Valentine Freezer Treats (Grain Free)

Today was a good day… mostly because my kiddos and I got to taste test deliciousness all morning. Treats before lunch? Yes please!

I wasn’t sure if this experiment of sorts would turn out on our first try but they did! I don’t even know what to call them as they aren’t really anything in particular… just plain yummy. So I titled this post “Valentine Freezer Treats” since that’s what they are. You can make them anytime of the year of course. Just be sure to store them in the freezer unless you plan on eating them with a spoon (which wouldn’t be bad either). Now I’m thinking I might make them again as a sweet “nut butter” and just top all my favorite things with it (like smoothies, oatmeal, protein brownies and greek yogurt. Okay, now I’m hungry again.

But I digress… so here is my recipe for “Valentine Freezer Treats”. And lucky for all you grain free peeps… they are (you guessed it) grain free!

I used a specific combo of nuts and seeds but you could use any combo you like. You can get most of them at Thrive Market. I also buy them from Trader Joes and Costco. I personally think too many pumpkin seeds is overpowering so we went heavier on the nuts rather than seeds. I made double this recipe and you can too but it makes quite a bit so I halved it for you all.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup salted macadamia nuts (you can use unsalted but then add more salt to taste when blending)
• 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (we toasted ours first)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp liquid stevia (you could also use raw honey or organic maple syrup if don’t want to keep in low carb/sugar)
• 1/4 cup collagen (optional: I like the added protein)
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• pinch of sea salt (add more if you like- taste the “batter” as you go) We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market.
• a handful of healthier dark chocolate chips or chunks or favorite healthy dark chocolate (or make your own) I melted 2 couple EatingEvolved Chocolate Coconut Cups (from Thrive Market) for our chocolate topping.

Directions:

1. Toast a cup of shredded coconut in the oven on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. I honestly am not sure how long I toasted mine for. Maybe 5-10 minutes tops. Keep an eye on it as it cooks and be sure not to burn it.
2. Pick out some heart shaped silicon molds (or any shape you like) and put them on a cookie sheet so you can easily transfer them to the freezer later. I recommend the smaller hearts or making them thin if you use the bigger ones since these are really decadent and rich. The bigger thicker hearts are almost too big.
3. In your handy dandy food processor, process all the nuts and seeds until they are super creamy. If you would like directions on how I make nut butter super creamy you can watch this video here.
4. Once your nuts and seeds are blended into a smooth “peanut buttery” consistency, add your coconut oil, a pinch or so of sea salt, vanilla extract, stevia (or sweetener of choice) and collagen and blend away.
5. Add your toasted coconut and mix thoroughly. Go ahead and taste test it as you go and add more sweetener or sea salt as you like it. I like that they are not super sweet. They are very rich already.
6. I like to use a glass measuring cup to pour my mixture into the silicon molds. Once you have used up all your batter place the hearts into the freezer and let set for at least 45 minutes.
7. Once your hearts are frozen you can start melting your chocolate on low heat in a sauce pan. I added a smidge of coconut oil to my melted EatingEvolve Chocolate Cups. This is optional.
8. Once your chocolate is melted you can either drizzle chocolate over your frozen hearts then pop them back into the freezer. OR you could dip them into the chocolate then place them onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Then put your treats back into the freezer until your chocolate is frozen.
9. Once your treats are frozen you can store them in any air tight container in the freezer.

Just one or two of these creamy rich treats is plenty. I like them with a bit of Greek Yogurt or by themselves of course. Like I said before I think just the “batter” before you freeze them would be yummy as a sweet “nut butter”. You could store it in a mason jar in the fridge and top it on your favorite food. So good!

Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to comment in the section below. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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