Real Food RecipesRecipes
March 30, 2017
You know, the spoiledbrat from Willy Wonka. The “bad egg” who fell down the garbage chute. Maybe this little ditty will refresh your memory: ♪ ♫ “I want the world. I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket. It’s my bar of chocolate.GIVE IT TO ME NOW!”♬
… you know the exactcravings I’m talking about.The onesthat tell you to run into the kitchen, rip open the bag of cookies, eat them all, and then move onto the craisins!
Iknow this type of craving oh too well. Because not so long ago, my blood sugar levels were all over the place— constantly spiking and crashing thanks to a bit (OK, way) too much sugar in my diet. To boot, I had candida overgrowth which makes you really crave sweets. Needless to say, Veruca Salt was my alter-ego.
Whilethere’s nothing wrong with a little sugar in the diet, eating too muchsugar in one sitting — whether it be from a candy bar,bread, or dried cranberries— causes an unhealthy, inflammatory spike in insulin. And that’s the thing about sugar cravings: they usually beg to be satisfied with a whole lotof sugar.
Thelongterm solution tokeeping those intense sugar cravings away for good is to work on maintaining steady blood sugar levels. [Related Post: 6 Simple Tips to Keep Blood Sugar Levels Steady] But what to do about those pesky cravings inshort-term, while you work to bring things into balance? Is there a quick fix?
Yes. And it’s delicious!
First of all, they taste amazing (so long as you like mint, that is). But more than that: peppermint is known to inhibit appetite, while coconut butter is filled with healthy fats that keep you feeling full and satiated.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup organic coconut butter
- 2 tsp organic peppermint extract
Optional: If you want to add a touch of sweetness, add1-2 tsp oforganic pure maple syrup. The healthy fat from the coconut butter will balance the natural sugars in the syrup, preventing the blood glucose spike that we want to avoid.
And you’llalso need some sort of mold. I used thisfood-grade silicone mold.
Directions:
- Melt the coconut butter using a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, simply set a heat-proof glass measuring cup or bowl in a pot filled with shallow, boiling water.
- After the coconut butter has melted, add the peppermint extract. Mix to combine.
- Pour the mixture into your mold.
- Set in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to set.
- Pop the coconut mints out of the molds.
- Enjoy or store in the refrigerator!
Oh and P.S. You’ll love these covered in a little bit of antioxidant-rich dark chocolate 🙂 They seriously taste just like Andes mints— a favorite of mine from when I was younger. Get the all the details on these!
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Great! I hope he loves them!!
This is AMAZING! My hubby is keto at the moment and he’s going to be beyond excited when I make some of these mints for him 🙂
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Thank you very much for your interesting posts.
Do you think I can use peppermint essential oil instead of the extract?
1 tbs of coconut butter has:
Total Carbohydrate: 3g
Dietary Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 1gAnd there are 8 tbs in 1/2 cup. So 24g of carbs for the entire batch but when you take fiber into account, it’s more like 8g carbs for the entire batch.
How many carbs are in these mints?
Well a high-cacao, low-sugar chocolate without soy and other unhealthy fillers is very healthy – so I say just indulge! My fravorite brand is Theo – they sell an organic 85% cacao bar that’s super delicious. Also, check out this recipe of mine: Homemade and Healthy Chocolate
As an aside: it’s said that chocolate cravings may be to a magnesium deficiency. Just some food for thought.
Great but can you tweak it to somehow also satisfy a chocolate craving? Thanks!
Sorry for the confusion! Since any coconut product contains coconut oil, that’s what I was really referring to. But no, coconut butter and coconut oil are not the same. Coconut butter contains the “meat” or pulp of the coconut as well as the oil, and is very creamy. Click on the link I have in the post to see the exact coconut butter I use (and actually, Amazon has a really good price!).
Hi Nadia, this sounds like a simple and tasty way to help manage sugar cravings. I am wondering, however, the recipe calls for coconut butter but in your response to Ellen on March 30th you mention coconut oil. Are they the same?
You’re very welcome, Eithne! Enjoy 🙂
Yes, if they are silicone. I think it would be really hard to get them out of regular molds though… you could also just use mini cupcake liners and fill them only a small bit (like the thickness of a peanut butter cup).
If you don’t have molds, would ice cube trays work?
Thanks for the helpful information.
Well me too, Debra! I really love coconut butter and mint so naturally love them combined. *If* you’re not really jazzed about them, there are a couple ways to trouble shoot so nothing is wasted: just melt them back down and add (1) 1-2 tsp maple syrup for a little sweetness as I suggest as an option in the post, and/or (2) a layer of melted (I suggest organic and dark – with a cacao content of 70%+) chocolate on top of the coconut mints after they’ve been in the freezer and so are solid. With the chocolate, they taste like Andes mints 🙂 Actually, I was going to add that as a new recipe soon since it’s much more of a dessert/treat than a tool for blood sugar control!
I had to laugh at myself…I read your recipe, then went straight to Amazon and ordered the coconut butter! I HOPE these are as good as you described. 🙂
You’re very welcome, Wendy! 🙂
Looking forward to your free helpful recipe and other handy resource guides. Much thanks.
Hi, Ellen! Well blood glucose spikes and crashes really suppresses the immune system, so maintaining balance is key! PLUS coconut oil boosts immune function 🙂 Hope they are helpful to you and best of luck with your recovery!
Thanks for all this great info. Recovering from a long term strep infection and returning to vibrant t health is not an easy thing to do… so I hope there’s lots here to boost my battered immune system. Can’t wait to start.
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