Happy Easter!
Hard to believe it’s that time again!
The flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are starting to nest, and the Easter Bunny has made his rounds! Spring is definitely here.
For those of us who are unrepentant chocoholics, clearly Easter is synonymous with one thing… chocolate. And when said unrepentant chocoholic finds herself surrounded by an abundance of cheap and cheerful chocolate easter eggs, the temptation is to devour an obscene quantity of them and spend the weekend in a sugar induced state of grumpy lethargy. Not so conducive to family quality time and frivolities.
So this year I decided to make my own healthier version of this seasonal necessity; vegan chocolate coconut date easter eggs!
The basis of this recipe is one that I’ve been making for a while, chocolaty date based treats. The thing is, blitzed dates are an amazing basis for a variety of yummy treats. The version that I normally make is just dates, ground almond, cocoa and vanilla. When you blitz it all together if eventually becomes a malleable gooey and delicious mass that you can then roll into balls or make into bars. You can vary what’s in them nearly endlessly though, adding other dried fruit, nuts, seeds and grains. It’s delicious, and most often will be a raw recipe, exactly the same as several large companies make and sell as “raw bars” but usually at pretty exorbitant prices. But they’re so simple to make that it’s well worth doing at home!
For these easter eggs, I used dates, coconut, vanilla, and cocoa, rolled it into egg shapes and dipped them in chocolate melted with a bit of coconut oil. The resulting easter goody is loaded with fiber, healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, and they are delicious. I think the Easter Bunny will approve whole heartedly!
- 75 g or 3/4 cup desiccated coconut
- 375 g or about 1 cup pitted dates
- 2 Tbsp cocoa or cacao powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp water
- 100g vegan dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1/4 tsp coconut oil
- A pinch of good salt
- Roughly chop the dates and put them in a food processor with the coconut, cocoa, vanilla, and water.
- Blitz at a high speed until the mixture comes together into a ball, and is fairly smooth. This might take about 5 minutes.
- Scoop out the mixture about 1/2 a Tbsp a time and roll it into balls, then form it into an egg shape. Repeat with the remaining mixture and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a double boiler or heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water (the bowl should be sitting above the water and not touching it) gently melt the chocolate with the coconut oil and salt.
- Keep the chocolate warm enough to stay liquid. Working one at a time, dip each egg into the chocolate and lift them gently out with a fork. Set them onto a baking sheet lined with foil being sure there’s a gap between each.
- Set the tray in the fridge and leave until the chocolate has hardened. The chocolate melts quite easily, so keep them cool!