Chocolate-Caramel Macadamia Nut Bites • Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free
Lately, for some reason I have been craving chocolate and macadamia nuts together. A few times last week, I caught myself eating handfuls of 70% dark chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and of course that is not good and should only be an occasional treat. So I decided to make these little bite size chocolates so that it would be easier for me to control how much I was eating. I made a small batch and used these cute mini muffin silicon baking cups I bought a while back. If you don't have these silicon cups, you can also use mini paper baking cups and arrange them in a muffin pan so they are easier to work with.
While preparing the chocolate, I got inspired and thought about these delicious chocolates that are readily available here in Hawaii by made with chewy caramel and macadamia nuts. I decided to do the same and I made my own version of caramel using raw honey and full fat coconut milk. The caramel added some extra sweetness and chewiness to these light bite size chocolates. Delicious!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate-Caramel Macadamia Nut Bites
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons cacao butter
- ½ cup raw cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons raw honey, or mple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons raw macadamia nuts, chopped
Caramel:
- 2 tablespoons raw honey, or mple syrup
- 2 tablespoons full fat coconut milk
- pinch fine himalayan salt
Instructions
Caramel:
- Combine the honey, coconut milk and salt in a small saucepan.
- Heat mixture over medium-low heat until it boils and thickens. If you have a thermometer, heat the mixture until it reaches about 240°F.
- Allow pan to cool, then refrigerate until caramel is very thick and firm.
Chocolate
- Melt the cacao butter slowly over low heat in a bowl over simmering water (double boiler). Remove from heat.
- Mix the raw cacao powder, honey and vanilla with the melted cacao butter until ingredients are combined and smooth.
- Fill ten mini silicone or paper baking cups with 1 teaspoon of chocolate, then freeze until chocolate is firm.
- Top the center of the chocolate with about ¼ to ½ teaspoon of caramel, then freeze until firm, about 5 minutes.
- Add macadamia nuts on top of the caramel then cover with chocolate, filling cups ¾ of the way full.
- Return to the freezer until chocolate sets.
