Pistachio Coated Mini Chocolates

This idea came to me when I was trying to think of a healthier alternative to M&Ms. All the recipes for home-made M&Ms I could find included corn syrup, food colorings, or other unhealthy/non-food items. There isn't really a point in making them at home if they are just as bad for you!

I never did come up with any ideas that would work well to make home-made M&Ms...I'm still trying to figure that one out if anybody has any ideas!

In the mean time, these are actually pretty awesome themselves. The pistachios add a slightly crunchy, colorful coating to the chocolates. While they don't taste like M&Ms, they do have a great nutty, salty, chocolatey taste of their own...which is totally okay with me!

Oh, and did I mention they are gluten and dairy-free? :)
Ingredients:

Chocolate Center:

• 2 TBSP coconut oil
• 4 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp honey (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp coconut flour
• 1 Bowl of ice water big enough for your pot to fit in

Coating:

• 1/2 Cup pistachios (shelled)
• 2 TBSP coconut sugar
• Salt to taste (optional, do not use if pistachios are salted)
• 4 TBSP coconut oil

Directions:

Warm 2 TBSP coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until fully melted. Turn temperature down to low. Gradually stir in cocoa powder 1 TBSP at a time and whisk until all lumps are removed and you have a nice thin chocolatey liquid. Add honey 1 tsp at a time, stirring frequently. I only added 2 tsp of honey to mine, but you may want to add more if you like sweeter chocolate. These candies are more of a bitter-sweet. Next add one tsp coconut flour and stir until no lumps remain (this will help the chocolate be a bit more dough like later on, but the coconut flour doesn't add that awful raw flour taste).

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Next prepare your ice water bowl, make sure it is big enough to fit your chocolate pot in (if not just transfer the chocolate mixture to a smaller bowl). Fill the bowl about half-way with ice and water, but make sure when you submerge the chocolate pot that no water gets in your mixture. Set your chocolate pot into the ice bowl and continue to stir until chocolate begins to solidify. You want it to be an almost solid state, but still a little doughy. Shape chocolate into small balls and set on prepared cookie sheet (warning: this part gets messy!). You can make the chocolates however big you like, and whatever shapes you like. I just made mine slightly larger than an M&M. Place chocolate-lined cookie sheet in freezer for about 15 minutes or until chocolates are chilled.

Mini chocolates before the pistachio coating!

Meanwhile, combine pistachios, coconut sugar, and salt (if using) in a food processor and blend until you get a fine crumb mixture and no large pieces of pistachios remain. Transfer mixture to a plate or shallow bowl. Melt coconut oil in a separate pot until warm, do not add any to your crumb mixture.

Remove chilled chocolates and quickly dip one at a time in the melted coconut oil, make sure it is fully submerged. Quickly remove chocolate from oil and roll in the pistachio mixture until fully coated. Transfer back to cookie sheet and repeat until all chocolates are coated. It's best to do these one or two at a time to avoid the chocolates melting in your oil. Place the sheet back in the freezer for a few minutes to re-chill the slightly-melted chocolates back up... or just eat them. ;)