Hello hello! It’s been a hot minute since I whipped up a new recipe for you! I’ve been having a blast facilitating my Love Your Healthy Self Program, working with some amazing new 1:1 clients, and doing some fun live talks & cooking classes so life has been busy, but fun! I’m also brainstorming some ideas for group nutrition coaching to make habit shifting and education accessible to more folks.
I’ve got about 6 different group types stored in my phone (Foundations of Nutrition, Nutrition for Menopausal Years, Hormone Balance Through the Life Span, Digestive Healthy & Healing, Nutrition for Stress Support, and so on! Can you tell I’m a little excited?!). So keep your eyes peeled for some developments in that area!
Today though, it’s all about that chocolate life! When winter hits all I want to do is curl up with a cozy mug of hot chocolate (who am I kidding, I drank it all summer too). I was getting a little sick of my regular coconut milk hot chocolate so I started playing around with whatever I had lying around in my fridge to see what would happen. When I spied my giant container of tahini I remembered how obsessed I am with Halva, a delicious (often) sesame paste-based dessert hailing from Israel, Central & West Asia, Turkey, Lebanon, and India. If you want to dig into the interesting history of halva, this is a great primer.
Whenever I visit Saskatoon, I always pick up one or two or three bars of the marbled halva from the Bulk Cheese Warehouse and nibble on it after my meals in decadent splendour. The version I’m most familiar with is tahini (sesame paste)-based and the perfect creamy, flaky, texture. Since I need a candy thermometer to make my own and I didn’t feel like going to the store, I thought, why not turn that into a drink I can sip on instead?
Sesame seeds are a great source of dietary calcium, which is great when you don’t eat dairy or limit your consumption. It also has a distinct flavour that I love. It’s rich and nutty and savoury and combines SO well with the richness of cocoa, the sweetness of honey, and a splash of vanilla. I actually paused writing this partway through so I could go make myself a mug.
As with all my recipes, the measurements below are suggestions. I will often add a little extra cocoa or tahini to really ramp up the flavour. Or you might like it a little sweeter. Take this recipe and make it your own! Enjoy!
This delicious dairy-free hot chocolate uses calcium-rich tahini and honey to create a delicious hot chocolate that tastes like halva!
- 2 cups water*
- 1 heaping tbsp. tahini
- 1 tbsp. raw cacao or cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. collagen, optional
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp. honey adapt to your preference
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 splash coconut, almond, or oat mylk
- 3 small dates, pitted*
- 6 cashews
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Bring water to boil. I like to infuse my water with crushed ginger or chaga, but you don't have to!
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Add all other ingredients to venting blender or to a high walled cup.
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Once water is boiled add to blender and turn to high for about a minute. If using an immersion/handheld/stick blender add water to high walled cup and blender for about a minute or until there's some creamy foam on top.
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Pour into a large mug and enjoy! If it's not sweet enough for you, stir in a little more honey.
- I will often use a chaga, licorice, or ginger tea base instead of plain water.
- If you have a high speed, venting blender you can use dates as your sweetener instead of honey.
Well friend, that’s our recipe for today! I hope you enjoy it. And if you’re looking for some more inspiration in the kitchen you can try out my FREE Build Your Own Buddha Bowl Cooking Class right here! You’ll receive a recipe guide, shopping list, & equipment list plus a demo on how to make Turmeric Coconut Rice, Glory Bowl Dressing, & Sweet & Salty Roasted Chickpeas. Get the class here!
As always, thank you for your love and support. Please stay safe and take care of one another!
Cait xo
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