Saturday, June 4, 2011

Coconut Peppermint Chocolate Strawberries

For some reason, all I've been thinking about is making chocolate!
I received a free quart size coconut oil from Tropical Traditions
and decided to make something fabulous with cocoa powder and peppermint. 
Say hello to...
Coconut Peppermint Chocolate Strawberries :)
Perfect for schmancy entertaining~
and as per usual, healthy and yummy for ya! 

Coconut Peppermint Chocolate Strawberries
Adapted from a Whole New Mom's homemade chocolate chips
1 cup coconut oil 
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp liquid stevia*
3-5 tsp peppermint extract (or vanilla)
fresh strawberries 
garnish - sugar crystals (optional)

Directions:
1. On very low heat, melt coconut oil.
2. Take off the heat (off the burner!) and add in cocoa, stevia, peppermint (add in more for stronger flavor, less for milder flavor).  Stir until smooth.
3. Dip strawberries in the chocolate mixture. Place on parchment paper to dry.
4. Once the chocolate mixture starts hardening (after 5 minutes or so), put on low heat again and stir until melted.

*Stevia is a natural, plant based sweetener.  Great for those who want to cut out white sugar from their daily diet! :)

Other tips: Use vanilla extract or other flavors! Store leftover chocolate mixture in a glass pan and refrigerate.  After hardened, cut into chocolate chunks for future noshing. :) Also, I used Tropical Tradition's coconut oil that was mild in terms of coconut flavor (in comparison to other coconut oil brands), which worked well for this dish. 


FYI: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. :)

Any other ideas for chocolate covered fruit? 

34 comments:

  1. Innovative. Its the first time I am seeing coconut oil combined with cocoa. Sounds really delicious, coconut and chocolate go well together

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  2. i love the combo of chocolate + coconut + peppermint.

    how much cocoa powder should you add?

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  3. Love this recipe, interesting. Could use it as a sauce also for plated desserts! I'm thinking you can also use granulated stevia and just melt into the simmering coconut oil!

    Funny how you say melt it. My oil is definitely liquid (cause of the heat) but during the night with the AC on, it becomes a solid white mass!

    Love this recipe Junia darling!

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  4. I never know about "stevia" before... any substitution? this sounds great ^,^

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  5. @emily - 1 cup cocoa powder. i used hershey's! :)

    @myhomediaryinturkey - any sweetener of your choice! i am just trying to avoid the extra "sugar" when i can..~~ :)

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  6. Ooooh I like this twist on the good ole chocolate dipped strawberry... this is very enticing! I also like that you can use a sub for sugar... might need to make these soon!

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  7. I love strawberries! Good thing there's lots of them at stores right now :D I've been hearing a lot about coconut oil lately, so I'll be trying it soon. Hopefully it won't be hard to use by a newbie! haha.

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  8. yummy peppermint strawberries! great combo =)

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  9. Love these jeweled strawberries, the sugar crystals add a nice touch! Stevia is my favorite sweetener, lovely post as always :) xoxo

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  10. That sounds great, a perfumed chocolate! If i can say it like that... excuse my bad english! I try the best i can!!
    That's a really nice recipe!

    Besos

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  11. This sounds very refreshing...! I like the sound of strawberries and peppermint :)!

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  12. I love your twist on the old chocolate strawberry sweet treat.
    I love coconut and chocolate and chocolate and mint but never thought of combining all three. Thanks for the idea!

    Happy weekend :)

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  13. Love the idea of adding mint to regular chocolate.These look so perfect & yummy ! Have to try out!

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  14. Love these cute tiny desserts! And the combo of chocolate and mint..Yum.

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  15. I love this idea, chocolate, peppermint, coconuts and strawberries..I mean whole thing just match together!! Awesome photo, looks very very delicious!!!!

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  16. This looks yummy....you have a lovely blog...I am having a giveaway in my blog..Y dont you check and join that
    http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/2011/05/chocolate-recipe-and-chocolate.html

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  17. What a summer treat - great combination - peppermint and chocolate! Love the sugar crystals on top!

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  18. Never tried coconut oil combined with chocolate, it sounds and looks fabulous and yummy!

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  19. What an interesting twist on an old classic - love the introduction of coconut and the freshness of peppermint - both great summer choices. Lovely!

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  20. The combination of coconut oil and peppermint is so interesting! I haven't used coconut oil yet - is the flavor subtle or slightly on the sweeter side? This is way better than a standard chocolate fondue ;)

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  21. YUM! I love all these flavors but never thought to put coconut and peppermint together. Sounds fabulous!

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  22. Oooh, love that you added peppermint to this!!! Strawberries are looking so good this time of year...now i wanna go get some!

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  23. Junia, what a great combination, chocolate, mint and strawberry. They look beautiful! Great pictures as well.
    Have a great week ahead :-)

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  24. oh what a creative idea! Oooh, I'd love to see what you can do with pineapple! :)

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  25. Hi junia, many thanks for your visit. I love this blog. how did you find my blog..is it thru twitters?
    Very interesting choc dipped strawberries with a touch of coconut oil. We Asians use coconut oil a lot for frying. Oil is cholesterol free. But I have yet to try out this oil as per your recipe… delicious !
    Hope to visit you again. Have a wonderful day..

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  26. hi junia, i cam back. thanks, i realised you are with mehjabeen. i decided to be your follwer.. thanks

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  27. Hi junia..this is such a lovely post!

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  28. Hi, I love this! Strawberries, coconut oil plus peppermint sounds cool!
    Lenna from the former czechvegan, now blogging at veganlenna.wordpress.com!!

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  29. awesome awesome recipe sweet girl! I think I've been loving chocolate a little more than usual too--maybe that time of the month?!! haha

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  30. Yummyyyyy Bananas + chocolate = My Favorite <3

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  31. I am sure these must taste as delicious as they look!

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  32. I must buy some really great coconut oil at Whole Foods. They have such great health benefits, don't know why I haven't bought some yet. Gorgeous strawberries dipped into all that chocolate goodness, and a hint of mint, as well...Yumm!

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  33. Just found this post on findingvegan...! thats the fun of finding amazing things out of the blue!!
    chocolate peppermint and strawberries!! cant go wrong with that!

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