Category Archives: Gluten-Free

Salted Coconut Almond Chocolate Bark

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Every year during the holidays I always whip up a batch of homemade peppermint bark and bring it to our family Christmas Eve dinner.  While I still intend on making another batch of peppermint bark, I wanted to try something different.  Enter Salted Coconut Almond Chocolate Bark.

Salted Coconut Almond Chocolate Bark CloseInspiration first struck when I was browsing the aisles at Trader Joe’s and stumbled upon their roasted coconut chips.  I knew I wanted to do something with the coconut chips but I wasn’t sure what yet.

When I got home I found a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and some roasted almonds and salted coconut almond chocolate bark was born.  One of my all-time favorite chocolate bars is Theo’s Salted Almond, so I knew I wanted to recreate something similar.  The sea salt and chocolate combo is a game changer for sure.  Just trust me.

This is the perfect holiday treat to make for friends, co-workers, or even just for yourself.  It’s that good.

Salted Coconut Almond Chocolate BarkSalted Coconut Almond Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 bag Trader Joe’s toasted coconut

1/2 cup almonds

Sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Melt your chocolate chips either over the stove in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Melted Chocolate ChipsGently pour your melted chocolate mixture into a large bowl and add your coconut and almonds,   Mix until well blended.

Salted Coconut Almond Chocolate BarkPour your mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread evenly.  The mixture should fill most of the parchment paper.

Lightly sprinkle your bark with sea salt and place in the fridge to harden.  It should harden within 1-2 hours.

Salted Chocolate Bark CloseupBreak your bark into small pieces and enjoy!  This stores well in the freezer and makes a great mid-week treat.

Chocolate Pumpkin Chia Pudding

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Can we talk about chia pudding for a second?  Apparently it’s been all the rage for quite some time now and I have yet to try it.  I don’t know why because I love chia seeds in bar form and in oatmeal, but for whatever reason I never made pudding even though it is ridiculously easy.  After realizing I had a large bag of chia seeds in my pantry that were dying to be used, I decided to make pumpkin chocolate chia pudding, because it’s been too long since I have made anything with pumpkin.

chocolate pumpkin chia puddingThis pudding is only sweetened with honey.  That’s it.  With the holidays coming up and the abundance of desserts that are bound to come my way, I’m trying to keep the sugar intake in check until Thanksgiving, and then all bets are off.

But it turns out that this pudding was so good I just may need to make it again amongst all the holiday treats.  Maybe add some peppermint to it as well.  ‘Tis the season!

Chocolate Pumpkin Chia Pudding pin

Chocolate Pumpkin Chia Pudding (adapted from this recipe, gf/vegan/paleo)

*Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 1/4 cup almond milk

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp pumpkin

2 tbsp honey

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl combine all of your ingredients until well blended.  Place bowl in the fridge and cover for a couple of hours so the pudding has time to solidify.

Chocolate Pumpkin Chia Pudding closeupSpoon pudding into bowls and enjoy!  If you want to add a little decadence to your pudding add some chocolate chips, whipped cream, or even some candy cane bits.  Like I said, ’tis the season!

Chocolate Pumpkin Chia Pudding overhead

What kind of pudding is your favorite?  Growing up, I loved rice and tapioca pudding.

 

Health Warrior Chia Bar Giveaway

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**This giveaway is now closed and the winners have been notified.  Thanks for entering!**

So last week I told you about how Health Warrior’s Chia Bars were one of my new favorite snacks, and this week I have even better news:  Sweet Potato Bites is hosting a Health Warrior Chia Bar Giveaway!

health warrior chia barsTWO lucky readers can win an assortment of these delicious bars.  Low in calories, great nutrition stats and 1000 mg of omega 3s.  What’s not to love?  All the flavors are quite delicious but I definitely have a soft spot for the Acai and Coconut flavors.

health warrior chia bar lineupThere are lots of different ways to enter below, or you can simply leave a comment on this post telling me why you would like to win.  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway open to U.S. Residents Only.  Ends on Friday, 9/13 at 12am PT.

 

 

 

Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream

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The past week has been rough.  And when things get rough, I tend to crave comfort foods such as fresh chocolate chip cookies from the oven, a homemade roast chicken with mashed potatoes, even something as simple as scrambled eggs on toast.  But this time I found myself wanting vanilla ice cream.

coconut vanilla ice cream close upMy grandfather passed away last week after a debilitating stroke.  It’s been awhile since there has been a death in our family, so this hit all of us pretty hard.  I consider myself very lucky to have had as much time with him as I did, and I am thankful he got to meet my fiancée a couple of times as well.

One of my fondest memories of my grandfather was his love for ice cream.  He never had that much of a sweet tooth so you wouldn’t find him eating cookies, or cakes or brownies, but he loved a bowl of vanilla ice cream with some fruit on top after dinner.  And if it was the holiday season, then it would be peppermint ice cream.  My parents would joke that when he came to visit from Colorado they would need to get him his own carton of ice cream because he ate so much.

As luck would have it, one of my lovely friends recently gifted me with an ice cream maker for my birthday, so I decided to make my first ice cream a vanilla one in his honor.  Only I decided to change it up a bit and make a coconut vanilla ice cream instead.

This coconut vanilla ice cream is super easy to make and requires minimal ingredients.  Just coconut milk, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar.

Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream

coconut vanilla ice cream spoonIngredients:

3 cups coconut milk (I used Trader Joe’s brand)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp vanilla

Directions:

Combine your coconut milk, powdered sugar and vanilla in a blender or food processor and pulse 2-3 minutes.  Pour your mixture into your ice cream maker and follow according to your manufacturer’s directions.

I have the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker so I left the mixture in the ice cream maker for 15 minutes.  Place your ice cream in the freezer for at least 6 hours so it can firm up a bit, and then enjoy.

coconut vanilla ice cream close upSince my grandfather loved to have fruit with his ice cream, I topped mine with fresh berries.  And although it wasn’t quite the same as the vanilla ice cream he always enjoyed, I think he would’ve really liked this.

Thanks for the recipe inspiration grandpa.  I will miss you.