Coconut Butter Strawberry Candies

"I. CANNOT. STOP. EATING. THESE!!!!!!!!!!!"  "This is the best candy I have ever had in my life!!!!!"  "These little things are addicting!!"

These are just some of the things I have heard from my family tonight about these Coconut Butter Strawberry Candies. Oh my goodness, they are so good! And RAW! And VEGAN!!! Oh, and EASY!!

Okay, so, I was perusing Pinterest the other day and I came across a recipe for making your own coconut butter. There is only one ingredient - coconut (raw, unsweetened shredded coconut). I was very intrigued, so I made it, and it was delicious!  I added my own twist with some melted chocolate and a little almond on top to make a raw, vegan Almond Joy. My husband loved. I will blog that another day. Promise!

So, at this point, I'm feeling downright hooked on making my own coconut butter. And I'm on Pinterest (again) and I come across another recipe for these Strawberry Creme Truffles (I changed the name to give more insight into the ingredients). Well, I just had to make these...and I did....and they are to die for....and now I am sharing this recipe with you! I tweaked them slightly by adding an almond (because I don't believe I could ever have too many almonds in my life) and I shaped them in a cute little candy mold I bought at AC Moore. But, you can follow My Whole Food Life's recipe by clicking here, or you can just read below to see my take.

This new world of coconut butter is opening many doors for this mama with a giant sweet tooth. My brain is going 100 miles a minute thinking of all the fun fruit/coconut combos I can try. But, for now, I present you with this strawberry version. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut butter (Look below for recipe- all you need is 1 bag of raw, unsweetened coconut)
1 container of strawberries, washed & trimmed
2 Tbl real maple syrup  

1 cup dark chocolate chips (I use dairy-free Enjoy Life brand to make these vegan)

Raw whole almonds, optional

Coconut Butter Recipe:

I bag of unsweetened, raw, shredded coconut, 2 2/3 cups (FYI you can easily find this coconut in just about any grocery story - just look in the organic/health food section)

Place the entire bag in a food processor (or a high power blender) and let it run for about 10 minutes until the once dry coconut shreds become thick and creamy, almost the consistency of butter. 

That's it, my friends....that's all she wrote! How easy is that!?

Instructions for making the candies:

In a food processor (or you could also use a high power blender, like a Vitamix) mix the coconut butter, strawberries and maple syrup together for about three minutes. 

Use a spoon to fill a candy mold (or a ice cube trays or even a mini-muffin tin) about 2/3 of the way. After each mold has been filled, shake the tray down so that the strawberry coconut butter spreads and fills in evenly. 

Place about 1/2 cup chocolate in an microwave safe glass dish. Microwave on high for one minute; stir. My chocolate is usually smooth after one minute in the micro. You can also use a double broiler to melt the chocolate. I never measured how much chocolate I used....I had to melt chocolate twice during this process. So, just use as much or as little as you like. Spoon melted chocolate on top of the strawberry mixture. Shake/pound the tray to spread out the chocolate as best you can.

If using almonds, place an almond in the center of each mold on top of the chocolate. 

Now place the candies in the freezer to firm up. This should take about an hour. Once the candies are frozen through, pop them out of the mold and put them in a container. (only after you eat at least three of them straight away). These can be stored in the fridge or freezer. If you store them in the freezer, they may be slightly hard. They should be perfect after a minute or two of sitting on the counter.  Enjoy!