Sugar Free Instant Hot Chocolate Mix

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Carmen

For years I have been wondering how I could make hot chocolate a little faster without the sugary instant mix. I was making it from scratch at home, warming the milk and then adding the cacao powder, mixing it in the blender, etc. which was fine when I was at home. But I really wanted something that was a little easier to use to create hot chocolate when we went camping or backpacking (as it is much more challenging to create it using my at home method when out at the campground!)

But I couldn’t find, or get my head around how to create this, until just before Christmas last year. I was exploring how to make my own hot chocolate bombs at home when I came across a video that broke it down really simply. And I thought wow! how come I did not come up with this before? In essence, hot chocolate mix is a powdered mixture with some kind of sweetener and usually a creamy milk product. How easy! In this day and age with so many alternatives I knew I could totally create something that would be sugar free and dairy free and in a form that was literally an ‘instant’ hot chocolate mix. I was super excited!

I had all the ingredients I needed in my cupboard and I quickly mixed them together. Then we tried it out! Heated up our milk and added the powder in. Wow! It was so good and so easy. And I am so pleased because now I can take it anywhere – camping, hiking, road trips, etc. which provides us with one more tool to enjoy the things we like with ease.

Sugar & Dairy Free Instant Hot Chocolate Mix

1/2 c. cacao powder

1 cup monk fruit sweetener

1 cup coconut milk powder

1/8 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Store in an airtight container until needed. Add 2 tbsp. to your favorite warmed milk.

Raw Organic White Chocolate

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Carmen

When I first learned how to make my own chocolate I never even considered that making white chocolate would also be an option. I was so excited about just making the regular chocolate that I didn’t even think about white.

It wasn’t until years later, when I was looking at making white chocolate macadamia nut cookies that I wondered if I could somehow create white chocolate? Of course it had to be possible, it existed, so someone somewhere would have had to have figured out how to do it.

So I poked around a little bit, did a little googling and had my answer within minutes. Of course when I read what needed to be done it made perfect sense. Why I had not thought of it myself, who knows. But you know how sometimes you need someone to point out the obvious to you….

The basic trick in making raw organic white chocolate was that you need to use another powder than cacao powder, that was white. You need to use the powder to thicken it and bring it all together, because otherwise you would literally just have the cacao butter, though the right color, on it’s own is kind of oily and tasteless, which kind of defeats the purpose.

The magic answer is simply, milk powder. It is the right color and consistency and the good news is, ANY milk powder will do. If you want to keep your chocolate dairy free, there are non-dairy milk powders such as soy or coconut to make that work. It was so easy!

Another thing to keep in mind when creating white chocolate is using a fresh vanilla bean will no longer work, unless you want little black dots in your white chocolate. Even regular vanilla extract is brown in color, so to keep it purely white, use clear vanilla extract instead.

Otherwise go to it! If you have already tried the regular raw organic chocolate recipe you’ll be able to white with ease. And if you are new to chocolate making, it really is easy, so you’ll be a pro in no time!

Raw Organic White Chocolate

3/4 – 1 cup cacao butter

2-6 tbsp Soy milk powder or Coconut milk powder (just a caution if choosing soy milk powder, it is not pure white and has a slight tan tinge to it, so if you want it more of a caramel color perfect! but if you want white then I would choose coconut milk powder instead)

1-2 drops of clear vanilla extract (use a pipette if using vanilla extract as you only need a tiny bit, adding too much can ruin your chocolate)

2 tsp. to start Natural Sweetener of choice (again consider color I find clear stevia drops are best or even white stevia powder – honey and pure maple syrup will make your white chocolate more tan or caramel)

