These Gluten Free Healthier Chocolate Crackles are made without copha or refined icing sugar, so we are going to claim they are ‘healthier’ than the traditional versions. They will melt at room temperature in Summer, but you can pack a freezer block in your kids lunch bags.
MAKES
about 24 mini size
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup of organic, raw coconut oil
- 1/4 cup of organic maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons of organic cacao powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder (or extract/ paste)
- 2 cups organic brown puffed rice
- Optional: natural colour hundreds & thousands
METHOD
- Place mini muffins papers/ liners in mini muffin trays (you can also use a baking dish, lined with baking paper, and make a ‘chocolate crackle slice’)
- Melt the coconut oil (in a microwave proof jug/ bowl, or in a saucepan on the stovetop)
- Add in maple syrup, cacao powder and vanilla
- Stir well until combined
- Allow the mix to cool for a few minutes
- Add puffed rice & quickly stir in
- Spoon mix into mini muffin papers, continually stirring up the mix in between transferring each spoonful
- Sprinkle hundreds and thousands on top before they start to set
- Put mini muffin trays in the fridge until the chocolate crackles are fully set (it doesn’t take long, 10 to 15 minutes)
- Place the healthier chocolate crackles into an airtight container and keep in fridge (if you made a chocolate crackle slice, use a sharp knife to cut it into squares or pieces, once it has set)
NOTES
- You can use 1/4 cup raw sugar, but it will not dissolve into the coconut oil mix very well, so it would be a good idea to grind it finely in a food processor mill, or with a pestle and mortar, before adding
- You can substitute some of the 2 cups of puffed rice with puffed millet, quinoa or amaranth, but they need to be toasted in a low oven first, to become crunchy
- You can also use white puffed rice cereal, but many of them contain added sugar or sweeteners
- You could also top these with dried fruit like blueberries, chopped apple or strawberries, or sunflower seeds
