Raw Chocolate Hazelnut and Strawberry Muffins
These raw chocolate hazelnut and strawberry muffins are made using whole ingredients, are sweetened with dates, contain no oils and are a pure bliss to eat. To make them sweet, I am using dates, the perfect whole food sugar substitute. Did you know that dates are full of antioxidants, fiber and polyphenols? Even as sweet as they are, they actually impact our gut flora positively, and as a result, there are studies that suggest dates can actually help us against some types of cancer. Dates even seem to be helpful with labor and delivery. So when craving something sweet, dates are always a perfect choice.
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Muffin Mold silicone if possible
Ingredients
- 150 g hazelnuts
- 150 g rolled oats
- a dash of vanilla powder
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee caffeine free for children
- 300 g dates pitted
For the topping:
- 100 g dark chocolate 70% cocoa
- 4 tablespoons oat drink oat milk
- 12 strawberries
Instructions
- Blend hazelnuts, rolled oats, vanilla, and instant coffee in a food processor until finely ground.
- Chop the dates and add them to the food processor. Blend everything well until you get a sticky mixture.
- Distribute the mixture into a twelve-muffin mold (silicone if possible). Press the mixture firmly with your fingers into the bottom half of the muffin cups.
- Wash and remove the stems from the strawberries.
- Melt the chocolate and oat milk in a double boiler or microwave and evenly pour it over the muffins in the mold.
- Before the chocolate sets, place one strawberry, upside down, in the centre of each muffin.
- Chill the muffins in the refrigerator until the chocolate sets.
- Carefully remove the muffins from the mold and serve them cold.
Tips and Info
Perfect time to make them is when strawberries are in season, so in our case it's June and the beginning of July. But if you can't find any strawberries, no worries, you can experiment with other fruit, like blueberries, raspberries or even pieces of apple or pear.