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.
