Almond Chocolate Milk
1 cup of Almonds
2 cups filtered water
 3 Tablespoons Raw Cacao
 4 Medjool Dates

Soak almonds in water for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight. Drain, rinse and place in blender. Blend on high speed until finely chopped. Add 1 cup of the filtered water and blend on high to combine. Add another cup of filtered water, 3 tablespoons of raw cacao and 4 medjool dates. Blend on high speed until mixture is creamy (about 30 seconds -1 minute) Pour chocolate mixture through a nut milk bag or muslin cloth and enjoy.
 *The pulp mixture is really yummy too so I roll the leftover nut pulp into balls and dehydrate to make delicious cookies 

I have never craved chocolate as much as I have in the past 12 months. Every few months I get this craving for rich dark minty chocolate and then after a few days, it just disappears.  I absolutely love Pana chocolate but since we live out of town and a block never lasts longer than a few days between Nic, Henry and me, I have started making my own version. I am not sure how they make their chocolate so completely perfect but we think that our version comes pretty close and it definitely hits the spot and is much cheaper than buying it. In the recipe below, I have used maple syrup but feel free to substitute with any of your favourite sweeteners such as coconut syrup, agave, rice malt syrup or honey. This recipe, makes a fairly dark chocolate so if you would like it milder, just reduce the amount of raw cacao to 25-30g or to taste.  I have used peppermint oil in this recipe but orange oil and toasted almonds is equally delicious or you could leave out the oils and just add dried fruit and nuts. Enjoy!!

Peppermint Chocolate
100g Cacao Butter
 40g Cacao
 40g coconut oil (please only use a nice tasting one and not one that has a petroleum smell)
1 tablespoon Carob powder (you can leave this out but i find it makes it taste more like Pana)
 30g Maple Syrup
 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
 Pinch of pink Himalayan salt
6 drops of foodgrade peppermint essential oil (I use the doterra one)
 
Grind up cacao butter in a blender until powdery....
 
If you are using a thermomix, place all of the ingredients in the thermomix except peppermint oil. Heat to 37 degrees Celsius for 4 minutes on speed 1. Scrape down sides and heat to 37 degress on speed 1 for another 5 minutes. Check that mixture has no lumps, add peppermint oil and pour into molds or bowl and place in freezer for 30 minutes to set. Remove from freezer and cut. Store in fridge on warm days or cupboard on cooler days.
 
If you don't have a thermomix, heat some water in a saucepan over low heat. You don't want the water to get much hotter than 50 degrees Celsius. Place a ceramic or glass bowl on top and add the cocao butter. Stir until melted. Add all of the ingredients except the peppermint oil and continue to stir until mixture is runny and well combined. Remove from heat, add peppermint oil and pour into molds. Store in fridge on warm days or cupboard on cooler days. 

I am so excited to finally be sharing my lemon and fig bliss ball recipe. About 12 months ago, I found Soma bars at the health food store. I instantly fell in love with their Fig and wild citrus one but at $7 a bar, I knew that it would be a short lived love affair.  I quickly went home and started mixing up some ingredients and made my own version that work out to taste exactly the same but cost only a fraction of the ones in the shop.  These bliss balls are super quick to make and very filling so a batch does last a while. They are a little more expensive to make than other bliss balls but if you want to  make them go further, just add some coconut or a tablespoon of good quality raw organic protein powder. Enjoy