Chocolate

Almond Joy Almond Butter

- annie 4 Comments

Almond Joy Almond Butter

Even though I’m a big chocolate fan, I tend to dislike candy bars. They’re just not chocolaty enough for me, too sweet, never worth the calories. The one exception used to be (pre-soy allergy) almond joy bars.

When I came across a jar of coconut-cocoa-almond butter in the discount bin at the grocery store, I was super excited. Upon arriving home, I discovered why it was discounted. It was rather dry and crumbly and somehow heavy and gloppy all at once. The chocolate and coconut flavors were indiscernible, and even the almond presence was rather lacking. I tried to salvage it by mixing in a little maple syrup, but it just wasn’t worth it. I had to throw it away, which I hated doing because food waste unnerves me. (insert rant here) 

almond joy almond butter

In stereotypical food blogger fashion, I decided instead to make my own coconut-cocoa almond butter. We live in the Pinterest era. DIY or bust.

I started this recipe with slivered raw almonds, which were somehow cheaper than whole raw almonds. Beginning with slivered almonds also means your blender has to do less work, thus reducing the risk of blender burnout. And the maple syrup supplies a wonderful blade lubricant without adding extra oil.

I will conceded that the added maple makes it somewhat less healthy than regular almond butters. On the other hand, it is a protein rich snack that’s perfect to satisfy a chocolate craving.

This is a wonderful back to school recipe because it’s so quick and easy. And if you don’t have kids (or your kids hate coconut, gah, why) you should make it for yourself anyways. It’s a candy bar in a jar, which is pretty much the cat’s pajamas.

 

Almond Joy Almond Butter

 

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Almond Joy Almond Butter

Yield: approx 2 cups

Because of the maple syrup, this will become a coarse butter quickly, but it will take about 8 minutes to smooth out. Remember to give your food processor/blender a break every few minutes so that it doesn't overheat.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups slivered raw almonds
  • 3/4 cup unsweet coconut flakes
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Instructions

  1. Grind the almonds down to a coarse meal.
  2. Add the coconut and grind again.
  3. Add the cocoa powder and maple syrup. Process until it becomes a paste.
  4. Enjoy!
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http://kitchenwindowclovers.com/almond-joy-almond-butter/

easy vegan almond joy almond butter

The Best DIY Chocolate Syrup

- annie 2 Comments
  • no soy
  • no weird ingredients
  • vegan
  • works great in non-dairy milks (almond milk pictured below)

The Best DIY Chocolate Syrup vegan chocolate syrup easy chocolate syrup soy free chocolate syrup

We went to dinner at the in-laws’ a few nights ago and the kids (my niece and nephew) broke out the chocolate milk. It looked so sweet and cool and tempting an pretty soon the ankle-biters weren’t the only ones drinking it. Don’t you miss the days when you could have chocolate milk next to your broccoli and mashed potatoes?

I very much wanted some, but couldn’t have any. Many chocolate milk mixes contain soy, and I’d already gotten a few allergy attacks from eating leftover Christmas candy. I knew shouldn’t have it, but I eat it anyways and then I pay.  I needed to get my soy-sneezes back under control. That chocolate milk looked so good, but luckily there was some wine there to distract me.

diychocolatesyrup3
diychocolatesyrup6

A few days after that, I was restocking Jason’s snack cupboard an a tin of Carlos V milk mix fell out onto the counter. Tempted again! Speaking of his snack cupboard, can I just go on a little tangent for a sec?

He likes to mix chocolate power and protein powder into milk for his breakfast and it rather grosses me out.  It gets gloppy and lumpy and the powder never fully dissolves into the milk. I don’t know if this is actually gross, or I just think of it as gross. But I can’t be in the room when he makes his breakfast. Maybe it’s that he puts protein powder into milk, which I dunno, I imagine would feel like a rock in your stomach. Aren’t you supposed to put protein powder into water? Am I crazy? Why are so many of the paragraphs in this post ending in questions?

Are you tired of hearing my talk about Jason’s weekday breakfast habits?

Let’s talk about leche instead!

I recipe tested this a over a few nights, mixing individual glasses here and there to get the ratios right. Testing chocolate milk….whew…hard work.

So..you’ll notice that there’s quite a bit of powdered sugar in the recipe. Whoops? Yes, it tastes more sweet than chocolaty, but I have a firm belief that that is how cold chocolate milk should taste. A little trashy, a little nostalgic, and a lot comforting.

The Best DIY Chocolate Syrup vegan easy chocolate syrup soy free chocolate syrup

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Simple DIY Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder (Dutch process if you have it)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

    syrup
  1. Stir together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.
  2. Add the water, stirring until there are no pockets of dry powder.
  3. Stir in the almond extract
    4. for chocolate milk
  4. add 1-2 tbsp of syrup to 8 oz milk. serve with love.

Notes

Store syrup in the fridge. Do not dip the milk-stirring spoon back into the syrup.

http://kitchenwindowclovers.com/best-diy-chocolate-syrup/