Bliss balls are a staple in our house. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve made a batch a week for the last 4 years or so. They’re easy to whip up, they’re usually quite nutrient dense, and they’re sweet and dessert-like at the same time. Plus they last well, they’re a hit at play dates, and they’re easy to pop in your purse or diaper bag for whenever a a little pick-me-up is needed.
Tag Archives: chocolate
Chocolate Chia Pudding
I’m not sure what’s taken me so long to come up with this variation of chia pudding, but goodness gracious… Am I ever glad I finally got here. We’ve been chia pudding fans for a long time now and Grae still absolutely loves it, so make it chocolate flavoured and she’s in heaven.
Dark Chocolate Fruit and Nut Lollies
This afternoon, after a lovely morning out of the house, Miss G and I got started on the first of our homemade Easter treats. After seeing some milk chocolate lollies covered with pastel-coloured candy sprinkles while at Dean & Deluca last, I knew we could very easily make our own {healthier} version and that’s exactly what we did today… We made dark chocolate fruit and nut lollies and Miss G is pleased as punch about having a bowl full of these pretty little lollies sitting in our kitchen!
Super Soft and Squishy Chocolate Play Dough
While I quite like the super simple no-fuss chocolate play dough we made on vacation with an empty pantry, it just isn’t quite as lovely as our usual play doughs, and that’s simply not right when you love play dough as much as we do. ☺ So today, during quiet play time, I set off to re-vamp our recipe and create a super soft and squishy chocolate play dough that was every bit as good as all of our other doughs… And I’m happy to report that I succeeded! Here’s the recipe…
Play Dough Chocolate Shop
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Mmmm…. Chocolate. Miss G and I made a batch of our super simple chocolate play dough {but added cream of tartar and glycerine since we had it on hand} for our recent Valentine’s tea, and took it out again this afternoon for some fun and easy play. Grae decided that she wanted to open a play dough chocolate shop, so that’s what we did.
Chocolate Almond Bliss Balls
Oh my goodness… Miss G is absolutely obsessed with these chocolate almond bliss balls. Seriously. She begs for them like they’re candy and when you give her one? Her eyes light up like it’s Christmas morning. I love them too – they’re delicious, easy to make, and make for a great portable snack to throw in my purse or into our carry-on when travelling.
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies {sweetened with pure maple syrup}
What do you do at midnight the night before you leave for a weekend away in Dubai? Attempt a new recipe so your little one has treats while you’re away, of course. That and create an activity bag for each day you’re away. ☺
Healthier Chocolate Puff Squares
Now that Miss G is a little bit older, we’ve definitely loosened up a little in terms of what she eats. While ‘treats’ in the past may have included roasted chickpeas, kale chips, or popsicles made with almost strictly mango and yogurt (all things that pack a pretty decent nutritional punch), nowadays, some ‘treats’ are simply treats… Things that are yummy and not oozing in nutritional value. That being said, we do try to keep them on the healthy side, using whole, organic ingredients whenever possible.
After fairly successfully creating a yummy and healthier crispy rice treat recipe, I decided we would try to redo another classic children’s treat… Chocolate puffed wheat squares. It took a little bit of experimenting, but I think we found a pretty awesome alternate recipe. Here’s how we made them…
First, the lineup of ingredients… Coconut oil, unsweetened cocoa powder, kamut puffs, pure vanilla, pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and cashew butter. {Edited to add: I find that this is an incredibly forgiving recipe and have now tried it many ways, so I’ll list a few alternatives in the recipe at the bottom of the post.}
To start off, we added our coconut oil, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and cashew butter to a large pot.
Of course finding a spoon licking volunteer wasn’t hard.
Then Miss G measured out the kamut puffs into a large bowl…
While I stirred the wet ingredients over at the stove. Just as it started to form slow bubbles, I turned off the heat, added the vanilla, and gave it another quick stir.
Then we poured the wet mixture into the kamut puff bowl and Miss G mixed everything up well.
When it was mixed well, we poured the mixture out onto a parchment-line baking pan (my smaller one was already in use and this one was too big so we only used half of it) and used slightly wet hands to press everything down firmly.
After about 30 minutes in the fridge, we took our chocolately dessert out of the pan and cut it into squares.
The verdict? Gracen LOVED them (as did I). When I asked her how they were, her response was, “So, so, sooooooooo yummy!”
The other way I know they are decent? When I left for a 30 minute run around the neighbourhood, there were 10 squares sitting on parchment paper on the butcher block. When I got home? 3 and some crumbs – THREE! (Proof is in my Instagram feed – mamapapabububa). Apparently they are husband approved also.
Healthier Chocolate Puff Squares
- 1/2 cup of organic brown rice syrup (or honey or pure maple syrup)
- 1/2 cup of cashew butter (or peanut butter)
- 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup (not needed if using honey or maple syrup in place of brown rice syrup)
- 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla
- 4 1/2 cups of kamut puffs (or other puff cereal)
Measure the brown rice syrup, cashew butter, maple syrup, cocoa, and coconut oil into a large pot. Warm over medium heat, stirring almost constantly. Allow the mixture to come to a bubble, turn down the heat slightly, and continue stirring while it thickens up a little. When done, turn off the heat, add the vanilla, and give it another quick stir.
Add in the kamut puffs and mix well to ensure the cereal is evenly coated with the sticky mixture.
Dump the mixture into a parchment-lined baking pan or scoop into a greased muffin cups and press it down firmly. Pop the pan into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the treats to set.
Cut and enjoy!
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Healthy Chocolate Coconut Banana Muffins
One of the little traditions we do on Gracen’s half birthday (ohmahgerd, I have a two and a half year old) is make a fresh batch of muffins (aka ‘cupcakes’) to top with freshly whipped cream and candles later in the evening. So today we used our usual no sugar added banana muffin recipe, tweaked it just a little bit, and came up with these delicious chocolate coconut creations. They are super yummy and truly do feel like a cupcake instead of a healthy muffin… Especially if you add the dark chocolate chips I added to the adult half of the batch (with which I doubt they can be remain in the ‘healthy’ category, but hey – I try my best). ☺
Here’s the recipe…
Healthy Banana Chocolate Coconut Muffins
- 4 large ripe bananas
- 1 organic egg
- 1/3 cups of coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups of wholewheat flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut shavings
- dark chocolate chips (optional – we used 1/3 of a cup in half the batter)
Preheat oven to 350° . Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by brushing it with coconut oil.
Mix the bananas, other wet ingredients, and cocoa until the mixture is mostly smooth and only slightly chunky. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (save the coconut and chocolate chips) well. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Slowly stir in the coconut (and chocolate chips if adding them). Fill greased muffin tin with the mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool.
Enjoy!