Chocolate Crunch Cookies

These little tasty bites will satisfy any sweet tooth. I have a love for chocolate, I won't deny it. Yes I am a nutritionist but I am also an enjoyer of life. Part of that enjoyment for me is the savouring of good chocolate. Now I am not talking about the "chocolate" bars you get in line at the grocery store. How much chocolate is there in those anyway? Not a lot, most of those bars main ingredients are glucose, fructose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, maltose... you get the idea. All of those ose's mean one thing, pure sugar and lots of it. Highly refined sugars that cause a massive sugar high, especially in the sugar sensitive like myself, followed by a jittery, delirious, foggy and quick spiraling crash downwards. High fructose corn syrup is a know contributor to adult onset diabetes, now called type 2 diabetes since many children are growing into it. It is an epidemic problem. These so called chocolate bars are also filled with artificial flavours, like chocolate flavour, as well as harmful fats and artificial colours. They are nothing close to being chocolate in my mind. Which leads me to what is chocolate.

Chocolate is a bean. Yep it does fit right into the food guide. This bean is called cacao and is grown mainly in Central and South America. It has a bitter flavour, not so appetizing to the average palate, so it is doctored up to taste better. Hmmmmm, I have tried both cacao beans and these so called chocolate bars and I pick the cacao bean any day. The cacao bean is filled with natural chemicals and nutrients including many anti-oxidants, magnesium and bliss chemicals. Ooooh, bliss chemicals. Anandamide is the name of this neurotransmitter, which is found in the human brain and in cacao.Anandamide is the chemical released in our brains when we are feeling good! Anandamine is derived from the Sanskrit word "ananda" meaning bliss.

You can enjoy quality chocolate by buying only organic chocolate like Cococamino, Denman Island and Whistler chocolate. These do still contain sugar but at least it is organic and less refined. I like to make my own raw cacao treats of course, many clients have asked me to start producing them but that may take the joy out if for me. So instead I pass on recipes to you. I made these yummy little cookie like chocolates. The recipe is not precise and that doesn't matter. You can make them as sweet or as bitter as you like.

Here is roughly how to make them:

1/2 cup cacao nibs

1 tbsp extra virgin organic coconut oil

2-3 tbsp honey

peanut butter for the middle

Grind the cacao nibs in a coffee grinder until powdery. Mix these in a bowl with coconut oil and honey. Taste it as you go and add more honey if you like. Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls and then flatten the balls onto a piece of parchment paper. Put these in the freezer for 20 minutes. Pull them out and spread a dab of peanut butter or other nut butter onto half of the cookies. Sandwich the cookies together and put them back in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

Enjoy these bite by bite, really taste all the flavours, notice the texture and note how real they taste. No chemical after taste. Now sit back and enjoy the bliss.