I’ve always been a fan of dense chewy freezable (but eatable right out of the freezer) macaroons and truffles…. In the past, I always made the standard raw food community blond and chocolate macs, but I just reviewed that old recipe and discovered that it has an entire cup of maple syrup in it. In the old days, I didn’t flinch at that….now, it makes my blood curdle just a little bit.
Therefore, I decided to start from scratch because I knew if I tried to just sub in a dry sugar substitute or add stevia instead, the texture wouldn’t work at all and the macs would never stick together (note: the macs I made turned out more like truffles so I changed their name!). Peanut butter just really seemed to be the most logical (and delicious) glue for the new macs to be born in my kitchen. Other than that…I worked with what I had, and also made additions as I went along (almond flour) based on the texture and taste of the batter.
Super Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles (A close cousin to the macaroon!)
Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, no sugar added…but really delicious!
Mix together (I used a KitchenAid mixer w/ paddle attachment):
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (you can use processed or unprocessed – or this one, which is half and half)
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp liquid stevia or leave this out and add more maple syrup
2 Tbsp maple syrup (I use Grade B), then taste and add more if you need it!
1/2 cup almond flour
2/3 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
Mix all ingredients until well combined. Use a mini scooper to arrange on dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115 for several hours. I intended to leave them in for 15 hours or so, but a couple of them started to melt, so I took them out after about 6 hours. You’ll want to taste one occasionally—technically they’re done when crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, but the peanut butter makes them pretty soft while they’re warm (cool one down a bit before you taste test it!). They don’t really get “crisp,” but just firm up a bit—the dehydrator step is unnecessary if you’re going to keep these in the freezer!
I’m so happy with these plain, but I thought they could be just a bit prettier and more interesting with frosting.
So I made a glaze and drizzled it over the finished product.
Peanut Butter Glaze
Remember “magic shell?” ….well, this is just like that in a peanut butter flavor. I’m not sure how I never used this before—it’s super easy!
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 heaping Tbsp peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/4 tsp vanilla stevia or 1 tsp maple syrup
Stir until mixed. Drizzle over truffles….or pour onto ice cream or mix into yogurt….or eat with a spoon (I may or may not have tried it that way) …this stuff is great, and I’m sure I’ll use it for many things!
News/Notes:
Chalk up another win for aloe juice as a remedy for acid reflux! In other words….Down with Acid Blockers! A client reached her one-week mark of being off acid blockers today, with a shot glass full of aloe every morning, she’s had zero acid reflux. Just thought I’d tell you that since I’m excessively happy about it.
How is your week so far?
They look great! Do you think I could skip the coconut?
You could try it! I’m pretty sure you’d have to put something in its place though—maybe a combination of things including stuff like chia or flax (but not a whole cup). If you experiment, let me know how it works!!
Um I just want the glaze please 😉 And walking 8 miles? That’s awesome.
Wow, these sound amazing!
I am loving the peanut butter glaze. YUM!
Yes, the glaze really is the best part…ever since I made it, I’ve been thinking of other things I can do with it (besides eat it with a spoon…which is darn good, I must say)!
On Tue 20/03/12 20:42 , “Disqus” sent:
I highly recommend the glaze…really, it’s one of the best things I’ve made lately! The most random simplest things always seem to turn out the best!
On Tue 20/03/12 20:45 , “Disqus” sent:
yum yum where is my plate ? haha
loving all these yummy grain free low sugar ideas!!!
and our week is going well so far, amazing again how fast the weeks ago by!
I saw something else similar for that peanut butter magic shell. I have to try it! I bet it would be awesome on banana “ice cream”
Those look so good, I have a huge thing of unsweetened coconut I need to use up too!
The peanut butter “magic shell” thing is pretty smart! I never thought of that but it’s a great idea!
Mmm looks very tasty- I like your less/ no sugar variation because I try to keep my sugar intake under control!
OMG, Magic Shell!!! That used to be the center of every good slumber party back in my day. Love that it can be made without any scary ingredients. 🙂
Look at you go! 🙂 I know what you mean about looking back at stuff you used to make .. and now think – I used to eat that stuff? lol!
that is awesome that you made the time/took the opportunity for your walk, lisa. with this incredible weather, we just can’t get enough of being outside, eh! work will wait – haha!
great recipe – and yes, the glaze drizzled on top is “the icing on the cake!” dark choc and pb are a beautiful combo!
enjoy the heat today – we are going to get close to 30 celsius – like 90ish F, i think! yes, i will be outside in toronto!!
Couple things. What is ZSweet? Also, where can I get aloe juice at an affordable price? I am currently 22 weeks preggo and have AWFUL heartburn. I”ve tried EVERYTHING and the only thing that seems to semi-work is an antacid. I HATE taking them though and would be intrigued to try the aloe juice.
ZSweet is a combination of erythritol and stevia—it’s basically a more respectable (in my opinion) brand of “Truvia” based on not being owned by Cargill. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, that is slightly different than xylitol (which can cause GI distress).
I find aloe juice in a local grocery store in the health food supplements section, with digestive aids, laxatives, etc. Lily of the Desert is a brand I really respect and like (it doesn’t have junk in it…and my clients have tried it compared to other brands and Lily works great). Look for “whole leaf” and not inner leaf or gel.
I’m sure there are other brands that are “good” too, this is just the one I have the most experience with. It’s relatively inexpensive too—I usually tell people to start with 1-2oz in the morning, and then adjust as needed (take before each meal if you need to). I have a couple clients who drink 4oz before each meal—this is the max amount, and would be too much to start with (would probably cause diarrhea).
Aloe is totally safe during pregnancy! You could also try adding a tsp of chia seeds to your water/drinks—the seeds can help soak up some acid in your digestive tract (more is not better, though, so I’d stick to a small amount).
If you try it, please let me know how it goes!
One more thought….I have one client who wakes up in the morning with heartburn and so he chugs a bit of aloe before bed and this completely eliminated the problem. So, take into account what time of day and under what eating conditions you’re experiencing the heartburn when you decide when to drink it!
Yuum!!! Looks awesome! I love eating snacks straight out of the freezer!
OMG the glaze?? That might be the most genius thing I’ve ever seen – and totally made my mouth water just thinking about it! Yummy!!
Week is going well so far — LOVING how warm it is around here this week. Makes me SO SO SO happy!
I have been obsessed with ingesting aloe for some time now. I love that your client was able to stop utilizing (or stop from having to use) medication to solve the issue!
Wow amazing!! It’s crazy what you can do with coconut ingredients!!
How did we ever get into the hydrogenation of oils when we could have been using coconut oil the entire time!!
Oh, these are PRETTY. You’re really experimenting in the kitchen lately! That’s a good thing for me, since I get to keep bookmarking stuff to try out.
Those are just gorgeous! I loved the instagram picture. Walking when its nice out is the best! Kay and I go at least once or twice a day. Weeks been good to me so far
How cool that these turned out really good even though you planned on making macaroons. That Peanut Butter Glaze sounds so so good and I’m definitely going to use it! My week has been good so far! My brother was in town from Cali (He leaves today) so I got to spend a lot of time with him!
Okay seriously!? Not that my detox is over, I am having trouble of what sweet treat of yours to make first! Your a genius!!
I completely know what you mean about not flinching in the past about using a whole cup of maple syrup (or honey, for that matter!) in a recipe. These days I’ve been turning to stevia more , but I have the same issues with cutting out sugar – it can be difficult to get the texture right once you take the sugar out. Thanks for doing the hard work for us with this recipe, it looks amazing!