Healthy Easter Treats
Easter is just around the corner and the chocolate is on display in every corner of every grocery store! It’s one of the most tempting holidays for me because I LOVE CHOCOLATE. I have zero restraint when it comes to chocolate, so I either need to keep it out of my house completely or give in to the fact that I’m going to gain 100 pounds over the holiday weekend. So I got thinking about how a person could survive yet another holiday feeding frenzy without all the guilt and the weight gain?
After my usual deep dive into Pinterest, I visited a crafty websites highlighting traditional “haystack” cookies and compared those recipes to some of the recipes on more healthy or mindful recipes. I even test-drove a couple recipes, but of course came up with one of my own and am going to share it with you here. The difference is that I used chia seeds as one of the binding agents and gives several benefits including being a wicked source of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and a ton or fiber, iron and calcium. And they keep a person full longer too!
You can make these in under half an hour (get the kids involved!) but they do take about an hour in the fridge to set. They are the perfect little treat to tuck into a healthy Easter basket!
Ingredients:
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 tbsp almond milk (I used Almond Breeze almond-coconut milk)
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 natural peanut butter
3 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
2 tbsp chia seeds
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup rolled oats (I used Rogers Ancient Grains)
¼ cup sliced almonds
Pinch of sea salt
36 mini eggs
To make:
In a medium sauce pan, combine brown sugar, honey, almond milk, coconut oil, peanut butter, cocoa powder and chia seeds. Over medium heat, bring to a slow bubble or until everything is melted uniformly and you can’t see the sugar granules anymore.
Remove from heat and add the coconut, oats, almonds and salt. Stir to combine.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. Using two table spoons, drop little blobs of the mixture onto the cookie sheet – you will get 12 little nests out of this batch. Carefully shape the blobs into nest shapes and press 3 mini eggs into the centre of each. Place the cookie sheet into the fridge for about an hour to let them set.
This recipe gives about 250cals per nest, but you could make smaller treats and top with a single mini egg in the middle.
Happy Easter!