Just when we were all getting into the swing of a healthy new year, Valentine’s Day sneaks in, tempting us with cream filled chocolates and decadent desserts. I wanted to treat Phil and I to something special for our sweet tooth(s), but not with anything that would totally undo our recent healthy decisions. It didn’t take me long to figure out a solution! Dark chocolate combines perfectly with unsweetened coconut and naturally sweet fruit for a perfect Valentine’s Day treat we can enjoy guilt free!

For our chocolate covered fruit box, I selected some of our favorite sweet fruits: strawberries, raspberries, cherries, and clementines. Not all of these are in season, so it  was a bit of a splurge for us! Before covering the fruit with melted Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips, I soaked the berries and cherries for ten minutes in a large bowl filled with one part vinegar and 9 parts water. After my clementines were peeled and the other fruit was dry, I laid out wax paper, slowly melted the dark chocolate chips in the microwave (a double boiler would work too), and began dipping my fruit in the chocolate and laying them on wax paper to dry. I added unsweetened shredded coconut to the clementines and raspberries, sprinkling coconut on the wax paper before laying down the chocolate-dipped fruit, and then sprinkling again overtop of the freshly dipped fruit.

This would be a sweet gift give to coworkers, friends, and lovers too! I found a cute heart-shaped box that, when refrigerated, will keep the chocolate covered fruit fresh for a week or so. But knowing us, we won’t let it last that long!

I love a good creamy cocktail, but am not a huge fan of all of the calories that come with it. Thankfully, my long-time blogger friend, Danielle Thompson of Kitschy Digitals, is here to share a low cal Irish cream recipe with us! Here’s what she has to say about the drink:

Around the holidays last year, I was wanting to make sure that I could splurge on sweets (since I have a major sweet tooth!), but not overdo it. I also knew I’d be drinking lots of cocktails around this time (drink and be Merry, right?) and I knew those would be a lot of extra empty calories. So I opted for a low-fat, low-calorie version of my drink of choice, Irish Cream (adapted from this recipe) – and believe it or not, it is heavenly! I still love drinking it now, even after the holidays, and with St. Patrick’s Day coming up soon, it fits the theme.

• 1 clean empty bottle with a secure lid to store your Irish Cream in the refrigerator
• 1 1/3 cup Irish Whiskey (I used Bourbon because that is what we had around the house. If you want to be a purist, by all means, use Irish Whiskey! You can read an interesting post on the difference between Bourbon and Irish Whiskey here if interested.)
• 1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Milk
• 2 tbs Sugar-Free Chocolate Syrup
• 1 – 14 oz can Fat Free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract

Just mix them all together on high speed in a blender! Super easy. Once it’s thoroughly mixed, pour over ice.

To make the candy garnishes, you will need:

• Four Leaf Clover Chocolate Mold (I bought mine locally in Atlanta here but you can also find them on their website)
• Green or Mint Colored Melting Wafers
• (Optional) Edible Green Pearl Dust to give it a shimmery look (I used this)
• (Optional) Paint Brush

Put your melting wafers in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for a minute and then take out your bowl and mix your chocolates with a spoon. Keep heating the wafers in 20 second intervals and stirring in between. Once they are thoroughly melted, spoon a small amount of chocolate into each clover in your mold. Once they’re filled, lightly tap the mold on a counter top to remove any air bubbles and to even out the chocolate. Carefully set your filled mold in the freezer for 10 minutes. Pull them out and tap on the back of your chocolate mold to release the four-leaf-clovers. You can leave them as-is, or brush on your Green Pearl Dust, making sure to get into the crevices of the clover with your paint brush. Serve them with your Irish Cream, or add one to your drink as a garnish!

Phil and I are on a three-week refined sugar ban (WHAT?!) to help me break my addiction and hopefully help whittle away at some of this baby weight. Going into the sugar ban, I really thought about some of the pitfalls that might stand in the way of my accomplishing this goal, and an obvious one was the intense junkfood cravings that sugar withdrawal can bring. I knew I would miss my salty snacks. My chocolatey indulgences. But not the lethargy. That’s why I made these energy bars*. Now I can have the joys of the former without the drain of the latter- and without all of the guilt!

If I need to grab some food before I run out the door, these energy bars are handily waiting for me! If a craving is hanging on and won’t let go, yep! They’re there. Though beware- these aren’t exactly low-cal. I’m keeping them around for emergencies only. AKA one bar a day! That’s right.

1. 2 cups of almonds or mixed nuts (not peanuts)
2. 1/2 cup of ground flax seed
3. 1/2 cup of unsweetened flaked coconut
4. 1/2 cup of whole dates (or 1/3 cup of chopped dates)
5. 1/2 cup of sugar free dried cranberries
6. 1/2 cup of almond butter (I made my own)
7. 1/3 cup of coconut oil
8. 1/2 cup of sugar free dark chocolate chips/chunks (optional)
9. 1/2 teaspoon of coarse sea salt (optional)

Place first four ingredients into a food processor and pulse until most of the nuts are chopped, then place the mixture along with your dried cranberries into a medium-size bowl. I used a Vitamix blender (which I also used to make my own almond butter) instead of a food processor, but if you’re using a regular blender, chop your dates separately so they don’t clog up your blender at the blade.

In a small sauce-pan on very low heat, mix together the almond butter and coconut oil. Once the mixture reaches a smooth, liquidy consistency, add to the bowl of other ingredients and mix well. If you’re curious about making your own almond butter, check out my Facebook post about it here.

Prepare a 9″x9″ pan by trimming parchment paper to lay across one way and the other of your pan, making sure the paper sticks up on the sides of the pan. Dump your mixture into the pan, pressing down into the bottom and corners. Next, just barely melt your dark chocolate chips very slowly in another small saucepan or double boiler on the stove, and spread evenly over the top of the pan. After spreading, sprinkle coarse sea salt on the top, and place in the refrigerator for one hour until set.

Once set, pull the entire square out of the pan and cut into pieces sized according to your liking. Storage of these bars depends on the temperature of your home, believe it or not. Coconut oil melts at 76 degrees F, so if your home is above 70 degrees, I recommend storing in the refrigerator so that the bars will keep their shape. But if you like them gooey, by all means, leave them out! But beware- if they’re out in plain sight, you just might be tempted to eat them all!

*recipe adapted from Elena’s Pantry