Chocolate Giveaways and Sugar-Free Christmas Candy Making

Since I was unable to post yesterday, I'm giving away two prizes to two readers who comment on this post. Up for grabs is a package of Green & Black's Organic 85% cacao chocolate along with my cooking chocolate of choice, the Lindt Excellence 85% cacao bar. I have two of these bundles all wrapped up for the lucky readers!


Contest closes December 25th.
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Buckeyes, how I love you so!


The following recipe for homemade sugar-free peppermint patties fulfills a special request made by my good friend Bethany. She had the delicious idea of doing a mint chocolate candy for the holidays. I melted down my homemade low carb chocolate chips into a candy base, created a creamy peppermint filling, and smeared my way through homemade peppermint patties and mint chocolate cups.



Next, I revisited my favorite recipe for Healthy Buckeyes, making a few tweaks and using my homemade sugar-free chocolate chips as the enrobing layer. The Buckeyes were a hit at a holiday gathering last night, and I ate far too many of them. Buckeyes will not be on the menu again for a very long time, so if you, too, have a weakness for peanut butter and chocolate, make these and immediately whisk them out of the house to a dinner party!

Fortunately, these are low carb candies that will NOT have the distressing side effects of the storebought kind! Erythritol is much easier to digest than other sugar alcohols. Because the sugar-free chocolate base made with erythritol can be hard to handle, here are some more detailed instructions. If you follow these steps, you'll get perfectly smooth chocolate to coat your candies.

1. Make sure every utensil is extremely DRY, with not a speck of moisture on anything.

2. Powder erythritol to as fine a powder as possible (see below).

3. Stir together the powdered milk and erythritol.

4. Chop up the chocolate finely.

5. Microwave mixture on HIGH and stir after 20 seconds. Stir after another 15 seconds, then after 15 more seconds. It should be completely smooth by then. Just keep stirring until the chocolate melts completely.

Once you get to that point, you shouldn't have to worry too much about the consistency of the chocolate. If it becomes too stiff for dipping the Buckeyes, warm up the chocolate in the microwave in 10 second intervals.

Powdering erythritol in a simple coffee grinder


Laying down the chocolate bases for peppermint patties


Making chocolate mint cups and peanut butter cups


Rolled centers for Buckeyes


A peanut butter cup on top of a peppermint cup


A peppermint pattie, oozin' out of control


Healthy Buckeye Candies

Makes a LOT of buckeyes

Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup no-stir creamy peanut butter (like SmartBalance)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese or cream cheese (I like Calabro or Breakstone)
1/4 cup organic unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup erythritol, powdered
1/8-1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract
1/16 of a teaspoon sea salt

1 cup melted homemade sugar-free chocolate chips

Preparation:
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Soften butter in microwave. Powder erythritol in coffee grinder or Magic Bullet. Beat together ricotta cheese, vanilla, sea salt, and erythritol until ricotta is completely smooth, and erythritol is mostly dissolved. This might take a couple of minutes. Then beat in peanut butter, softened butter, and pure stevia extract. Taste and adjust sweeteners if necessary. Chill mixture for 5 minutes, or until filling is firm enough to roll into balls. Roll filling into balls and freeze for 10 minutes. Melt chocolate chips. Stick toothpicks in centers and dip in melted chocolate, swirling the center around in the chocolate to cover. Leave a small area at the top of the candy for the filling to peek through. Quick set in the freezer for 5 minutes, then store in baggies in the refrigerator.

Mint Candy Filling

1 tablespoon palm oil shortening (I used Spectrum) or unsalted butter
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon powdered milk (I used Organic Valley)
3 tablespoons erythritol, powdered
Pure peppermint extract, to taste
Stevia, to taste
A drop of green food coloring (optional)

Fold together ricotta, a few drops of peppermint extract, and erythritol. Cream with a hand mixer until erythritol is mostly dissolved and ricotta is completely smooth. Add stevia to taste, and beat in a drop of green food coloring if desired. Add more peppermint extract, to taste.

Healthy Peppermint Patties

1 recipe of mint filling
1 cup homemade sugar-free chocolate chips

Melt chocolate chips. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Spread circles of the chocolate onto the cold cookie sheet, trying to make a thin even layer of chocolate. Chill for five minutes to set. Spread mint filling just inside the circles and chill again. Finally, dip candies topside down in the chocolate to cover and seal the filling. Store on the counter top for up to a day, then keep in the refrigerator.

Healthy Candy Cups

1 recipe of mint filling
1 recipe of centers for Buckeyes
1 cup homemade sugar-free chocolate chips

Line a mini muffin tin with paper cups. Melt chocolate chips. Spread melted chocolate up the sides of the paper cups, and chill pan in freezer for 5 minutes to set. Next, add dollops of filling just to the brim of the cups and smooth over. Chill for 5 more minutes to set. Finally, top with a dollop of chocolate base and spread over the tops of the cups to cover and seal. Chill to quick set, and store in the refrigerator.