Gluten-Free Cacao-Coated Fruits

1 mins to read

Keep your sweet-tooth in check with these a touch of naughty but mostly nice, superfood snacks from Roberta Nelson.

The cacao bean is a nutritionally-dense food containing antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. The benefits of eating cacao in its raw form are plentiful making these cacao-coated fruits an indulgent yet healthy way to get in the good things throughout your day.

Dried fruit has a higher concentration of sugar than fresh fruit however, and you'll only need one or two pieces to fulfill your cravings and get the benefits of the raw cacao that you need.

If you can't find the dried fruits used in the recipe you can substitute for others or choose your favourites such as mango, figs, apple or dates.

This recipe calls for cocoa butter which is different to coconut oil as it contains both the oil and flesh of the coconut. The benefit of it is that it sets hard and does not melt like coconut oil does but if you cannot find it in your local health food store, you can replace it with coconut oil and grab one or two out of the fridge when you're ready to tuck in.

Dairy free, refined sugar free, gluten free, vegan

Makes 20-30 pieces

Ingredients

7-10 pieces of dried pear
7-10 pieces of dried peach
7-10 pieces of dried apricot
½ cup cocoa butter, roughly chopped
2 tbs coconut oil
2 tbs brown rice syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of salt
¼ cup cacao powder
¼ cup pistachios, blitzed into a rough powder
¼ cup desiccated coconut
¼ cup cacao nibs

How to make

Prepare a tray or plate by lining it with a piece of baking paper and ensure it fits into your fridge for when your chocolate needs to set
To make the chocolate, fill a saucepan up with around 5cm of water and put it onto the stove to boil. Once the water is boiling, place a ceramic, glass or stainless steel bowl over the top of it to create a double-boiler. Add the roughly chopped cocoa butter and coconut oil to the bowl and allow it slowly melt for 2-3 minutes
Once the cocoa butter and oil are fully melted turn off the stove and add the brown rice syrup to the bowl and mix it into the mixture with a whisk or wooden spoon until it is well combined and smooth. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and place it on the bench. Add the remainder of the chocolate ingredients to the bowl, stirring or whisking everything together until the chocolate mixture is smooth. Taste and adjust the mixture to suit you
Dip your pieces of dried fruit into the chocolate mixture one by one ensuring a good portion of each piece is covered in chocolate (around half). Transfer them to the prepared tray as they are done. When all the pieces are coated, start to sprinkle the toppings on the chocolate part of each fruit then place the tray into the fridge to set for around 30 minutes or until the chocolate is hard. Transfer the fruit to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks

Roberta of Naturo Medico is a foodie with her heart set on improving the way we all experience food.

Combining her background in nutrition with her public health expertise, Roberta is using every mouthful to help the world be a healthier, happier, more sustainable place.

Follow @naturomedico on Instagram for more healthy eating inspiration!