Peanut Butter Cups

Can we all agree that peanut butter cups are the king of candy?

Be still my heart.

Halloween is right around the corner so there's no better time to make these.

Many of the recipes I have seen either use a ton of powdered sugar or graham crumbs to thicken + sweeten the peanut butter filling. While that's okay as a treat, I really wanted to make the perfect peanut butter cup without all the added sugar.

To make the peanut butter filling I added coconut oil to natural peanut butter. Since coconut oil is solid at room temperature it keeps the peanut butter from being too runny. But if you don't like the taste of it, or, are allergic, you can use regular butter instead or none at all.

I opted to use a combination of dark and milk chocolate, and chose to use an unsalted natural peanut butter so that I had the option to add a pinch of sea salt if the filling needed it. Sometimes that little bit of salt is all you need to round out the flavours just perfectly, especially when we're talking chocolate.

These can be made vegan or gluten free by using dairy-free or certified gluten-free chocolate such as Enjoy Life chocolate. Their mega chunks are my favourite to use.

When there are peanut butter cups, its a happy halloween for sure!

Peanut Butter Cups gluten free, vegan | makes 12

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate, vegan if needed
• 1 cup dark chocolate, vegan if needed
• 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 1 1/2 tsp organic cane sugar (or sucanat/coconut sugar)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil (or regular butter)
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Line a mini-muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
2. Melt the chocolates in a small bowl set over - not in - a small pot of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
3. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the melted chocolate into the bottom of each muffin liner. Tap the pan gently on the counter to smooth out the surface. Refrigerate the tin until the chocolate begins to set; about 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine the peanut butter, sugar, coconut oil, and sea salt if using, in a small bowl and stir until smooth and creamy. Spoon one teaspoon of the peanut butter filling on top of the hardened chocolate. Place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set.
5. Return the remaining chocolate to sit over the simmering pot of water and stir until smooth. Then top each cup with the melted chocolate, making sure the filling is completely covered.
6. Refrigerate until set; about 30 minutes.

*Tip*

• These are best if stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They can also be frozen. If you leave them out a white film that sometimes appears on chocolate will form after a few days. The reason for this is because the chocolate was just melted and not tempered. Store them in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. If you are freezing them they should last about 2 months.
• If you want a more classic tasting peanut butter cup I recommend using all milk chocolate.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Roasted Pepitas

It's amazing how fast the time has just flown by lately. It's the middle of October already, and Fall is in full swing. If there's one thing I love about this time of year it's taking walks through the forest or at the park. I love the fresh fall air and sweet smell of fallen leaves. After a crisp long walk it's nice to come home to warm up with something comforting and warm. A cup of hot apple cider would do the trick. These roasted pumpkin pie spiced pepitas would be the perfect healthy little snack to go along with it

Pepitas are actually just pumpkin seeds that are shelled. They look flat and light to dark green in colour.

The healthy benefits of these little seeds are out of this world. They are a very good source of omega 3 essential fatty acids, quality protein, fibre, vitamin E, potassium, magnesium and manganese, iron, zinc, and copper. How's that for nutrition? You'll want to start adding these to your clean diet right away.

There are alot of different recipes out there for roasting pumpkin seeds. Some roast them at high temperatures for a short amount of time and others at lower temps for a longer amout of time. In this recipe I roasted the seeds at a lower temperature, 325 degrees, and they came out perfect. I think roasting them at a lower temperature is key to getting the pumpkin seeds perfectly crunchy without any burning. Just remember though that all ovens are slightly different.

I promise you won't regret making these. They make your whole house smell like fall. They also make great additions to salads or quinoa and are perfect for snacking just the way they are. I calculated the nutrition based on a 2 tablespoon serving.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Roasted Pepitas gluten free (makes 8, 2 tbsp servings)

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons ginger
• 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoons sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325˚. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, toss all of the ingredients together until the seeds are well coated. Spread the seeds out in an even layer and roast, stirring occasionally, until golden, 13-15 minutes.
3. Let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a small serving dish or store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Nutrition Information:

Serving size: 2 tbsp Calories: 93 Fat: 7.6g Saturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 0mg Carbohydrates: 3.9g Sugar: 1.5g Sodium: 59mg Fiber: 1g Protein: 4.5g