Sugar Free Coconut Candies

With Easter just a few short days away, teachers and parents alike are bracing themselves for the inevitable sugar rush little Peter Rabbit and his friends will be giving to the kids (obviously the Easter Bunny never had children!). I have nothing against having a treat or two for a special occasion, but seeing the size of some of the baskets, boxes and bags of candy out there I can only imagine what the situation is going to be like at school come Tuesday!

I figured that if kids are going to be eating candy anyways, the best I could do was give them a slightly less sugary version that they would still enjoy, but wouldn't cause them to fly away after eating. I picked the relatively seasonal coconut as a base and bumped up the flavour by using both a rich, virgin coconut oil and organic shredded coconut for the "body" of the candy. Of course, since I was billing these balls as candy, I needed to sweeten them somehow, and I didn't want to add a bucket of sugar, corn syrup or honey to do so. On a whim a while back, I had picked up some xylitol to play with and figured I could try combining that with some stevia and see what happened.

I was extremely pleased with the result! While the candy is sweet, it is not cloyingly so, allowing the nuttiness and fruity flavours of the coconut to shine through. I even made my own sugar free chocolate coating by melting a few squares of unsweetened chocolate and mixing it with the same combination of xylitol and stevia. I left mine blissfully dark, but if you like milky chocolate, a dash of full fat coconut milk would do the trick and taste fabulous!

Shared with Wellness Weekends and Foodie Friday.

Sugar Free Coconut Candies
Makes 15 
1 cup coconut
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
Pinch sea salt
1/3 cup xylitol
¼ tsp pure stevia extract

1. Combine all ingredients (except chocolate) in a stand mixer and process to form a "doughy" mixture - about 3-5 minutes.
2. Scoop into small balls and place on a lined baking sheet.
3. Freeze until solid
4. Dip in the melted chocolate and allow to set.
5. Store in the fridge.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 51.9
Total Fat: 4.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1.1 mg
Total Carbs: 4.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.5 g
Protein: 0.2 g