Inspired by.... 5: Raw Vegan Mint Choc Squares

Yes, these are actually good for you! (You'll see why when you read the ingredients)

I couldn't let the Easter holidays go by without posting something chocolatey, and here it is...
 This post owes a lot to Emily Von Euw's wonderful blog "This Rawsome Vegan Life"; in fact it's based on her raw vegan peppermint patties- see her original recipe, itself adapted from another blog, "Rawified",  here. Thanks for brightening up our vegan lives and helping them get even more awesome, Emily. In fact I'm now feeling so inspired excited by the whole raw concept that I've started psyching myself up for a Spring/ Summer transition to raw. I don't know how long it will last- I tend to be warm weather raw- but I do know that every time I've had a raw phase I have felt amazing- and I really like feeling amazing.

And so without further ado, here's the recipe so you can eat these and feel amazing too :) The main difference between my version and Emily's is that I didn't use coconut in the filling, just cashews, and I added more peppermint to the chocolate layers rather than cinnamon and cayenne. We got 8 little treats out of it, plus a bit more of the chocolate. If you want to make more, you could double the filling quantities.

Chocolate layers: 

100ml melted coconut oil

50g raw cacao powder (3/4 cup, where 1 cup = 250ml))

125ml agave

1- 11/2 tsps natural peppermint essence (or maybe 2; try it and see how you like it)

Beat all the ingredients together and spread half the mixture evenly on waxed paper on a baking tray. Put in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to harden up.

Filling:

1/2 cup cashews, ground finely

2 tabs agave

2 tabs melted coconut oil

a few drops of natural green food colouring

a few drops of natural peppermint essence

• Mix everything together. It won't  seem very firm yet, but that's only because the coconut oil needs to cool and set.
• To assemble, spread the cashew mint layer on top of the first chocolate layer once it's set. Put it back in the fridge or freezer.
• Finally, spread the last layer of chocolate on top and return to the fridge/ freezer to solidify.

..Yep, going raw is going to be fun!