This month’s Recipe Redux theme is No Cook Desserts, which have been quite popular on Pinterest and foodie blogs lately. And it makes perfect sense, who doesn’t want a wonderful treat that comes together in mere minutes?! This month’s theme finally pushed me to try out a recipe I have been mulling over in my head for a while.
I’ve been having quite the chocolate craving lately and this dessert satisfies it perfectly in a small, rich bite. Not only that, I have finally tried the wonderful marriage of chocolate and peanut butter together. I know, sounds crazy, I’ve never had the two together. Last year I talked about breaking my peanut butter aversion. It has been a slow process and I’m still quite picky about how and when I’ll eat it, but I still think I’ve made tremendous progress considering how strong an aversion I had for so many years.
So this recipe is the perfect dessert to me – bite sized and satisfies my cravings. It is also incredibly versatile, as the toppings could be changed any number of ways – coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, crushed nuts, etc. I opted for coconut this time around. This is a dessert after all, but it could easily be transformed into more of an everyday snack by swapping a few ingredients (wheat germ, ground flaxseed or oatmeal for the graham cracker crumbs) and maybe doing less with the toppings (mini chocolate chips rather than dipped in chocolate and rolled in sweetened coconut flakes).
And I will say these are very child friendly. E, who is quite the chocolate lover, gobbled up one very enthusiastically.
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp dark cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 squares dark chocolate, melted
- ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- In a bowl, combine peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, honey, cocoa powder and vanilla. Mix well with clean hands.
- Roll into 12 1" balls. Place on a wax paper lined pan. Put in the refrigerator for a few minutes while preparing the toppings.
- Melt chocolate in the microwave, stirring often to avoid burning.
- Remove balls from refrigerator and roll in melted chocolate, coating completely. Place back on pan and put back in refrigerator for about 2 minutes to allow chocolate to firm up a little but not too much.
- Place coconut on a plate. Remove chocolate covered balls from refrigerator and roll in coconut to cover completely. Return to refrigerator for 5 more minutes to allow chocolate to completely set. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
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