Tag Archives: #low-sugar

Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Candies

Posted in Food, Low Sugar by

Valentine’s day is on Saturday and Russell Stover is hoping that you stock up on its candies made with corn syrup and “natural flavor.”  But why not give your special someone a homemade treat that says ‘I made an effort for you and here’s something homemade without questionable ingredients’?  Man, I should be a greeting card author…

I came up with this recipe for chocolate candies because every day after lunch at work I crave a little something sweet. A palette cleanser if you will. And yeah, I will, because I like to be fancy. But seriously, if I don’t bring a little sweet treat with me I end up going to CVS and buying those little homemade chocolate candies text graphicHershey’s nuggets and 3 other things I really didn’t need. So one day I thought, why not make my own chocolate candies?  I like dark chocolate, but most “dark” chocolate is still so sugary sweet, ick.  On the other side of the spectrum, unsweetened chocolate is also pretty gross.  It’s a bit of a Goldilocks dilemma.  I figured if I made my own candies, I could combine the two to make the chocolate as semisweet/dark as I want.  (Hint: look at the percentage of cacao in your chocolate.  If it’s less than 65-70%, it’s going to  be pretty sweet and sugary.)  And let’s face it sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you feel like 3 nuts and Almond Joy isn’t almond-y enough.  With my own candies, I can choose the filling I want and make them extra nutty and crunchy.

When you make these, you can use whatever filling you like best! Try: pecans, peanuts, pistachios, almonds, cashews, coconut flakes, dried apricots, dried cranberries, dried pineapple, or any other fruit or nut. It’s pretty much as easy as melt, drop, harden, and eat.  Have a happy Valentine’s Day!


Ingredients:

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate (easiest to buy a bar of this kind of chocolate)
1 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips (semi-sweet has more sugar than bittersweet)
1 cup filling (nut, dried fruits or both) 

Recipe:

Fit a baking sheet with a Silpat liner or wax paper.  Fill the bottom of a double boiler* with water and bring to a boil.  In the top part of the double boiler, melt both the semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate together, stirring constantly until smooth.  In the meantime, on the lined baking sheet,  form small clusters of nuts/dried fruits 2 inches apart.  For a 12 x 16 baking sheet, I can fit 24 clusters.  With a spoon or small spatula, drop about a tablespoon of melted chocolate on each cluster, being careful to let the melted chocolate get in all the nooks and crannies to bind the filling together. With any extra melted chocolate, add an additional drizzle to each cluster so that all the nuts and fruits are fully encased in the chocolate.  Put the baking sheet in the fridge for 2 hours or until the chocolate is hard.  Transfer the candies to an airtight container. Enjoy for many weeks!


*I WISH I had a double boiler.  For now in my tiny apartment, I boil water in a large saucepan, with a glass mixing bowl settled on top. Tiny kitchens require creativity!

The Sweetest Thing

Posted in Food, Low Sugar by

A few months ago in an ongoing quest for perfect, supermodel skin I tried cutting sugar from my diet.  I did some research which showed that the androgen hormone, which is linked to insulin, can cause breakouts.

Unfortunately, the only true fact I’ve learned in my 15+ year quest for skin like the Noxema girl’s  is that apparentlysugar me being me is what causes breakouts and no limitation of sugar is going to be a magic cure. However, giving up sugar for about 8 weeks did open my eyes to how much of it was in the foods I was regularly eating, from fruit to processed foods and everything in between.  And after eliminating it I felt more energetic and less thirsty.  My clothes fit better and I didn’t crave sweet foods the way I once had.  So while I don’t avoid it entirely anymore, I am much more discerning about the sugar I do eat.  For example, I’m just gonna say it…once in a while I like to eat a whole bag of Twizzlers.  Or a doughnut. Like a frosting-drenched, sprinkle-topped doughnut.  So to balance out those sporadic cravings, and because those foods have approximately 0 health benefits, I avoid sugar in other ways that aren’t as much of a sacrifice for me like:

  • Reading the ingredients of my groceries and avoiding foods with added sugar, corn syrup, sucralose, etc.  Even “savory” foods like crackers and chips sometimes contain sugar.  So sneaky!
  • Making my own granola. Cereal is often very high in sugar, even most granolas which are marketed as “healthy”, “natural” or “with a HINT of sweetness”.  When I make my own, I add just a small amount of honey and lots of dried fruits.  If i’m going to consume sugar, I want it to be from natural sweeteners as much as possible! Here’s my recipe!
  • Making my own salad dressing.  Most bottled dressings from the grocery store have really nasty ingredients like corn syrup.  Have you ever seen a yummy homemade dressing recipe say, “slowly whisk in the high fructose corn syrup and xanthum gum”? Ew.
  • Making my own chocolate candies.  Many popular candy bars are overloaded with high fructose corn syrup or sugar.  I like making my own dark chocolate that’s actually dark and bittersweet. Here’s my recipe!
  • Fulfilling my ice cream cravings with coconut or almond milk ice cream with no added sugar.  Don’t be weirded out!  There are some delicious brands and flavors and they still taste sweet while eliminating the processed sugars.
  • Using agave syrup as an alternative to processed, white sugar when baking.  It has a lower glycemic index and you only need about half the amount when compared to sugar.

I’m always looking for other ways to eliminate processed sugar from my diet.  But for now, I think this is a good start!