This homemade Low-Carb Chocolate Peppermint Candy is a healthy take on one of my favorite wintertime treats: Peppermint Patties! Full of healthy, real-food ingredients, I think these are 100 times better…and each piece of candy has just 3.5 grams of net carbs! (These candies are basically what is known as a “fat bomb” in the low-carb high-fat/keto world!)
Aaaaand, just like that, it’s candy season once again. (Because apparently Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Easter are just not enough, lol.) But Christmas candy is some of my favorite candy (hello, fudge, caramel pecan turtles, and candy canes! s), and I’m always up for the challenge of remaking treats with a healthy spin.
Peppermint Patties served as my inspiration here because there is something ridiculously addictive about the combo of peppermint and chocolate, which means I can never pass up one (or three). Now, I’ll be honest, this is not my first go-around testing healthy Peppermint Patty recipes. I actually had the idea last Christmas, but it wasn’t high on my priority list and after just two rounds of testing I pushed it to the side. They were good, but just not mind-blowing, and after a while I realized what the problem was: using coconut oil! This gave the candy a subtle (but definitely distinguishable) coconut aroma and flavor and let’s be honest, there’s just no place for coconut in a respectable Peppermint Patty.
So, a couple weeks ago when I was munching on cashew butter and apple slices, a realization struck me; cashews are basically the chicken of the nut world, meaning their flavor is pleasant, but not overwhelming, and they often take on the other flavors in a recipe. All at once, 100 ideas came into my head for using cashews!
I used cashews as the base for my truffle-like filling here, and subbed out coconut oil (and all other coconut products!) for cacao butter instead. If you’re not familiar with cacao butter, it’s the pure, cold-pressed oil from cacao beans (like extra-virgin olive oil from olives). Cacao butter is a creamy white color, and solid at room temperature but melts at body temperature. It’s a great source of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids and antioxidants. Best of all, it has the most insanely deep, rich chocolate aroma. (You can read more about cacao butter on Navitas Naturals (<-- this is NOT a sponsored link, I just love their product!).
The filling for this candy is soft like a truffle at room temperature (like shown in the photos in this post), and a bit stiffer (like a regular Peppermint Patty) when chilled. I like them equally both ways. (But either way you want to serve them - chilled or at room temp - be sure you keep them refrigerated until at least an hour or so before you want to eat them, because the filling also has cream cheese.)
So when Christmas morning rolls around and the kiddos are on the hunt for some serious candy, make sure you have these on hand…not for them, but for you, lol!
- Filling:
- 4 oz (115 g) raw cashews
- 2 oz (57 g) organic cacao butter, melted in a microwave or double boiler
- 4 oz (115 g) cream cheese
- 1 ½ tablespoons erythritol
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- ½ teaspoon stevia glycerite
- 1 pinch sea salt
- Chocolate Coating:
- 2 oz (57 g) organic cacao butter, melted in a microwave or double boiler
- 2 ½ tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 small pinch sea salt
- For the filling, add the cashews to a high-speed blender and process until they form a powder. Add all remaining filling ingredients and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, cover, and chill until firm enough to roll into balls (about 4 hours in the fridge or 1 hour in the freezer; if you chill it too long, just let it sit at room temp for a while before rolling).
- Use a 1 tablespoon-sized scoop to measure out the filling, roll into balls, and flatten each ball slightly into a thick disk. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray and refrigerate or freeze until the candy is chilled again.
- Once the filling is chilled, make the chocolate coating by mixing together all ingredients in a medium bowl. (The chocolate will be runny, and it will thicken as it cools.)
- Working with one candy at a time, place a candy in the chocolate coating, remove it with a fork, and place it on a baking rack or parchment-lined baking tray so the chocolate can set. Continue until all the candies are coated. (You can dip each candy more than once for a thicker chocolate coating if you want.)
- Let the chocolate set before serving and store the candy covered in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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