Raisinets. Mmmmm.
Even the thought of them make me smile. But, Nestle’s raisinets are far from being anywhere near healthy. When visiting my parents, I notice every once in a while a bag of dark chocolate raisinets from Nestle. They offer them to me thinking they’re doing good since the bag clearly reads, “dark chocolate.” I’ve indulged a few times but always walk away feeling bloated and wake up the next morning with a sugar hangover. Blech!
I appreciate that Nestle made a dark raisinet, I do. However, not when the ingredients look like this (see right). Umm, hi, that’s not dark chocolate. It’s still loaded with milkfat, nonfat milk, lactose, and too much sugar (which is genetically modified!). Soy lecithin is an emulsifier (to make things spreadable) and is actually made from the sludge left over after soy has been processed. Thanks, but no thanks.
I took my craving for those delightful morsels into my own kitchen and the results were so yummy for both my tastebuds, belly and peace of mind! I love Enjoy Life‘s products. They make their products in a dedicated nut and gluten-free, casein-free, vegan and kosher facility. Holler! I use their mini chips for baking often. Ingredients: evaporated cane juice (FYI: a fancy name for sugar), chocolate liquor, non-dairy cocoa butter. Three ingredients compared to the nonsense in Nestle’s with NO GMOs.
Lauren’s Dark Chocolate Raisinets:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Enjoy Life’s mini chips
1/2 teaspoon bacon fat (optional but highly recommended!), you could use coconut oil instead
2 big handfuls dried raisins
Directions:
Use a double boiler method on the stove to warm chocolate chips & bacon fat. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. When chips look wet and are clearly hot, turn off heat and toss in raisins. Mix with spoon to coat. Toss in more raisins if there is more chocolate to coat. Spoon out chocolate covered raisins onto cookie sheet and separate with fingers (or utensils if hot). Place cookie sheet into fridge for a bit to cool and harden. Once they’re dried they should pop right off of the parchment paper. Store in glass container in the fridge and enjoy when you need a sweet morsel of goodness!
If you’re interested in the benefits of dark chocolate and a little bit about it, check out my old blog post: Dark chocolate = healthy chocolate.