Homemade almond butter cups, with no allergens- dairy, lecithin, soy, gluten, refined sugar or any of the other crap they fill with the store bought processed candy bars. I’m high-fiving myself 🙂 .
Keeping it Real
This almond butter cacao cup recipe is super sinch, with only a few basic ingredients. Because of this, use the best quality raw cacao, extra virgin cacao butter, raw honey (or coconut nectar), and real vanilla extract or powder you can find/afford. This treat was one I used to make pre-culinary nutrition days, where I would melt a bar of chocolate (dark chocolate was my jam, but the brand I used was not very “clean”), then add more sugar and Jif peanut butter. I’ve since ditched all the refined stuff including peanut butter, which almost always includes high fructose corn syrup, loads of salt and hydrogenated oils. Also, peanuts are one of the most highly sprayed crops and contain aflatoxins (a strain of mold linked to cancer). Sounds scrumptious-um no.
Fast forward to attending the ACN, and our intrepid leader/teacher taught us this ‘real food” version. I’ve tweaked it slightly, but you can find Meghan’s recipe here.
Does Chocolate Reduce Stress?
Okay this is a big claim, but it may be true. They don’t call it a super food for nothing. Real cacao (not the processed or “dutched” stuff), contains a high amount of magnesium, an important mineral that many of us (up to 80%) are deficient in. This produces GABA which aids in relaxation. It’s not likely a coinky dink we crave chocolate in times of anxiety, me thinks;-)
In addition, raw organic chocolate is also a super potent antioxidant. Far greater than even blueberries, for reals! I could go on and on about the merits of this wonder food, but will move along.
Chocolate + Almond Dynamic Duo
From a nutrition standpoint, this recipe really is a winning combo. We have all the nutrients of the raw cacao as mentioned above, plus good fats with the organic cocoa butter and almond butter. The fat not only keeps us satisfied, but contains those good heart healthy constituents, oleic acid (also found in olive oil), stearic and palmitic acids. The almond butter also contains beneficial fats as well as a myriad of important nutrients, such as magnesium (double dose with the cacao), copper and manganese, along with Vitamin E. Add a bit of raw, unpasteurized honey with it’s anti microbial properties (seeking out best brands here) and you have a healthy delicious treat that includes fat, fiber and protein. Enjoy in moderation when those cravings hit and forget the guilt! Click here for the recipe.
