Monday, July 15, 2013

Homemade nut butter cups!


There truly aren't enough superlatives to describe this tasty delight. You may have noticed I'm a big fan of Sarah Britton's My New Roots food blog, and this is just another of her spectacular recipes. Plus, I was happy, elated that they ended up looking like they were supposed to. So pretty. Like little crowns of scrumptious tastiness. Mmmmmm.

It was difficult tracking down some of the less common ingredients like lucuma and cacao butter, and they weren't cheap, but these are delectable, once-in-a-while kind of treats. So perhaps don't make them for a potluck where they may not be appreciated beside the Doritos, but save them for a special occasion.

And, eat them straight from the fridge! If they sit out even for a minute, they start to get soft and hard to handle (or, delicious gooeyness, depending on your perspective).



Superfood Nut Butter Cups
Recipe by Sarah Britton of My New Roots

Makes 12 standard muffin cup-sized candies (I found these quite large however, so make minis if desired)

Basic Raw Chocolate
Makes about 1 ½ cups
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3 tbsp. melted cacao butter
¾ cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup raw honey
2 tbsp. lucuma
¼ tsp. sea salt
extra sea salt for garnish

Nut Butter Filling
1/2 cup almond butter
1 tbsp. raw honey
1 tbsp. lucuma powder
sea salt to taste

1. In a double boiler (or a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water) melt coconut oil and cacao butter. Add honey and whisk to combine. When completely uniform, remove from heat and sift in cacao, lucuma and add sea salt. Taste for sweetness and saltiness, and adjust accordingly.

2. In silicon or paper muffin cups spoon enough liquid chocolate to cover the bottom. Place in the fridge or freezer and cool until solid, about 15 minutes. Remember that you are only using about 1/3 of the chocolate at this stage.

3. Make the nut butter filling by combining all of the ingredients until a “dough” is formed. Add more lucuma if it is too wet and runny. Taste for salt. This dough should be quite salty, but if you are using store-bought nut butter with added salt, don’t go overboard.

4. Spoon the nut dough into ½ tablespoon amounts, roll into balls, and flatten between your palms to just under the size of the chocolate in the cups.

5. Add nut butter filling to each cup on top of the solid chocolate and drizzle the remaining liquid chocolate on top, making sure to cover the filling completely. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired. Place in the fridge to harden for at least one hour.

6. When you have patiently waited, try removing one of the forms from the nut butter cups. If the chocolate sticks at all, return to the fridge until completely solid.

7. You can keep the chocolates in their forms or remove them, but either way store the nut butter cups in the fridge in a sealed container. Enjoy!

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