Well you had to know, considering my nasty sweet tooth, that the first recipe I would try from Real Food Wednesday would be the coconut chocolate candy that a few of you told us about. The topic was “Healthy Coconut Recipes” – I pulled together all of the different chocolate candy recipes and made mine like this:
Easy Homemade Chocolate Candy – with Healthy Coconut Oil
- 1/2 c. coconut oil
- 1/2 c. real maple syrup (use less to make them healthier, but they tasted too dark for me without more maple syrup!)
- 1/2 c. organic cocoa powder
- 1 t. organic vanilla
- 1/2 t. sea salt
Melt together gently in a saucepan over low-ish heat until it’s all mixed together. I kept it super easy and instead of using molds or ice cube trays, I just put some parchment paper on a couple cookie sheets and dropped quarter-sized candies onto that. (Makes about 7 dozen.) I put them in the freezer for a while before transferring them to either my mouth, the kids’ mouths (have you seen “Finding Nemo”? “Mine mine mine mine mine”), or the little that was left went into freezer baggies until I need them for bribes I need an almost-healthy treat to give the kids.
They came out very smooth and yummy. Kent, the day care kids, and 3 of our 4 kids loved them. Our 9 year old just didn’t care for the coconut flavor, which is very noticeable.
By the way, I just realized that this recipe is probably closest to Mtn.Mamaof4’s recipe for fudge. I wanted to give her the credit for it. Although I did pull a little from all the chocolate recipes many of you shared on Wednesday – thank you! (By the way, everyone had good variations to try with it, too – I’d like to try Mtn.Mama’s suggestion for making peppermint flavored chocolate.)
- More almost healthy dessert recipes
- Wonder what the big deal is about coconut, and why it’s so good for us?
- BEST PRICES on coconut oil
- Meal planning/Kitchen Tips
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Julie 02.20.09 at 7:18 am
These look good! You could sprinkle coconut or ground almonds on top for a new look and taste.
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Katrinad 02.20.09 at 7:42 am
Yum!! You guys are going to be the death of me! Death by GOOD nourishing chocolate?! WHAT?!
We used Mt Mama’s fudge recipe yesterday and poured it over popcorn. Can we just say, “OH MY GOODNESS SAKES ALIVE” My girls and I ate like it was going out of style!
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Rebecca in Michigan 02.20.09 at 9:58 am
I made the fudge and 5 out of the 7 really liked the fudge. There was a small after taste that two of the boys didn’t like. I put them in the freezer and everyone enjoyed the hardness vs. the softness of the fudge.
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Motherhen68 02.20.09 at 10:06 am
I scored a jar of Organic Virgin Coconut oil yesterday @ the grocery store. I had even bookedmarked those candies for in the future when I had some Coconut oil. Now my kids are going to flip.
I think I’ll make them tomorrow when 1/2 my family is gone.
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JODELL OCHS 02.20.09 at 12:04 pm
I always add shredded coconut and choped nuts ,now it’s soaked chopped almonds ..I am trying to think of something to make them less melty ..
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IssacsWife 02.20.09 at 2:00 pm
If you add roasted coconut too this, you will have it made.
pop the coconut in the oven – couples of minutes till it has a touch of brown on it.
It is heaven to add to recipes like this.
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Kelly 02.21.09 at 1:50 am
Thanks for all the great extra tips, everyone!
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Jessie 02.21.09 at 8:57 pm
I whipped up some of this last night. Soooo tasty!
I poured the mixture into my new alphabet-shaped ice cube trays. That really didn’t work so much. I had to melt the chocolate out and then repour it in globs on wax paper. Still tasty, though. Maybe I should have greased the trays?
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Kelly 02.22.09 at 12:13 am
Hi Jessie,
Hmmmm, I don’t think they should’ve needed more grease than the coconut oil…? Mine didn’t freeze rock hard, so maybe use those fun ABC ice cube trays for something else and drop the candy onto parchment paper like I did mine. Then they peel off easily.
Kelly
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Susannah 02.23.09 at 2:30 pm
These chocolates sound soooo good! Chocolate is my weakness so I’m always looking for healthier recipes! I recently started using coconut oil and coconut milk (I have never liked coconut) and realized that it’s just the shredded coconut that I don’t like. Thank goodness! These sound too good not to try at least once.
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Katrinad 02.24.09 at 11:29 pm
Susannah–good does not BEGIN to describe the awesomeness of these things….
Ok, another new LOVE in my life–equal amounts of coconut oil and natural pb—yowzas…..I just MIGHT get fat on this kind of fat.
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Local Nourishment 02.26.09 at 8:27 am
Oh my. These were so good. I doled out two per person, but snuck back into the kitchen after everyone was in bed and had two more. I’m tellin’ ya, you’re gonna put Hershey’s out of business with this recipe (at least in MY house!)
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Kelly 02.26.09 at 3:47 pm
Glad you guys are enjoying these, but remember it’s not my recipe – I got it from the bloggers at our coconut carnival!
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Annette 03.05.09 at 3:08 am
OMG – I made a small amount of these the other day and licked the spoon – then I cleaned out the pan. They never made it onto waxed paper. I need to try them again but I’m afraid. It was so ridiculously good I couldn’t stop!
Annette’s last blog post..Upcoming Sustainable Classes
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Bernadette 03.10.09 at 8:58 pm
Hello — I was doing some research and came across your terrific blog. This recipe sounds amazing, and I want to try it but I have a question — how do you combine it all? Melt the coconut oil, heat it somehow? Or am I missing something? I’m an excellent cook, but not much of a candy-maker! Thanks and shine on, Bernadette
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Kelly 03.10.09 at 10:27 pm
Hi Bernadette, yes, I just melt it gently in a saucepan, and add the other ingredients right in there to avoid extra dishes!
Thanks for finding my site.
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Jeff 03.18.09 at 12:39 pm
Looks great, but where’s the recipe? I see a list of ingredients, but no steps. Is there any heating/cooking involved, or do the ingredients go straight to the freezer? Thanks.
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Kelly 03.18.09 at 1:50 pm
Hi Jeff, sorry, I just added the directions in the post.
Just gently melt it all together until it’s mixed well, then drop onto the parchment paper. Hope you like them!
Kelly
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Ellen 04.07.09 at 5:09 pm
Would regular oil work instead of coconut?
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Kelly 04.07.09 at 5:28 pm
Hi Ellen,
Yes, I’m sure it would work, but…
-It wouldn’t have the health benefits you get from coconut
and
-I don’t know which one you’d substitute with…maybe melted butter? Not vegetable oil for sure!
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jodell 04.07.09 at 9:27 pm
I added toasted sesame seeds and toasted almonds oh was that ever extra delicious…..
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Mindy 06.04.09 at 4:18 pm
Ok, I made these yesterday…delicious, but they didn’t ever harden. They firmed up a *bit* but I still needed to scrape them off the parchment (and eat them) with a spoon. Any thoughts? I don’t need to actually boil the mixture, do I?!
Mindy’s last blog post..the perceptions of a 3-year-old
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Kelly 06.04.09 at 11:40 pm
Hi Mindy, it’s been a while since I’ve made them, but as soon as they were done, I froze them, so that helped, but yes, I think they were still kind of soft…
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EmmaK 03.02.10 at 9:34 am
These look so delicious! I will make some for sure.
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