it in an airtight jar. Just shake before use as the sugar tends to sink to the bottom, leaving the lighter cocoa etc at the top.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

First pop the nuts into a food processor and blend until they are really well ground (almost to a flour). Add in all the other ingredients and process again. It will form a sticky dough.

Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Then place on a lined baking tray and flatten until very thin.Sprinkle with the cinnamon chocolate chilli sugar and then pop in the oven. Bake for 12 – 15 mins until firm and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Then eat! 🙂

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Fight that grump! Chocolate, Cherry and Chilli Biscuit balls! Dairy and Gluten free

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We all get a little grumpy sometimes don’t we? When I’m feeling the grump I usually reach for the chocolate (Willie’s Cacao is my chocolate of choice!) but I thought this week I’d try something a little different! It’s still chocolate but with a kick, and I guarantee this little beauties will cheer up even the biggest grump!

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This a modified version of my great balls of biscuit recipe but I’ve made these bigger – cos you need a bit more biscuit to fight that grump 😉

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To make about 16 biscuit balls you will need:

260g Ground almonds

4 tbsp Raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

30g Dark, dairy-free chocolate (I use the Willie’s Cacao Drops but any dark chocolate chopped up small will be fine)

30g Dried cherries

5 tablespoons Coconut oil (melted)

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt

1/4 – 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)

1/4 – 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder (adjust to taste)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

4 tbsp Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener such as agave or honey)

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Put the dry ingredients in to a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Start with a small amount of cayenne and chilli powder at this stage (unless you are confident in how hot you want it 🙂 ). Then chop the chocolate and cherries into small pieces and add them in to the mixture. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix together. Have a little taste and add more of the cayenne and chilli is required. I like it pretty hot so I added quite a bit! Mix it in well if you’re adding more at this stage. You should find the mixture will stick together when you squeeze it between your fingers.

Take tablespoon sized portions of the mixture and form in to a ball. Pop on a greased baking tray and flatten a little. Place in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes (start checking at 10 minutes). Remove when they are starting to brown. They will feel very soft when you take them from the oven but just leave them to cool on the tray and they will harden.

Enjoy with a nice cuppa and feel that grump melt away! 🙂

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