Homemade Cacao Bliss

I've lately found a new obsession: Artisana Cacao Bliss. If you've never had it, let me explain. It is a delicious, rich, chocolate butter that has the texture of frosting. Quite a decadent dessert topping...it's in the running for one of my favorite spreads, even nudging Nutella for the top spot. This spread is great on bread, or eaten my favorite way -- scooped with a spoon and eaten straight up! A homemade jar of this stuff would be an awesome gift for a choco-holic! Best of all, it's actually not too shabby in the health department -- coconut oil is one of the most healthy oils, so relax! Have your chocolate and do some good for your body. It is also far less expensive to make this than buy ($9 a jar? Really?). The recipe is extremely simple as well.

Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

4 tbsp melted coconut oil (I bought mine at Whole Foods)
1/3-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp agave syrup

In a bowl, mix everything together, then store at room temp in a jar. I keep my leftover jam jars around for this reason. :) Enjoy!

Banana-Cranberry Butter

I'm beginning to have a problem. I'm becoming obsessed with fruit butters. The idea of cooking down fruit into a delicious, sweet, low-calorie way to add flavor is very appealing. Unfortunately, fruit butters seem to be more of an East Coast and Midwest thing, and where I live they are expensive and tough to find, particularly without the dreaded HFCS. After a little internet searching, it turns out that they are actually quite easy to make, and the inevitable follows: fruit that I need to use + inspiration = sometimes great results! And this was a great result!

This banana butter is very simple to make, takes about 15 minutes to prepare, and is delicious on pancakes, peanut butter sandwiches, and pretty much anywhere else that you would use bananas! 

Yield is about 1.5 cups

Ingredients:

4 bananas (very brown is best!)

1 cup brown sugar or sucanat

4 tbsp cranberry juice

1 tbsp cinnamon (more to taste)

Peel and cut the bananas, then dump into a bowl and blend with an immersion blender, or use a regular blender and blend until smooth. 

Dump the mixture into a saucepan, and add the remaining ingredients. Heat and stir until mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. 

Pour into a clean, airtight container. Keeps for about a week in the fridge. I do not recommend canning this recipe. 

Homemade Apple Butter (sugar free)

If you follow my tweets, you will know a bit about my reasoning for trying to make apple butter, but the logic follows my usual "make my own" line of reasoning.

1. I love a food to the point of obsession
2. Said food is either extremely expensive to obtain, or grossly unavailable in the area (ie, Korean-style froyo in Baltimore circa summer 2009)
3. The Internet is free!
4. I make the said thing...sometimes with results indicating that buying the expensive item is absolutely worth it!

None of these reasons really apply to making your own apple butter. The germination of the idea of making my own apple butter came about from my frustration at being unable to find apple butter free of HFCS that wasn't $6 a jar...so I guess it was expense related. However, considering the number of apples necessary to make the 18 oz. jar of apple butter....well...unless you've an apple tree in your back yard, financially it's a wash. 

However, for fresh taste, nothing beats homemade, and that's that. :)

Recipe adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

You will need:

approx. a dozen apples, depending on their size (I used granny smiths, but you could use any style you desire, even mixing types)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

The best way to make the apple butter is in the crockpot. Since the apples must cook so long, it's nice to be able to leave or sleep without worry. 

Peel and core the apples, then slice into quarters. Dump them into the crockpot, and cook on low for 8 hours, leaving the lid ajar, checking periodically and stirring. 

Add the spices, and cook an additional 6 hours on low until brown and mushy. Smooth out with an immersion mixer, if desired. 

Place in sealed containers and keep in the fridge. If you want to do full out canning, some amazing sources are here. 

And that's it! See? Easy, just a little plan aheady (yep, I made up that word).