In a medium metal bowl add boiling water about halfway up the bowl. *a metal bowl is best as it retains the heat well but can get hot to the touch Place second smaller metal bowl on top of large bowl so that it sits on top of the rim of the first bowl.
Put desired amount of cacao butter into top bowl. Cacao butter will start to melt.
While cacao butter is melting, add clear vanilla extract. Drop 1-2 drops at the most into cacao butter and stir.
Once cacao butter is completely melted add 2-4 tablespoons of coconut milk powder. Taste for desired level of chocolatey-ness. If you’d like it richer add more milk powder.
Once satisfied with amount of coconut milk powder add natural sweetener of choice. Start with 10 drops of clear stevia drops. (You may choose another sweetener but be aware that if you choose something like pure maple syrup this may darken your white chocolate, if so start with 3 teaspoons to sweeten). Taste, if desired level of sweetness has not been reached, add 2-5 drops of stevia and taste again (1-2 teaspoons if using another natural sweetener). Once level of desired sweetness has been reached you have your base chocolate.
For plain white chocolate, spoon your white chocolate into molds and let set in freezer or fridge.
If desired, before setting add additional ingredients such as nuts, dried fruit, coconut, essential oils such as Wild Orange, Peppermint, Lavender, etc. Ensure that the essential oils you are using are safe to ingest, as not all essential oil brands are created equal and many have synthetics and fillers in them that you definitely don’t want in your body! Also if oils are naturally colored they may change the color of your chocolate slightly (like Wild Orange). Pour white chocolate onto a cookie sheet or into a pan to let set for bulky additions, like fruit and nuts. If using essential oils you can pour into molds to set if desired.
Put pan or molds into the freezer for about 5 minutes. Check to see if firm. If firm you can pop them out of your molds or break it up from the pan. If not leave in the freezer for a few more minutes and check again. Chocolate is best set in freezer (and ready faster!) but may also be set in fridge.

More Tips for Making White Chocolate

*Be very careful not to get any water into your chocolate as it will not work if you do. If your second bowl sits nicely on top, this should not be an issue as you do not need to lift the second bowl off the one with the water in it until you are done making your chocolate.

**you could use a vanilla bean in this recipe if you wanted, but because it is white chocolate you will see small black dots in the chocolate. If you would prefer solid white stick with the clear vanilla extract.

***when adding essential oils to your chocolate, measure 1 drop onto a teaspoon and stir it into your chocolate. This way if 2 or 3 drops come out instead, it’s on your spoon and not in the chocolate with the flavor way too strong!

****when popping out the chocolate from your molds, use a cutting board on parchment paper or plate. Popping them out directly onto the counter not only makes it hard to pick up, but it also may start to melt as often times the counter is warm.

*****You could also make the chocolate with fillings such as caramel, nuts or other desired filling, in the middle. For this you simply put a bit of chocolate in the bottom of your mold, let it set then add your filling and top up the mold with chocolate and let set completely. If you wanted to get really fancy, make a batch of regular chocolate as well and make layers – have them be white and dark. White chocolate is also great to use for Chocolate Dipped Strawberries! In fact, I discovered a cute Halloween treat this year that are strawberry ghosts. What a great idea! Fun and healthy.

Making white chocolate opens up a whole new world of possibility and is just as fun as making regular chocolate. And now you can get even more creative with it! Who knows maybe next you can make swirls!

Delicious Blueberry Pie – Sugar Free & Naturally Sweetened

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Carmen

Fresh blueberries are a popular summer treat. Those succulent little juicy berries are delicious and nutritious with many health benefits. Blueberries are one of the richest food source of Anthocyanins, a plant compound which gives it it’s blue color and it’s many health benefits. They have been shown to benefit heart health, bone strength, mental health, cancer, healthy blood pressure and are extremely high in antioxidants. Who knew these little blue berries could pack such a punch?

I often buy copious amounts of blueberries in the summer and do all kinds of things with them. From simply eating them straight to freezing them for later, to muffins and smoothie combinations. One of the things that I hadn’t done for a while though was to make a blueberry pie. I have no idea why, as I make all other kinds of pies in the summer like cherry and peach. I guess I somehow had it in my head that I should freeze them all and that they were too small to make a pie out of. (This could relate to the many summers my sisters and I would go up to the blueberry patch on the barrens to pick blueberries – with intentions of picking enough to make a pie. It took us hours to get the amount we needed and sometimes we were not able to get enough).

But this year, when I did my regular purchase of fresh Okanagan fruit I decided that I needed blueberries as well and was definitely going to make a sugar free blueberry pie! (In fact, I even went back to the fruit stand before we left Oliver to get the blueberries as I had not purchased them the day before when I got the peaches and cherries).

Of course, I had to create a recipe that was sugar free, which by now has become fairly easy to do after many years of being sugar free and using natural sweeteners. Honey is my favorite sweetener due to its many health benefits and being one of the more natural sweeteners (things like stevia and agave nectar are still processed and under controversy as to whether or not they are any better than using refined sugar).

I played a little bit, taking a bit of this and that from a few recipes and then combining and modifying ingredients to make my own. I even got a little fancy with the crust by creating a full top and then adding small shaped hearts on top (believe me I do not always have the time or the desire to do this).

