Clean Almond Joy Bites

I have a serious sweet tooth!  I have been tinkering around in the kitchen trying to come up with clean ideas to help with my sweet tooth.  My Dark Chocolate Covered Frozen Banana Bites are delicious, but I needed more of a variety.  I racked my brain for something else I could do with chocolate and fruit/nuts, and came up with this.  Enjoy!

Clean Almond Joy Bites

Ingredients

Filling:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
3 Tbsp pure honey
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup raw almonds

Coating:
1 3.5oz bar of 75% or higher dark chocolate
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp pure honey

In a medium bowl, combine filling ingredients.  Mix well to make sure ingredients are incorporated well.  Using your hands, make bite size balls out of the filling mix, placing them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place 1 or 2 raw almonds on each bite size coconut ball.  In a microwave safe bowl (or using a double broiler on the stove), melt the dark chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between each 30 seconds, until fully melted.  Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil and 1 tablespoon honey to the melted chocolate.  Using a spoon, evenly coat each coconut bite with the melted chocolate.  Refrigerate until chocolate hardens.

Clean Steel Cut Granola

I have a hashtag that I use in everything I post on Instagram: #operationabs.  I have never had abs, but that is one of my goals this year, by summer.  I know that abs are made in the kitchen and I knew my diet needed a bit of an adjustment.  I didn't eat bad by any means, but I needed to reduce my cheat meals and cut down on added sugar and sodium.  I love granola, but I know a lot of the pre made brands have a ton of what I am looking to stay away from.  I have been eating steel cut oats for a while now and wanted to try to make my own granola with them.  I didn't want to add just any dried fruit, because along with that, comes more added sugar, so I added dates :)  It is that nice crunch to add to yogurt or even as a cereal. Enjoy!

Steel Cut Granola

Ingredients 

3 cups steel cut oats
1/2 cup sliced raw almonds
1/2 cup dates, chopped
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp pure honey
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350*.  In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, dates, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, honey, almond extract, vanilla extract and cinnamon.  Mix well to make sure all ingredients are incorporated well.  Spread out evenly on a parchment paper line cookie sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes to make sure ingredients toast evenly.  Remove from oven and let cool completely.  Store in airtight container.