· By Suja Juice
Almond Butter Cups
Halloween is one time of year most of us will succumb to some junky stuff. Candy is everywhere and well, it tastes pretty darn good and can be tough to turn down even though we know it’s filled with refined sugar, rancid oils, GMOs, colorings, and difficult to digest ingredients. There’s no reason to deprive yourself of a sweet Halloween or indulge and end up feeling crappy. Here's a spookily delicious twist on a classic peanut butter cup that won’t leave you wishing you’d just said no. In fact, they are both packed with healthy fats from coconut, protein and Vitamin E from almonds, and iron and magnesium from dark chocolate. No tricks, just good for you treats!
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 8oz Almond Butter
- 1T coconut oil
- 1T maple syrup
- 1 bar dark chocolate OR 1/2 bag stevia sweetened chocolate chips (I used Lily’s brand from Whole Foods)
- 2 T coconut oil
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler with the coconut oil until it becomes glossy and fluid.
- Take a spoon and drop a small amount into a cupcake liner paper. Swirl the chocolate around until a thin layer evenly coats the bottom. Place on a small baking sheet. Repeat for the amount of cups you wish to make. Place the remaining chocolate to the side over low heat to use later for the top.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer and allow the chocolate to harden.
- Prepare your filling by adding the almond butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup to a bowl and stirring until well combined.
- Pull the hardened chocolate out of the freezer and spoon a small amount of almond butter filling in the center and spread evenly, stopping before the corners of the bottom chocolate shell so the almond butter isn’t visible in the final result. Repeat until all cups have filling.
- Place the baking sheet back in the freezer and allow the almond filling to harden.
- Pull the hardened almond cups out of the freezer and spoon the remaining chocolate on top, making sure to go all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with any garnish you like (I used festive sprinkles, but you could use chopped almonds, coconut shreds, banana slices, goji berries) while the chocolate is still wet to help the garnish stick.
- Place the cookie sheet back in the fridge to allow the cups to fully harden. Pull out when ready to serve, removing the cups from their liners.
- Note: Since coconut oil is liquid at room temperature, you will want to store these cups in the fridge or freezer!