Friday, August 30, 2013

Kitchen Gadget of the Month: August edition

It may be August 30th, but it's still August!!  

Today I'll be giving you something for your sweet tooth.  Homemade chocolate candies.  Yes...candy on this blog!  Go figure, eh?

The key point here is HOMEMADE.  Making chocolates with extra virgin coconut oil is a healthy way to satisfy your lusting for something sweet and chocolatey.  Plus, it's just kinda fun.

There are many benefits of coconut oil in your diet.  To quote several sources on the web, Coconut Oil contains a unique combination of fatty acids -- this combination has powerful medicinal properties.  Rich in lauric acid, coconut oil can kill bacteria, viruses, and help prevent infections.

Coconut oil has gotten a bad rap in the past because it contains saturated fat. In fact, coconut oil is one of the richest sources of saturated fat known to man.  However, new data is showing that saturated fats are harmless.  Many new (and even older) studies on hundreds of thousands of people prove that the whole eating saturated “artery-clogging” fat is a myth based on faulty research.

Coconut oil can also help you lose weight.  Yes, lose weight.  I have read about farmers feeding their cattle coconut oil in an attempt to fatten them up.  But quite the opposite occurred...the cows lost weight.  Coconut oil can increase your energy expenditure helping you lose more fat.  It also curbs your appetite so you may end up eating less.

So there.  Eat your coconut oil.  The most fun way is with homemade chocolate candies.  There are tons of recipes for this on the web - a lot of them are called Chocolate Delights.  Too cheesy even for this Wisconsin girl, so I just call them CANDY.  Period.

Make your own today in our Kitchen Gadget of the Month:  Silicon Candy Mold     This mold is super fun to work with...fill them up, freeze the candy, and then just pop them out easy-peasy!




Candy

1 cup dry cocoa (I use dark cocoa)
Sweetener to taste (I start with 1/2 cup)
1 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1 stick unsalted butter
4 ounces cream cheese 
4 ounces unsweetened peanut butter


Sift cocoa and sweetener together into a sauce pan.  Over medium heat, add coconut oil, butter, cream cheese and peanut butter.  Stir constantly until coconut oil, butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter are melted completely and mixture is velvety smooth.

Place mold(s) on a cookie sheet.  Pour chocolate mixture into molds and freeze until solid.  Pop them out and store in refrigerator.  Candies will melt very quickly because coconut oil has a melting point of 76 degrees F.  Keep them cool!

You can also pour them into any plastic container.  Once it is solid, you can remove the block of chocolate and cut it into bite-sized pieces.


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