Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Bacon Bites

Ice cube trays give you a perfect nugget of chocolate-covered vegan-bacon.

My husband almost always needs to end his dinner with a dessert, so I wanted to surprise him with a new chocolaty treat that I put together one lazy afternoon.

These vegan chocolate bacon bites are easy to make and can be customized to suit your loved one's tastes. I had some bags of Phoney Baloney's Coconut Bacon sitting in my pantry, and I wanted to incorporate their salty goodness into a recipe. What better place to put these cruelty-free bacon bits in than in some rich chocolate!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE BACON BITES

Ingredients:
2 cups of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (I had apple pie spice lying around, so I used that)
1 teaspoon of cardamom powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of cayenne (optional)
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
Salt
2 teaspoons of Magic Vegan Bacon Grease (optional)
Phoney Baloney Coconut Bacon (you can use one flavor or a mix of flavors)
Vegan sprinkles (optional)
Ice cube trays
Cooking spray
Pot of boiling water
Glass bowl

Instructions:
First, lightly grease two ice cube trays. Add some coconut bacon to the bottom of each ice-cube section. It was about 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of flakes per section. You just want to fill about 1/3 of the section.

Next, melt your chocolate chips. I boiled a couple inches of water in a pot and placed a glass bowl over the mouth of the pot once the water was boiling and I had turned the stove off. In the bowl I had the chocolate chips, the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne, and a pinch of salt), and the coconut oil. Don't add the Magic Vegan Bacon Grease yet -- I find that the vegan bacon grease tastes better when stirred in at the very end.

Add the vegan bacon grease right before you spoon your chocolate mixture into the ice cube trays.

As the chocolate melts, stir the mixture until it's completely smooth. Then, add the Magic Vegan Bacon Grease, making sure to include the bacony bits at the bottom of the jar (if the contents have melted). Vegan bacon grease is comprised of coconut oil, so depending on the temperature of your kitchen, the contents of the jar could be melted or in a solid state.

Carefully spoon about 1 tablespoon of chocolate into each section of the ice-cube tray. Go back and fill each section if you have leftover chocolate. You want each section to be half full of the chocolate and coconut bacon mixture. Don't worry if you don't have enough chocolate or if you filled each section too much and ran out...you can either make more chocolate sauce or just fill one ice cube tray.

Gently shake the ice cube trays to settle the chocolate into the coconut bacon and to make the tops a little smoother. I like to sprinkle a little salt on top of each section, as well as some organic vegan sprinkles.

Vegan sprinkles add a little crunch to each bite.

Stick the trays in the freezer, and the chocolate hardens within 10 minutes thanks to the coconut oil. They should pop out easily, but if not, just take a knife around the edges. The chocolate pieces melt quickly in your warm fingers, so keep that in mind when you're handling the candy.

I empty the chocolate pieces into a Tupperware and keep it in the fridge for my husband to grab one or two treats whenever he has a craving for something sweet. The semi-sweet chocolate is rich and smooth, and you get bursts of salty goodness from the coconut bacon and pinch of salt on the surface of the candy. The sprinkles also add a nice crunch with each bite.

As I stated earlier, you can add whatever spices you want. Definitely leave out the cayenne if your family doesn't like spicy food. The cayenne adds a little heat that you feel in the back of your throat -- you don't feel it on your tongue. Consider adding peppermint extract for a nice minty treat, or filling the tray with vegan cookie pieces or vegan mini marshmallows.

Review: Eli's Earth Organic Drinking Chocolate and Cocoa Felice Hot Cocoa Mix by Coop's MicroCreamery

These two drinking-chocolate products taste horrible on their own, but when you combine them, you get a rich and satisfying cup of cocoa.

I’m a little disappointed in the chocolate-drinking mixes by Eli’s and Coop’s MicroCreamery. Neither one left me wanting for more, but I’m sure they will be suitable as baking ingredients. Coop’s product even has a recipe for chocolate pudding on the back, and reviewers have said this pudding is tasty. I’ll try it later and report back.

First, I’ll talk about Eli’s Earth Organic Drinking Chocolate. I purchased the milk-style flavor, but there’s also dark chocolate, almond, and hazelnut. One of those other flavors might be tastier than the milk-style, but I don’t intend to purchase them to find out. 

The good:

Eli’s Earth donates 5 percent of sales to non-profits that benefit children.

The bad:

There is hardly any chocolate flavor. There are scratch-and-sniff stickers that give off more chocolate essence than this drink. I followed the directions, which stated warming up 1 cup of milk and adding 2 tablespoons of the drink mix. I was interested in purchasing the almond or dark chocolate mix, but because I was buying this product for my young son, I thought the milk-style would be more inviting to his palette. I think this is definitely a drink for older children and adults because there’s no sweetness to it. And believe me, I don’t like overly sugary things, but this didn’t have any sweetness. I checked the label, and there are 15 grams of sugar in the product. Perhaps if you used a sweetened non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened), you’d enjoy the flavor more.

Next, is Cocoa Felice Hot Cocoa Mix by Coop's MicroCreamery. This only comes in one flavor.

The good: 

It’s twice the size (22 ounces) and $2.50 cheaper than Eli’s, which is 10 ounces and $12.99. 

The bad:

Talk about a complete opposite from the other product – this mix produces such a sweet-tasting drink that even my son didn’t like it. The recipe calls for adding 2 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of warmed up milk. I first made it with 3 tablespoons – big mistake! As I stated, it was way too sweet. My son eventually drank about half because I put in some Dandies mini marshmallows in it, and I spooned him the drink with the marshmallows. I had to dump out the rest. I made a second cup later and only used 2 tablespoons, and the drink was definitely more palatable. It was still too sweet, so I poured it into the mug with the Eli’s drink. 

These two drinks, when mixed together, produce a very nice mug of hot cocoa. There’s a deep rich cocoa flavor that’s highlighted with a hint of sweetness. Too bad you have to buy both products to achieve this tasty result. 

Quickie Product Reviews

I ordered a New York for the Holidays Care Package from Vegan Cuts back in December, and most of the products in the package were gross. There page says "Start spreading the news..." It's more like: Start spreading the boos!

Here’s why:

• Black + Blanco Marzipan Toasted Almond Cookies: The cookies tasted like rancid coconut oil.
• One Lucky Duck Raw Vanilla Crispies: Tasted like Frosted Flakes – oh wait, no it didn’t. This had no flavor.
• Better Off Spread Dark Chocolate Rosemary Peanut Butter: Tastes like rosemary packed in mud.
• Z Crackers Garlic & Basil Crackers: These were rock-hard crackers with just a teeny bit of salt.

Better Off Spread's rosemary dark chocolate peanut butter has a salty, nutty, and chocolate aftertaste, but the initial taste is like you walked up to a garden and took a bite of the earth.

The one product in the box that was OK:

• Right Tasty Ramp Vinaigrette: You have to refrigerate after opening, so it becomes solid in the fridge, which makes it a pain to use. It tasted like any other vinaigrette. 

The one product in the box that was yummy:

• Raaka Coconut Milk Chocolate Bar: Sweet, silky, and everything you want chocolate to be like. 

So if you ever see these items (other than the Raaka chocolate) for sale, hold on to your money.