Chocolate peppermint balls

This recipe is originally from The Merrymaker sisters and they have it labelled as a Christmas recipe. I agree that it is a bit Christmasy but considering I'm a huge fan of mint I decided to give them a try even though we're only in April now. The original recipe is without the chocolate coating but I decided to make it slightly fancier and coat them in some dark chocolate. If you want a 100% Paleo recipe you will have to skip that step. Also, you will need kitchen scales for this recipe.

Ingredients
makes about 15 (depending on the size of the balls)
200 g pitted dates (soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes)
200 g desiccated coconut
30 g raw cacao powder
50 g coconut oil
½ tsp peppermint extract (or 4-6 drops pure peppermint oil)
100 g dark chocolate (70% or over)

Soak and drain your dates.
Mix coconut oil and cacao in a food processor until fully combined. Add the dates, coconut and peppermint extract and mix together until you have a smooth paste. Roll to balls, the size that you want them to be. Put them on a tray lined with baking paper and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Melt the chocolate in a water bath and roll the balls in the melted chocolate until completely covered with chocolate. Put them back on the tray and once all are covered (or there's no chocolate left) put them back in the fridge until completely cool.
Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 10 days.

Peppermint chocolate sticks

As previous post stated I've been trying to get more into the Christmas spirit and by baking things that reminds me of Christmas from when I was little I think I can achieve this. Yesterday I decided to make some delicious chocolate and mint sticks. Recipe taken from livinghealthywithchocolate.com

Ingredients
makes about 15 sticks
6 tbsp melted coconut oil
4 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp peppermint extract
pinch of salt
60 ml shredded coconut
60 ml pecans or walnuts

Stir together coconut oil, cocoa powder, almond butter, honey, vanilla, peppermint extract and salt in a large bowl. Heat up the mixture slowly over a pot of boiling water for about 5-10 minutes until mixture is completely combined.
Chop the pecans coarsely in a food processor. Add the nuts and coconut to the chocolate mixture and stir together. Pour into an ovenproof dish about 20 x 15 cm lined with baking paper.
Put it in the freezer and freeze until the chocolate has set. Cut into sticks. Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Ginger bread cookies

It's Christmas season and I'm definitely missing Sweden. There are so many differences between Australia and Sweden around this time of year. Firstly it's of course the weather; it's very hard to get into the right Christmas mood when it's over 20 degrees and sunny outside. So I sort of miss the darkness and the cold but it's only for this time of year when that's the case. Also, the food is a lot different. I miss my Swedish Christmas treats. Luckily I have been able to find some Paleo versions of these Swedish treats. This one I found on recept.nu

Ingredients
makes about 25 cookies
200 ml almond flour
100 g butter
50 ml stevia
2 ml ground cloves
2 ml ground cardamon
2 ml cinnamon
1 tbsp psyllium husk
75 ml coconut flour
2 egg whites

Make the dough about a day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Melt the butter together with the stevia and spices. Add in the almond flour and psyllium husk. Let it sit for about 30 minutes to expand. Whisk the egg whites hard and carefully fold it into the rest of the dough. Add the coconut flour and mix to a firm dough. Shape into a roll and cover with cling wrap.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Flatten the dough by using a rolling pin and use cookie shapes to make cookies.
Put them on an oven try with baking paper and bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.