Chocolate Hazelnut Fondue
Chocolate and Hazelnuts… my absolute favorite choco combo! Nutella has been my biggest weakness since my vow to eat healthier. So I decided I needed my own healthy version of this chocolate spread but more on a dipping version for fruit. The result, a perfect guiltless chocolate fondue with a hint of hazelnut flavor. And the wonderful bit about this fondue is that it does not need to be heated, it stays as a chocolate sauce so it is ready for fruit dipping immediately!
Chocolate Hazelnut Fondue
- 1/4 c Hazelnut Butter
- 1/4 c Agave Nectar
- 1/4 c Coconut Oil melted
- Pinch of Vanilla Powder
- Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt
- 1 1/2 tbls Cacao Powder
Mix the hazelnut butter, agave nectar, melted coconut oil and salt in a small bowl. Shift in the cacao powder and blend completely being sure to eliminate any lumps. Pour into a fondue pot to enjoy immediately with strawberries, apples or bananas. Or store in a jar to enjoy whenever a chocolate attack arises with fruit or bread. This will stay as a syrup consistency if stored at room temperature. Just be sure to give it a good stir before dipping or spreading.
Makes 1 cup
Petite Pecan Pies
I remember my first pecan pie at a truck stop in Montana. I was amazed that a pie with no fruit could be so sweet and flavorful. These Ani Phyo cookies are just like the pie with a rich pecan flavor, a hint of cinnamon and citrus fruit and a wonderfully dark maple syrup like sweetness from the dates. They are gooey, sticky and are the perfect individual treat to enjoy immediately. Just ask Patrick, he ate 5!
Petite Pecan Pies
- 1 c Pecan halves
- 1/3 c very stick Dates pitted, if hard soak for 30 min in room temp water
- 1 1/2 tsp Clementine, Tangerine or Orange juice
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
If the dates are not soft and mushy, pit and soak for 30 min in room temperature water. Then drain and squeeze out all of the excess water, set aside. Pulse the pecans in a food processor until a course meal forms. Add the dates, citrus juice and cinnamon and continue to process. Once it starts to stick to the sides of the food processor empty into a bowl and form into cookie shapes by hand. Or if you like an even cookie as shown above, roll out with a rolling pin on wax paper and cut out with cookie cutters. The natural oils from the nuts prevents the rolling pin from sticking to the cookies (no need for flour). Eat right away or let set in fridge for 1 hour. If you want a chewier cookie dehydrate at 115 F for 1 hours.
Makes 10-12 cookies
Chocolate Dream Pie
When the winter suppresses all good moods, the body and mind start to CRAVE CHOCOLATE! This guiltless Chocolate Banana Cream Pie is sugar, dairy and flour free… a dream come true! The bananas act as the sweeter and the avocado gives this pie its cream consistency. But don’t worry, you won’t taste the avocado since the cacao powder overpowers the flavor so you are left with a silky chocolate pudding with a slight hint of banana. This is even delicious as a pudding but it is a match made in heaven with the walnut crust!
Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
Walnut Crust:
- 1 ½ c Walnuts halves
- 2 tbls Coconut Oil melted
- ¼ tsp Celtic Sea Salt
Process the walnuts halves till the they form a sticky meal. This is the oil from the nuts starting to release. Empty into a small bowl and add the melted coconut oil and salt. Press into the pie dish and let set in the fridge while you make the filling.
Chocolate Banana Cream Filling:
- 1 large very ripe Avocado
- 3 large very ripe (almost brown) Bananas
- ¼ c Cacao Powder
- 3 tbls Coconut Oil
Cut the avocado and bananas into large chucks and add with the rest of the ingredients to the blender. Blend, if it is too thick and keep pushing the ingredients down and then turn the blender back on. Continue this until it swirls around in the blender like a vortex. Pour into the prepared walnut crust and freeze for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight to 1 day to set.
Makes 1 9″ Pie
Fruit Salad from the Heart
As this is my first recipe post, I thought I would start out with something that only requires a blender and cookie cutters. Not being one that believes in the over commercialised Valentines Day, I found myself celebrating it regardless last Sunday. I was looking for a twist on a two fruit, fruit salad for breakfast. Hardly a salad but when I dressed it up with heart shaped apple slices and strawberry sauce sweetened by dates (not sugar), it took on a whole new look. So Mom, this will be good for your heart and it is quick and easy to clean up if you use your Magic Bullet!
Strawberry Fruit Salad
Strawberry Sauce:
- 1 c Strawberries roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 c Dates or more if you like it sweeter
To make the strawberry sauce blend the strawberries and lemon juice until smooth. Add the dates and blend again till smooth.
Fruit Salad:
- 1 Granny Smith Apple or Pear
- Lemon wedge
- 2 c Strawberries slices
Cut the apple horizontally and lay all the slices out on a cutting board. The lemon juice will prevent the fruit from oxidizing and turning brown so wipe each slice on both sides with the lemon wedge. Cut each slice with a heart shaped cookie cutter. On the smaller slices or ends of the fruit us a smaller cookie cutter.
To assemble, distribute the strawberry sauce evenly between 2 bowls and top with the strawberry slices. Thoughtfully place the heart shaped apple slices on the top and sides so that they stand out more. This is also wonderful if you have a sweet tooth!
Serves 2
Welcome to the Bee’s Knees Kitchen
… the (best) bee’s knees of my raw recipes experiments! My purpose of this blog is to share my love of healthy recipes with the rest of the chefs in my family across the pond. The raw food diet might only be fruits, veg, nuts and seeds not cooked past 115 degree F in order to preserve vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. But within these ‘boundaries’’ I have found more adventure in it than I ever had in the kitchen. I hope to make raw food easy to create and delicious to eat! So Mom, Auntie Frances and Makinna, happy un-cooking!
