Nutty Chocolate by Dorcas Barry
75g mixed almonds & pecan nuts
75g stoned dates (try to get fresh dates for this recipe)
2 tsp. coconut oil
1 tbsp. lucuma (optional, but gives a lovely caramel flavour)
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
pinch of salt
50g raw cacao butter
2 tbsp. agave syrup or maple syrup
3 tbsp. raw cacao powder
Place the nuts, dates, coconut oil, lucuma, vanilla essence and salt into a food processor and mix together until the mixture becomes sticky and is starting to form into a ball. Roll into small balls and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Chill for at least 30 minutes. While you are waiting, place the cacao butter, powder and syrup into a bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the chocolate mixture doesn’t touch the water, it needs to melt slowly over a low heat. Take the melted chocolate off the heat and allow to thicken a little. Drop the balls of nut mixture one by one into the melted chocolate and coat completely, placing back on the parchment as each one is coated.
If you like, you can chill them again and coat each one a second time to get a thicker layer of chocolate. Chill until set and keep in the fridge until serving.