Ingredients

2 cups dark chocolate chips, melted (see notes below for methods)*

¼ cup almond milk or other dairy-free alternative**

1 tablespoon matcha tea powder***

1 teaspoon The New Farmers fresh spirulina

¼ cup plus one tablespoon maple syrup

.25 oz unsweetened cacao butter, finely chopped****

1/3 cup cashew or macadamia butter (recipe tested with cashew)

Special Equipment

Chocolate molds (we used silicone hearts)*****

Whisk (can also use a fork or spoon, but a whisk will yield better results)

Double boiler (semi-optional, see microwave method link in note)*

Candy Thermometer (optional)

Directions

Melt the chocolate, create the chocolate shells

1.     Melt the chocolate chips. See notes for helpful melting techniques*

2.     Create the chocolate heart shells by filling the molds with the melted chocolate. Once filled, pour the chocolate out of the molds, leaving a thick coating on the exterior of each heart.****** Chill in the fridge until chocolate is hardened

Make the filling

1.     In a small saucepan, heat the milk to a simmer and reduce to the lowest setting

2.     Whisk in matcha and maple syrup until fully combined

3.     Turn off the heat and add spirulina to the mixture, whisk until smooth and no clumps remain

4.     Add the cacao butter to the matcha spirulina mixture and stir until the liquid fully melts the cacao butter. You may need to return the mixture to the lowest heat setting on the stove if the cacao butter has trouble melting

5.     Once fully combined, add the cashew butter and whisk until smooth (you may see small flecks of the nut butter, that’s ok!)

Fill the Chocolate Molds

1.     Add about 2 teaspoons of the filling per chocolate heart, one teaspoon at a time

2. Once the chocolate shells in each mold are filled, cover with plastic wrap and return the molds to the refrigerator for about an hour

Finish the Chocolates

1.     Once the filling is set, remove the molds from the fridge and cover the top of each mold with a thin layer of melted chocolate. If your remaining chocolate has hardened by this stage, reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a double boiler*

2.  Return the molds to the fridge until the chocolate is hardened (30 min-1 hour). At this point you can pop the chocolates out of the molds and eat!

Recipe Notes

* We used a double boiler to melt our chocolate chips. If you don’t have a double boiler on hand, you can fill a larger pot or pan with an 1-3 inches of water and place a smaller pot inside the larger pot. The double boil method will ensure that your chocolate melts smoothly and does not burn. For more information on how to properly melt or “temper” chocolate, here is a helpful link (https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/just-the-facts-how-to-temper-chocolate ). If you prefer to melt your chocolate in a microwave here is a helpful link (https://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/how-to-melt-chocolate-in-a-microwave)

**Dairy milk will work too

***We like Matchabar’s ceremonial grade (https://matchabar.co/collections/tins)

****For this recipe we used cacao butter from Navitas Organics (https://navitasorganics.com/products/cacao-butter)

*****We tested with this silicone heart mold from Wilton (https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Easy-Flex-Silicone-24-Cavity-Gelatine/dp/B0086XHB1Y/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=silicone+heart&qid=1550071082&s=gateway&sr=8-5 ). The recipe makes about 12 chocolate hearts if using the Wilton mold. If you are using a different mold you will need to adjust the ingredients (i.e. double the recipe) or adjust the number of chocolates made (increase or decrease depending on the size of the mold)

****** Here is a great link if you want to learn more about filling chocolate molds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3XaBdRaejc)