The kids of course waited in anticipation as the pie baked. Turning on the light in the oven to check on it and see if it was ready. Chloe even remarked on the little hearts and thought that was a good idea (she likes to create other shapes and treats with the leftover pastry – you know the pieces that are left over but are too small to really do much with, but you hate to throw out?)

Once the pie was ready and we let it cool – well enough to cut anyway – we dove in! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed blueberry pie and also how much easier it is to make than other pies like cherry and peach where you have to chop and pit the fruit first. Blueberries you just wash and pour them in.

Unfortunately we didn’t have any ice cream on hand (but decided not to wait to get that organized) and fully enjoyed it anyways! In fact, the kids asked hopefully if they could have a piece for breakfast. I said I’d think about it…

Sugar Free Blueberry Pie

2 – 9 inch pie crusts

5 c. fresh blueberries

3 tbsp arrowroot powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp cinnamon (or 1 drop cinnamon bark essential oil)

1/4 – 1/3 c. liquid honey

Prepare pie crust – whether you are making your own or have purchased pre made. If you have made your own roll out crust and fit to bottom of pie plate. Crust should cover the bottom and up the sides and over the edges slightly.

Place fresh blueberries in bottom pie crust. Mix together cinnamon, salt and arrowroot powder together and sprinkle over blueberries (if you are using cinnamon bark essential oil in place of ground cinnamon omit here and add essential oil to honey before drizzling over blueberries). Measure honey (1/4 -1/3 cup depending on desired level of sweetness) and drizzle evenly over the blueberries.

Roll out second pie crust to cover the blueberries and to the edges of the crust. Leave enough so that you can press the crusts together and crimp the edges. If using pre made crust, place and fit crust over fruit similarly.

With a knife make small slits in top of crust – this is to allow for air and for juices to bubble. Place in a pre heated 425 F oven and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes reduce heat to 375 F and bake for another 40 – 45 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool. *Note you can cut pie while still warm but it will not have set and will likely have juices running out. Let cool completely if you’d like it set and to avoid this.

Yum! Enjoy 🙂

St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Smoothie

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Carmen

I remember growing up waiting for those delicious shamrock shakes that you could get at McDonald’s only around St. Patrick’s Day. I loved those things! They were so yummy! Smooth and creamy. And I also love just about anything mint so they were a hands down winner for me.

What I didn’t know then (and honestly as a kid probably did not really care) was how bad these things were for you. Full of sugar and all kinds of additives I don’t really want in my body, health wise they were not the best choice. But I never forgot them, and I still got excited every year when they announced that the Shamrock Shake was now available at McDonald’s for a limited time – though I did not go to get one.

Little did I know that there was actually a healthy alternative I could not only enjoy without guilt but that I could easily make at home! Full of healthy fats and delicious greens this healthy version of a shamrock shake was just as creamy and delicious, if not better.

I made this discovery quite by accident a couple of years ago when I was looking for something else on the internet; and I came across the concept of a Shamrock Smoothie. When they boasted that they tasted just like the shakes that you got at McDonald’s they had my attention. So I took a peek, and I experimented a little, tweeking the recipe to suit my needs and tastes. Adding in a little of this and taking out a little of that and then voila! I had created my own version of the perfect Shamrock Smoothie, which was now good for me and I enjoy every St. Patrick’s Day (See more info at modernechild.com).

I love that this recipe combines avocado which not only makes it rich and creamy but provides healthy fats with coconut milk and mint, two more of my favorite flavors. This thing is so thick and delicious it is the perfect healthy snack that doesn’t taste so healthy for St. Paddy’s Day 🙂

I also love the addition of peppermint essential oil in this recipe as I am now reaping all the benefits of peppermint essential oil in my already yummy healthy drink. I have to say to that the dollop of coconut cream on top, though optional, really is a must to make this smoothie just a little bit fancier without much effort. Oh and don’t forget the sprig of mint either!

So give this recipe a try this St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy your own Shamrock Shake guilt free. And if you share it with the kids, it’s a great way to sneak in some avocados and greens in a way that they’ll gobble it up and ask for more!

St. Paddy’s Day Shamrock Smoothie

1 banana

1/4 of an avocado

1/2 c. full fat coconut milk

1-2 drops peppermint essential oil

1/4tsp. vanilla

1 handful of spinach

dollop of coconut cream – optional

Put all ingredients except coconut cream in the blender and blend on high until smooth. Pour into glass and top with dollop of coconut cream. Add a spring of mint if desired and enjoy!

