Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter

Good morning!

No one wanted to get out of bed this morning…especially Sketchie! We woke up to quite the snow storm.

I was feeling a bit congested this morning, so I came down to the kitchen and made myself a delicious Classic Green Monster amped up with a 1/2 cup of frozen organic blueberries (that I saved from the Farmer’s Market in the summer). It was a delicious and energizing way to start the weekend on the right track.

Oh, I also had a bit of Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter in the mix too…

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Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter

Quite possibly the smoothest, silkiest, and richest nut butter I have ever tasted. This is a definite show stopper with an intense chocolate taste.

Yield: 1 cup

Adapted from Dark Chocolate Almond Butter.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coconut oil (or other oil may work)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

Directions: Toast 2 cups of raw pecans for 10 minutes at 325F. Watch closely so you do not burn them. Place the 2 cups of toasted pecans into a food processor. Process for about 5-10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl every minute or as necessary. The toasted pecans will form into a butter much faster than the almonds do.

Just before your pecan butter is ready, add the 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 tsp of coconut oil to a small pot. Melt on low. You want to remove the pot from heat when there are still some chocolate chip clumps remaining. Don’t worry they will melt as you stir the mixture. I always take it off the heat a bit early to avoid burning the chocolate.

Add the melted chocolate to the pecan butter (still in the processor) and process for a couple minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add your kosher salt to taste and process more. Scoop into a container and store in the fridge. Makes 1 cup of Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter. Refrigerate. Note that the pecan butter firms up in the fridge. Allow it to sit at room temperature to soften before using.

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Toast your pecans for about 9-10 mins at 325F.

Process the pecans in a food processor for about 5-10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. The toasted pecans will turn into pecan butter much faster than the almonds do!

This was after about 5 minutes…

Add in the melted chocolate and coconut oil into the pecan butter…

And process for another 1-2 minutes. Season with kosher salt to taste.

You will be left with silky, smooth, buttery, and intensely chocolaty pecan butter. I had to hide this from myself deep in my refrigerator!! Oh my, is this a good nut butter.

Coming up, a delicious Curried Lentil Soup recipe I have made a few times over the past few weeks, but have yet to share…

Also, coming up….I will talk about my Winter 2011 training plan and the homemade Light box we made this week…

Nerd alert!

Have a great Saturday!