You guys! How fun is this?! There are little “snowflakes” falling across the screen! This makes me feel five thousand times more festive when writing this recipe. (unfortunately, if you are coming across this recipe anytime after the holidays, I suspect the snowflakes will no longer be with us. Insert sad face here ____

A festive spin on everyone’s favorite candy. I know, I know. Like anyone needs more sweets during the holiday season. This is yet another temptation to test our finite amount willpower allotted to us each day. I’ll make you a deal though. Skip the Chocolate Santa, the red and green MnM’s, and the mini Reese’s peanut butter cups and save your sweet tooth for the REAL DEAL. Your mouth and tummy will thank you. As will your whole body for sparing it the injustice of poor quality candy when you can get the same joy from a treat with clean ingredients!

Also, I promise you will have lots of leftover hazelnut butter to spread on toast, mix in smoothies, or eat straight out of the container.

Hazelnut Butter Cups

Hazelnut Butter (see below)
Melted Dark Chocolate (see below)

1. Using a silicone muffin mold or cups, spread a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom of the cup and chill until firm
2. Using your hands, form very small rounds/discs of nut butter to fit into the cups leaving a margin on all sides for more chocolate.
3. Using a spoon pour chocolate over the nut butter to fill in the sides and top.
4. Chill until firm and remove from mold to serve.

Hazelnut Butter

2 c. raw hazelnuts
2 Tbsp. coconut sugar
1 tsp. sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Lay hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast until fragrant, shaking frequently to minimize possibility of burning.
3. Remove from oven and place in food processor with sugar and salt.
4. Process until smooth, scraping down sides when needed (this takes A LONG time. Longer than you think it should. Be patient and eventually it will turn into a smooth nut butter.)

Melted Chocolate

6 oz. 85% dark chocolate, crushed into pieces
2 Tbsp. roasted hazelnut oil
pinch sea salt

1. Using a double boiler or clean, dry bowl on top of a pot with boiling water, heat chocolate ingredients until melted and smooth.