Serves 1

New Year’s Appetizers

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Carmen

Appetizers are a fun and unique way to get creative and try new foods. So many wonderful shapes and combinations that you can experiment and play with. You can have a little bit of everything without overindulging or eating too much!

They are a wonderful way to provide snacks for your New Year’s (or other holiday) celebrations, without a lot of work. Here are some quick and easy appetizers recipes (dairy and sugar free) to try that are delicious and satisfying without the worry of not being healthy or having that heaviness in your stomach after.

New Year’s Appetizers

Mushroom Turnovers

My absolute favorite appetizer these savory pastry type appetizers are rich and delicious! I love the sour cream (dairy free) in the dough. Just gives it that little extra richness.

Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Love the ease of these little guys, just a little bit of chopping and you can have them ready to serve in 10 minutes!

Macaroni Bites

Perfect for the macaroni lover these creamy little bites are easy and delicious. Plus they are super cute.

Pizza Bites

I have to admit the first time I made these I thought they would be a bust – quinoa in a pizza recipe? They turned out fabulous! And I love that you can vary the combinations of what you put it in. Gluten free, and great for kids as well.

Kale and Artichoke Dip

What party is complete without a yummy dip! This warm, cheesy and delectable dip is dairy free and perfect for that cracker or tortilla chip. Plus with kale being a superfood, this makes it even better.

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on November 15, 2017 by Carmen

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know how much I love pumpkin and any and all things related to pumpkin. So when Shreya of the Sassy Life contacted me and said she had a pumpkin cookie recipe she’d like to share in our cookie series I was all over it!

These delightful pumpkin cookies are easy to make and can be ready in less than an hour – maybe more if you have little helpers or like myself just get distracted easily. They are small, bite size and can be customized if you like your cookies crisper or more cakier, a little stronger pumpkin flavor or a little more spice.

Shreya’s original recipe calls for refined sugars, which have been adjusted here but they do not change the flavor or the result of this delicious cookie. Perfect for Fall, or a little pumpkin variation for Thanksgiving, no one will even notice that they’re vegan or sugar free unless you tell them.

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil (I measured when solid if that makes a difference)
1 cup coconut sugar
1/8 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons pumpkin purée
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1-2 drops On Guard essential oil)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup vegan/non-dairy chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the coconut oil with the brown and white sugar.
Add the vanilla extract and pumpkin purée and continue to mix. The mixture will look pretty slick and oily at this point.
Add the salt, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice or On Guard essential oil, and flour and mix until just combined.
Gently stir in chocolate chips.
Bake rounded balls of dough on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet at 350ºF for about 15 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from pan. Move to a cooling rack to ensure cookies cool evenly.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes 24 cookies

* For a stronger pumpkin spice flavor, add another teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. My cookies came out very puffy and small because I baked small balls of cookie dough. For flatter cookies, flatten the tops of the cookies before placing in the oven.

What’s your favorite fall cookie recipe?

Thanks to Shreya of the Sassy Life for sharing her recipe. All photos are from the Sassy Life.

Join us next week for White Chocolate Macadamia Nut – my most favorite – ever!

Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Sugar Free Dairy Free

Posted on November 8, 2017 by Carmen

There’s nothing like a warm cookie from the oven, soft and chewy as it melts in your mouth, it’s usually hard to have just one. For a while now I haven’t really been making a lot of cookies, partly because of time, but also because though delicious, cookies are not really that healthy. Full of sugars and flours, typically I would avoid them and make some other kind of sweet treat to satisfy.

But this Fall when the weather changed and it was time to feel all warm and cozy I really wanted a cookie. So i started exploring some of my favorite cookie recipes and experimenting with how I could adjust them to make them more healthy and still just as delicious!

And now you get to benefit from my experimenting and research! For the month of November I am going to be featuring various healthy cookie recipes for you to indulge in. Some of them will be my own creation, while others are from other fabulous healthy food bloggers that I have collaborated with. It’s going to be a month of treats and just in time for Christmas! Now you can contribute a healthy version that you’ll feel good about eating and sharing.

