I saw this recipe, and knew I wanted to try it. I tweaked a few things that I think make it easier, and more allergen-friendly. That recipe called for using a food processor, which I find a pain to clean and use when it’s just a small amount of stuff. So I opted for just warming it over the stove, that worked fine. While I, personally, am not allergic to peanuts, I have a niece and two nephews that are allergic to them so I wanted to see if sunflower-butter would work.
Sunflower butter and I kind of have a love-hate relationship. I love that it can replace peanut butter in many recipes. I hate that it has such a strong flavor (at least the three brands I have tried do). I try to counteract that flavor by adding other flavors: enter the cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
And when I see cinnamon and chocolate, my mind automatically goes to mexican hot chocolate, so I decided to add just a pinch of cayenne pepper. The recipe also didn’t have enough sweetness for me, so I added 2 packets of stevia to it.
Just so you can learn from my mistake, I will tell you why it is important to use liners or a silicon cupcake ‘tin’. I thought I could just put them in a metal tin without liners, thinking I could just whack them out, or warm the bottom and them easily pop them out.
Not so.
When I tried whacking it, I banged the tin so much I almost bent the tin in half. All that effort, and just one popped out. I tried running a toothpick around the edges, but that ended up dragging a lot of chocolate with it. I tried warming up the bottom, but because coconut oil melts easily, a ten-second water bath resulted in too much melting, and I couldn’t get them out. What finally worked was letting them sit on the counter for a little bit and then using a spoon. They finally popped out, but not without some carnage where the spoon was.
Bottom line: I recommend using liners.
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup sunflower butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 packets stevia
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 small pinch cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Kosher salt, for sprinkling on top (optional)
- Line mini muffin tin with liners. Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until a homogenous mixture. Using a small cookie scooper, put one scoop of the chocolate in each tin. Whack the tin on the counter a few time to flatten out the chocolate and remove air bubbles. Sprinkle a tiny amount of kosher salt over the top. Place tins in freezer until firm, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
