Spiced Chocolate Coconut Bars - THM S

Yummy! This is by far my favorite chocolate candy recipe!  Since starting Trim Healthy Mama I have made all kinds of plan friendly chocolate candies. My first attempt of course was Skinny Chocolate from the book (page 371).  I have had lot's of success (and a couple failures) with that recipe and many variations thereof. :) It is a great recipe that you should really try!

My mom brought me a present last night and it was so yummy I wanted to share it with you.  She found the original recipe from an Atkins site but she tweaked it to make it more THM friendly. It is absolutely my favorite chocolate bar ever.  I am going to list the recipe below exactly the way she made it because it was so good.

Spiced Chocolate Coconut Bars - THM S

• 1 c extra virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 c xylitol (ground)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (this recipe is NOT hot at all.  You only feel the cayenne a tiny bit after you swallow.  You could easily add more if you like heat, but this bit gives it the perfect amount of flavor without heat!)
• 5 TBS unsweetened shredded coconut flakes (divided)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional)

Let's make it!

•  Gently melt coconut oil and grind the xylitol
• Whisk together oil, xylitol, cocoa, cinnamon and cayenne till smooth.
• Add 3 TBS shredded coconut and mix well

• Pour chocolate into a parchment lined pan or candy molds. I used squares and cute snowmen and snowflakes!

• Mix remaining 2 TBS of shredded coconut and salt together in small bowl.

• Sprinkle coconut mixture over the top of chocolate. (My mom has really finely ground coconut and it did not rest on top, but sunk in.  Yours may do the same thing, but the idea is to have a layer, even if it is sunken in.)

• Put chocolate in freezer for 15 minutes to harden.  
• Remove from pan (molds) and cut or break into pieces and enjoy!

• Store in the refrigerator.

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Want to change it up?  Here are some ideas:

• Don't like coconut flavor? Use refined coconut oil and omit the coconut flakes.  
• You can add chopped nuts if you want to add crunch.  It really is delicious!
• Want to have this on a Deep S day of fuel cycle? Leave out the coconut flakes keeping everything else the same.
• You can of course use any on plan sweetener that you prefer, but I really like xylitol in chocolate.  If you are using straight erythritol use the same measurements as above.  If you are using Truvia or THM SweetBlend then you will want to start with half the amount and taste and add more if necessary.

This is so good it will probably become my go to chocolate bar.  I hope you like it as well.

My Thanksgiving Menu

I am so excited about Thanksgiving this year! I started my Trim Healthy Mama journey right after Thanksgiving last year, but I had already started implementing the plan a bit.  This year I am hosting Thanksgiving and have a fully on plan feast all lined up!

The first thing on my menu is the turkey of course. This year we are getting a turkey fresh from the farmer that we buy our milk from.  We are really excited about this since we have never had a fresh turkey before.

Here is what we are having alongside the bird:

• Stuffing
• Green Bean Casserole
• Psyllium Husk Rolls
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Cranberry Sauce
• Roasted Crispy Brussel Sprouts
• Mashed Cauliflower

And for dessert:

• Cranberry Wassail
• Pumpkin Roll
• Candied Pecans
• Pecan Pie
• Coconut Cream Pie

How is your holiday planning going?

Sweet Potato Casserole ~ THM Crossover or E

No, that is not a picture of a sweet potato casserole. :) Unfortunately, that picture will have to wait till after Thanksgiving. For now, enjoy the lovely pic of raw sweet potatoes!

Sweet potato casserole is my Thanksgiving day "splurge". Sure, I am going to make lots of yummy treats for Thanksgiving day, I have a few different desserts planned even. But all of those fit into the S day I have planned for Thanksgiving. (If you have no idea what I am talking about then I highly suggest going over to Trim Healthy Mama, ordering their book and having your life changed!) Sweet potatoes are an E food though and this recipe is actually a crossover all by itself. But it is Thanksgiving! It is a feast day! I don't intend to derail all the hard work I have done for the past year with a day of eating junk, but I do intend to feast! And this dish will be a part of this feast.

Like I said, this recipe, as written, is a crossover food. It contains both a significant amount of carbs and fat. This is the way I will serve it on Thanksgiving. The rest of the food will be S food (even the stuffing!) so adding this dish to it will make my meal either an S Helper (if I have a very small serving) or a crossover if I have a regular sized serving. At the end of this post I will put in tweaks you can use to make this recipe an E recipe.

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Sweet Potato Casserole - THM Crossover

Potatoes

• 6 baked sweet potatoes, peeled and mashed
• 1/2 c Truvia (or 3/4c xylitol or erythritol)
• 2 eggs*
• 1/3 c half and half or heavy cream*
• 1/3 c melted butter*
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Topping

• 1 c Truvia (or xylitol or erythritol)
• 3/4 tsp molasses
• 1/8 tsp of caramel, butterscotch or rum extract
• 1 c chopped pecans*
• 1/3 c almond flour*
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 c melted butter*

Let's make it!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Combine potato ingredients with a hand mixer and put mixture in baking dish. (I am baking the sweet potatoes a day ahead of time to save time on Thanksgiving day. In fact, lots of this recipe could be done the day before. You could also combine all the topping ingredients (except butter) and store them in a baggie till the next day).
3. In another bowl combine sweetener, molasses and extract together to make "brown sugar". Then stir in all other topping ingredients to make a crumble.
4. Pour crumble evenly over the top of potatoes.
5. Bake for 35 minutes.

*E Tweaks

Anything you see above that has an asterisk needs to be adjusted for an E variation, but the assembly/cooking process is exactly the same. Here is the E variation:

Sweet Potato Casserole - THM E

Potatoes

• 6 baked sweet potatoes, peeled and mashed
• 1/2 c Truvia (or 3/4c xylitol or erythritol)
• 3 egg whites (or carton egg whites)
• 2/3 c almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Topping

• 1 c Truvia (or xylitol or erythritol)
• 3/4 tsp molasses
• 1/8 tsp of caramel, butterscotch or rum extract
• 1 c old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 c oat flour (just grind rolled oats in your blender)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 8 tsp melted butter (if you make this into 8 servings this is the entire amount of your added fat for an E meal)

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Look for a post in the near future that includes my entire Thanksgiving menu!