A few of my favorite things? Coaching baseball. Growing vegetables. Walking on a sunny day. Hanging with my husband late at night after the boys have gone to bed. Cooking with children –of any age.
Recently I have had the opportunity to teach cooking to my son’s third grade class. This has been great fun. I get a real glimpse of each child and his or her temperament when we cook together –in the classroom mixing things up, working away.
I break the children into groups of 4, hand them a recipe, then pass out cooking equipment and ingredients. It is so much fun to watch, help and see what cute and adorable comments they make as they cook, “Elana, are these nuts chopped well enough?” That was a regular comment during our Charoset project in April. They are so careful and caring in their handling and preparation of food. It is quite awe inspiring.
Now, as the end of school approaches, the ice cream truck screams through our neighborhood, announcing the arrival of overpriced individually packaged treats. In direct competition, I respond with my own homemade goodies.
For this school year’s final venture into the classroom: chocolate from scratch. I taught my favorite 3rd graders to make the raw dessert that follows.
We made a big mess. We had lots of fun.
Raw Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cacao powder
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup coconut butter
- ½ cup macadamia nut butter
- 1 cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine cacao, coconut oil, coconut butter and macadamia nut butter
- Stir in agave, vanilla, salt and cinnamon
- Mix well, mashing lumps against side of bowl with a fork to smooth out batter
- Pour mixture into a 7 x 11 inch baking dish
- Place in freezer for 1-2 hours, until firm
- Cut into squares and serve
- Store in refrigerator or freezer to maintain proper texture and consistency
This recipe is based on one that I found at Circle of Healers. Many thanks to them for coming up with a fabulous superfood dessert rich in anti-oxidants and good fats.
To make a more exotic fudge add your favorite nuts, dried fruit and spices. The children and I added raisins, macadamia nuts and various spices to their fudge –it was fun to see them get creative. My personal favorite was Cutter and Elijah’s addition of toasted coconut, which resulted in little “Mounds Bars” treats.
What would you like to add when you make this delicious dessert? Don’t be shy! Go ahead, let us know; share your great ideas below…
elana says
Laura,
Thanks for your comment.
There is a great agave nectar/hfcs discussion going on in my forums that you may enjoy.
Elana
Laura says
Agave nectar is high fructose syrup!
elana says
Daniel,
You are welcome!
Elana
elana says
~M,
Not sure if that substitution would work, though I bet it’s worth a try.
If you do experiment, be sure to let us know your results. Congrats on the new vita-mix!
Elana
~M says
Another question – I see that you think that this recipe would work with regular instead of raw cacao…but would it work to substitute almond butter or cashew butter for the macadamia? I can’t seem to locate macadamia butter…though I suppose I might be able to make some with some grapeseed or coconut oil in my new Vitamix…
Thanks for the great recipes!
elana says
~M,
Thanks for being in touch during all of the unpacking. Yes, I looooove coconut butter, it is so delicious.
Elana
~M says
Hi Elana,
Based on this recipe, I bought a jar of coconut butter! YUM….my new favorite food. I tend to get a bit hypoglycemic (even while eating low GI index foods) when I’m physically active for long periods of time…like now, when I’m unpacking boxes ad infinitum. Anyway, stealing spoonfuls of coconut butter has been really helpful and tasty, especially when I drizzle a bit of agave. I can’t wait until amazon offers it in bulk!
As always, thanks for the great recipes!
Jax says
Hi
Vittoria, I would think that cacao butter could be substituted for coconut butter.
I’ve never seen any literature that suggests that agave nectar negatively affects blood sugar, everything I’ve read places it way down low on the GI, and haven’t seen anything that suggests mixing it with anything raises GL either. Would be interested in reading any links you may have to suggest otherwise Holly, thanks.
elana says
Brenda- I really appreciate it when people adapt my recipes to fit the ingredients they have on hand and any other needs.
I am so glad that you enjoy my recipes! Thanks for your sweet comments.
Elana
Brenda says
This recipe is great. I made a few adjustments since I didn’t have coconut butter I used the coconut oil instead and cut out the agave nectar and used stevia in its place. The flavor was not so sweet but still good and the texture is right on. Elana, even though I eat meat and dairy, I appreciate all your recipes. I try to only use whole, organic foods, no wheat, no sugar. I love your experiments with coconut flour. Thank you for posting these!