Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

A few months back, we'd taken it upon ourselves to test every chocolate bar we could find in town. After a few weeks of testing, then re-testing, then sheepishly re-re-testing the winners, we eventually drew a line in the sand: no more chocolate unless we make it ourselves...

Then Nat started testing this recipe.

Don't tell her I said this, but she kind of gets obsessed with certain recipes. 

While we haven't bought more chocolate bars, we've been consuming a lot of 'test' batches for the blog.

So I'm putting the recipe up to save us from re-re-testing again. Feel free to try other fillings or toppings like frozen berries or nuts.

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup raw cacao powder
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground vanilla
• Almond butter
• Sea salt

Process

• Set up double-boiler - We do this with two pots - one larger and one smaller. First, fill the larger pot with a few inches of water. Then, place the smaller pot in the larger pot, and set the whole thing on the stove.
• Melt chocolate - Set double-boiler over medium heat, melt coconut oil, and mix in cacao, vanilla, cinnamon, maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt. 
• Make bottom layer - Fill muffin tin with liners, then add 2 teaspoons of chocolate in each cup to make the bottom layer. Set remaining chocolate mixture aside for later. Place muffin tin in freezer for 5-10 minutes.
• Add filling - Remove muffin tin from freezer. Add about 1 teaspoon of almond butter to each cup, in a flat layer.
• Add top layer - Pour remaining chocolate evenly between the cups ~ a few teaspoons each. Return muffin tin to freezer for another 10 minutes. Once solid, remove cups from freezer and top each with sea salt. Store covered in the fridge or freezer.