Paleo Chocolate Fix

When I began this paleo thing a while back, I decided I would make whatever was required to enjoy my food limitations a little better.  For instance, I was Hell bent on finding a decent substitute for traditional BBQ sauce.  I am from the South and BBQ is a fact of life here.  And I did find something that is acceptable.  It is not quite what I would prefer, but it is a decent alternative.  I have learned to eat  baked sweet potatoes and I am even learning that cucumber salted and sprinkled with red pepper flakes slices make a decent snack.  Even so there has been one item I love that I have not been able to replicate__Chocolate!

I found this all over the internet, in fact just about every  Paleo blog has some variation of this, so I am not linking to any of them. There are called everything from truffles to raw brownies, I just call it fake chocolate.  This is not so much a recipe as it is a how-to

1 1/2 cups walnuts

1 cup dried dates (pitted)

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

pinch salt

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

few drops of water, as needed

Turn a blender on low and slowly add the walnuts until they are ground. (You get to decide how fine you want them. I opted for some chunky pieces because I like texture. Remember there is a fine line between ground walnuts  and walnut butter, which is not good)  Add the dates and blend in pulses until they are all pretty finely ground.  Add the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder and whirl until everything is mixed well.  Roll into large marble sized balls, adding drops of water if the mixture feels too dry.  Cover and stick in the refrigerator until they are very cold.  Enjoy when you need a quick chocolate fix.

I think these are ok and the are close to a chocolate candy, not quite there, but close.  My beloved sister and I call this Paleo thing a diet of almosts.  Everything I make tastes and feels almost like the real thing.

Almost is the operative word.  So it continues with this.  It almost tastes like a truffle, but has a drastically different mouth feel.  There is something grainy about the texture of the dates that my tongue is not thrilled about, but this is an on diet way for me to have a little chocolate, so it works for me.  I have found I really do not want more than 1 a day (at most) so I am keeping them stored in the freezer.  If I want it that day, I just need to take it out for about 5 minutes prior to eating it.  I can see

keeping these on hand while I am doing Paleo.  They really do help with the chocolate cravings, but they are not so delicious you are tempted to over indulge.

Next time I make them I am going to roll the finished balls in some ground coconut.  I think that might be pretty tasty, as might rolling them in cocoa powder.

Give them a try, they might do the trick for you.