Today we’re starting with a classic Oatmeal Raisin recipe – as I have always loved these soft chewy cookies with raisins in them (in fact most cookies with raisins in them I thoroughly enjoy). The original recipe came off the quick oats package and had been sitting on my counter for months. With a little bit of tweeking I came up with this successful healthy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, sugar free and delicious! (even taste tested by a close friend who loves oatmeal raisin cookies and gave it two thumbs up).

Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 c. Earth Balance vegan spread

3/4 c. coconut sugar

1/4 – 1/3 c. honey

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon or 1 drop Cinnamon Bark essential oil*

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 – 2 c. uncooked rolled oats (quick or old fashioned)

1 c. raisins

In a large bowl combine the Earth Balance, coconut sugar and honey. Mix until creamy.

Add in eggs and vanilla. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sea salt and mix well.

Add in the oats and raisins, I like to add these in by hand and stir, as I find the mixer can chop up the raisins which I don’t want. Stir well.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in 350F oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven, cool for 1 minute on cookie sheets then move to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

*Please note that if using essential oils in this recipe to ensure that your essential oil brand is safe to take internally. Not all essential oil brands are created equally and some use synthetic fillers and chemicals in their processing of the oil or added to the oil itself. Due to no governing regulations on producing essential oils a company can say they are 100% or Organic. Due your due diligence and research the brand you are using to ensure your safe usage.

Next week indulge in Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, courtesy of The Sassy Life (I can’t wait for this one as I love pumpkin!!)

Blueberry Pancake Mini Bites

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Carmen

I really didn’t think a pancake mini bite would be a big hit. What was the big deal it’s like a small bite of a pancake and wouldn’t you rather have a whole one? But that’s just it! It’s a small bite of a pancake – and you can have just a bite not waste a whole one!

Now there are tonnes of recipes for pancake mini bites, from maple bacon (I am definitely going to try that one) and pumpkin chocolate chip to your whole wheat and more traditional pancake. I decided that a blueberry one would be a great place to get started.

I honestly whipped these things up in 15 minutes, they are super easy to make, and I adjusted the original recipe slightly – as I like experimenting! At first I thought they looked just like a mini blueberry muffin and that they would simply taste like a muffin, but they do not taste like a muffin at all and definitely like a pancake. Besides I don’t know how many muffins you are dipping in maple syrup!

These are also a fantastic on the go breakfast. Super easy to grab and take with you, more so than a regular pancake. They’d be fun in kids school lunches as well for a little variety.

Blueberry Pancake Mini Bites

1 c. flour (I used white the first time I made them as honestly I wasn’t thinking, but could easily use whole wheat instead to make them more healthy)

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. coconut sugar

1 beaten egg

1/2 c. almond milk (or other non dairy milk of choice)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. Earth Balance vegan spread, melted

1/2 c. blueberries

Dash of cinnamon – optional

1/2 tsp. ground flax meal – optional

Pure maple syrup

In medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and coconut sugar. In another bowl, stir together egg, vanilla, almond milk and Earth Balance.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. In a well greased mini muffin tin scoop a tablespoon of dough into each hole. Bake for 10 minutes at 375F or until slightly browned.

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then gently remove bites from muffin tin. Serve immediately with a side of pure maple syrup.

Makes about 20 mini bite pancakes

These are also easily frozen ready to grab later or on those mornings you’re a little rushed. Freeze in an airtight container with a piece of wax or parchment paper between layers.

The fun thing about these mini bites is you can basically take any pancake recipe and simply put it into a mini muffin tin and bake it. And if you want to play with shapes a little and make them round, you can use a donut hole pan, which is super fun, like little mini donuts.

And like anything, there’s so much variety for what you can do! Because I don’t know about you but even though I like the traditional pancake I do like variety every once in a while. It keeps things interesting.

Have a favorite pancake recipe? Share in the comments below

17 Decadent Sugar Free Valentine’s Treats

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Carmen

Sugar free Valentines treats sound like an anomaly. A dream perhaps that one can indulge and enjoy the decadence of the day and not feel guilty later. Valentine’s Day is another one of those holidays where sweet indulgences abound. Even though it is only one day, it is hard to resist all the sugary treats, especially the chocolate. You may find yourself often saying no thank you when you really just want to bite into that chocolatey something!

Valentine’s Day does not have to be that way! It is possible to indulge with sweet treats (chocolate and otherwise) that are not only sugar free but actually good for you.

