Candies! Why is a health coach talking about candies? Well, tis the season for candy canes and confections and I've figured out a way to bring in a bit of peppermint decadence for a special treat during the holidays.
The magic of the season, smells of baking cookies, pine, and peppermint goes back to childhood. Candy canes hung on our tree, but rarely did we eat them. Maybe a few licks, a few bites, and that was it. But it was the taste of Christmas. These days I don't buy candy canes. Why? You guessed it, pure sugar. However, when I saw this recipe on the table at my gym, I was intrigued, and took a copy home to try it out. I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen and pantry. The raw almonds in a jar in the refrigerator, the medjool dates in a jar in the basement pantry out of sight because I don't use them every day in cooking, the chocolate chips hidden away in a closed "baking" bin in the basement, and the cocoa powder and coconut oil in a kitchen cabinet. I use the cocoa powder every once in a while in a morning smoothie and the coconut oil is always on hand, although not used every day. The only problem was, I don't buy candy canes and wasn't about to now. I thought, someone in the neighborhood must have a spare candy cane. After sending a text message to four neighbors, I got an immediate response that one (thanks Claudia) had a peppermint candy in her coat pocket from our local Italian restaurant the night before (thanks Roma). Perfect! She ran it over in the snow. I love my neighbors.
Now the no bake, quick and easy holiday confection could be assembled. Within 5 minutes, the balls were mixed, rolled, and rolled again in the pulverized peppermint candy. Ahh, a taste of the holidays!
