Raspberry and Peppermint Coconut Butter Hearts

To create something beautiful and delicious, often times you need only a couple of simple ingredients. These refreshing raw vegan raspberry and peppermint coconut butter hearts are completely wholesome but apart from that – these candy-size coconut butter hearts make a beautiful addition to any celebration and a gift (for yourself and others).

RASPBERRY AND PEPPERMINT COCONUT BUTTER HEARTS [VEGAN, RAW]

INGREDIENTS

• Silicon molds

FOR THE REGULAR BASE:

• 1/2 cup cashews (or any other nuts)
• 1/2 heaping cup soft dates
• a pinch of salt

FOR THE CHOCOLATE BASE:

• 1/2 cup cashews (or any other nuts)
• 1/2 heaping cup soft dates
• 1 tablespoon cacao powder
• a pinch of salt

FOR THE COCONUT BUTTER GLAZE:

• 1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• for peppermint flavor: 1/2 teaspoon spirulina powder + 2 teaspoons pure peppermint powder*
• for raspberry flavor: 2 teaspoons pure raspberry powder

PREPARATION

1. Let’s start by making the regular base – put cashews and a pinch of salt in the food processor and process till you get a fine meal (but not flour!). Then add dates and keep processing until you get a sticky dough. Remove from the food processor and set it aside.
2. Now make the chocolate base – put cashews, salt and cacao powder in the food processor. Process until you get a fine meal (but not flour!). Then add dates and keep processing until you get a sticky dough. Remove from the food processor and set it aside.
3. Lastly, it’s time to make the coconut butter. Place coconut shreds into the food processor and process for about 5 to 10 minutes until you get a smooth butter. It doesn’t have to be perfect and each coconut shred brand will give you a slightly different result. When the butter is ready, place 4 tablespoons in one small bowl (for the raspberry flavor) and another 4 tablespoons in another bowl (for the peppermint flavor). You’ll probably have a bit of coconut butter left – you can use it to make a couple of white coconut hearts.
4. In the first bowl with coconut butter, mix in 2 teaspoons of raspberry powder. In the other bowl with the coconut butter, mix in 1/2 teaspoon spirulina powder and 2 teaspoons peppermint powder.
5. Now it’s time to fill the heart-shape molds. Fill around 1/3 of each cavity with the flavored coconut butter. Put the mold into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes until the coconut butter gets hard. Then on top of the coconut layer, press on the cashew-date base (this recipe used regular flavor one for raspberry and chocolate flavor for peppermint) until each cavity is filled. Place the mold into the freezer for about 2 hours (or overnight) to firm up. Then carefully press out each heart from the mold. Let the hearts defrost a bit and sit in a room temperature for about 30 minutes and enjoy!
6. It’s best to store the hearts in a fridge or freezer as the coconut butter is sensitive to heat and can melt on warm summer days (when it’s more than 75°F).

NOTES

As the intensity of peppermint powder can vary, it’s best to add the peppermint powder in parts and taste on the way until you get a flavor that you like.
This recipe's molds could fit 1 tablespoon of liquid per cavity; you can also use any other shape silicone molds.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/raspberry-peppermint-coconut-butter-hearts-vegan-raw/?utm_source=Green+Monster+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=9785e66087-NEWSLETTER_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbf62ddf34-9785e66087-106919241