When we went sugar free at our house there were two things I was not going to compromise. One was tasty food, if we were eliminating sugar then the food still had to taste delicious! not bland or like cardboard. The second, was that we were still going to celebrate and enjoy the holidays (including the food) – from Christmas to Easter – and no one was going to be denied yummy treats or feel like they always had to say no thank you.

So for each holiday I have either transformed our favorite recipes or sought out new ones – which is fun because I like to experiment, and compiled a list. The problem is, I usually want to make them all but realize that that is just unrealistic. So I pick a few favorites and try a few new ones. (It’s so hard to choose!) Thanks to all the wonderful bloggers out there (and some of my own recipes) I have a fantastic list of sugar free valentine’s treats and indulgences. Easy to make and enjoy guilt free!

Sugar Free Valentine’s Treats

At Valentine’s the popular treats seem to include either chocolate or raspberries, which is not such a bad thing, but I also like a little variety, so there’s a nice mix of sweet treats that would easily fit into the Valentine’s theme. Whether you’re treating your love, your kids, your friends or just for yourself it’ll be hard to choose which one to make first!

Photo credit: Brenda Bennett Sugar Free Mom

Raspberry Cheesecake Truffles

Photo credit: Brenda Bennett Sugar Free Mom

White Chocolate Coconut Fudge

Chocolate Dream Pie

Strawberries and Cream Gummies

Beetroot Red Velvet Cheesecake

Chocolate Cherry Tart

Coconut Panna Cotta

Almond Joy Bars

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Strawberry Ice Cream

Caramel Nut Slice

Raw Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Hard to choose isn’t it? Which one are you going to try first?

Thanks to all who contributed to this post! Brenda of Sugar Free Mom, Krissy of Pretty Wee Things, Megan of Detoxinista, Adrienne of Whole New Mom, Jess of Choosing Chia, Sara of I Quit Sugar and Maria of Maria Mind Body Health.

How to Make Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (with homemade chocolate)

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Carmen

Chocolate dipped strawberries are one of those simple decadent treats that are easy to make and delicious. Often paired with champagne and Valentine’s Day they always give me the feeling of richness and luxury.

Imagine… the red juicy strawberry dipped into firm dark chocolate. As you bite into it, the taste sensation bursts in your mouth with the sweetness of the fruit and the richness of dark chocolate. There is just something about that combination.

Even though chocolate dipped strawberries have this air of luxury and decadence they are actually very easy to make and you can usually make a batch in about 15 minutes. They are also very healthy for you! As strawberries are high in Vitamin C, potassium, folate, fiber and antioxidants, while dark chocolate is high in maganese, iron and copper. And if you make your own chocolate as well, like I do, you can control the amount and type of sugar that goes into it as well! (I always use natural sweeteners, with honey being my top choice).

I often wonder if they’re so good for us why I don’t make them more often? Perhaps it is because they have this air of luxury (in my mind) and I really consider them a treat. (And why don’t we treat ourselves more often? – that is a whole other conversation)

So let’s get to it!

How to Make Chocolate Dipped Strawberries at Home (with homemade dark chocolate)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Rinse and pat dry the strawberries. Two tips here – one is to make sure you have fresh firm strawberries, second is to make sure that your strawberries are very very dry after you have rinsed them. If there is any water or moisture on them then the chocolate won’t stick.
Prepare your homemade dark chocolate. I use this very simple method to make my chocolate. No stove involved just a kettle, boiling water and two bowls. It is important to be very careful when making the chocolate that you do not get any water in it as it will change the mixture and your chocolate wont’t turn out. As I said I love using honey as my sweetener but in this case I would use pure maple syrup or liquid stevia, as sometimes the honey does not mix as well and will separate when it sets.
Dip your strawberry into chocolate. Grab strawberry by the green leafy top and dip into the chocolate. Turn and twist your strawberry to get the coverage you want on all sides. Gently place your dipped strawberry on your parchment paper lined cookie sheet and dip the next strawberry.
Once you have dipped all your strawberries place the cookie sheet into the fridge. This helps your chocolate set faster.
If desired, you can dip your strawberries in the chocolate a second time for a thicker covering, better coverage or just more chocolate! You do need to wait until the first layer is set and firm before dipping the second time.
Set back into the fridge until chocolate is set.
Serve and enjoy!

**if you want to get really fancy you can make a batch of white chocolate and drizzle it over the dark chocolate. You would have to let it set again and wait a little longer but it looks great aesthetically, which is great to impress guests if you’re having a party or event.