Coconut Treats

I was just writing to a client about ways to increase coconut oil in her diet, and I thought I should share with the class.
A lot of people enjoy coconut oil in savory dishes, such as eggs or chicken, but I really don’t, so I’ve come up with some other ways to get my coconut oil. (Of course, you can always just make a pan of gluten free brownies with extra coconut oil, but we’re looking for a healthier method than that!)

Here are two treats you’re sure to enjoy!

Coconut Ice Cube Tray Treats: Klunky name, tasty treat.
Take an ice cube tray and fill each of the sections about half full with liquid coconut oil. Then put raisins, dried berries, shredded coconut, your favorite chopped nuts (I recommend macadamia!), a pinch of crunchy salt, fair trade dark chocolate chips – whatever sounds delicious – into each section. Pop the whole tray into the fridge and wait a bit. The coconut oil will harden and you now have a tray full of treats you can pop out and enjoy. The oil stays hard long enough to eat it, and all the stuff you added provides a nice crunch (so it doesn’t feel like you’re eating an ice cube of oil!)
To make it extra fancy, you can add ground cacao and a bit of honey, and/or other spices – such as cinnamon and cayenne – to the coconut oil before you pour it.

A Delicious Variant on Nut Butter. Not a great name either, but seriously delicious.
Put a cup or so of macadamia nuts into the blender and let them chop up “medium” well – some will be finely chopped and some more coarsely. Pour this into a mixing bowl. Add a bit of almond butter, ground vanilla bean or vanilla extract, some coconut sugar or maple syrup, a pinch of salt and a good deal of melted coconut oil. Stir it well until you have a very chunky nut butter type consistency. Now, just eat it with a spoon! Alternately, if you’re having a fancy dinner (or if you don’t need an excuse), spread it thin on a dish and drizzle it with melted dark chocolate chips! This blog post will absolutely be augmented with a photograph of this delicacy as soon as our family has finished our February Farm Food project!

I recognize that neither of these recipes have any real semblance of measurements, but you don’t need them. Just mix the stuff together and adjust a bit at a time until it tastes delicious. The result will be a bit different every time you make it, which is definitely part of the fun!

Enjoy!