What's that you say? HEALTHY CHOCOLATE?

 Considering my last post, I thought that I would have a go at trying some healthier recipes to go hand in hand with my healthy(ish) lifestyle of late (or, more accurately, my wannabe healthy lifestyle...I don't think that kit kat I ate last night could be considered healthy, although, it was the healthiest of the chocolate bars on offer so I give myself a few brownie points for that). I love cooking and trying new recipes as well as exploring new cuisines and, basically, having a go. Not all are successful but many of them are and I get such a sense of satisfaction when I try something new and it works - I'm always a little shocked at the success too.

So, my latest creation combines 2 of the blogs I like to read. Becky from the blog beckymayhem.wordpress.com has decided that for Lent (I think) she has decided to cut out alcohol, refined sugar and caffeine. From my impression of Becky, she is strong, gutsy and has much more willpower than me (her blog is fab by the way - check it out). She mentioned in her posts that she has been able to indulge in cake and truffles, none of which contained refined sugar - ah ha! There is the key to happiness. So, I went searching for sugar free truffles and happened upon a really beautiful blog www.journeykitchen.com . This blog is a must read for anyone wanting to explore interesting recipes and the photography is stunning.

This recipe contains:

750g dates
Cocoa powder (the recipe says 2 tbsp but I did add more)
50g butter
1 tsp cinnamon powder

You melt the butter, add the dates to stew until the reach a pulpy stage (I guessed at pulpy, never having dealt in dates before). Mine had a little bit of a burning incident so be careful of that. I then took it off the heat and added the cocoa powder and cinnamon. I let it cool a little and then got rid of all the seeds, rolled the truffles into balls and rolled them in cocoa powder. Voila, sugar free truffles.

(I only included the above photo so that if you try this and it looks as gross as this does, you shouldn't lose heart - they will be delicious)

You know what? They are pretty good! Mr Kitch was sceptical at the thought of them but was suitably impressed! They passed a whole host of tests there as he is BIG on food. I reckon you could probably swap the cinnamon for other flavours and create all sorts of guilt free delights. This one is a keeper.

LKx

Soundtrack: Alt-J - Tessellate