Four Ingredient Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Healthy diets don’t have to mean depriving yourself from all your gourmet pleasures. If you’re craving for something sweet, you can always rely on vegan or raw treats, which are very easy to make and contain healthy ingredients that nourish you and doesn’t burden your system. I switched to vegan and raw refined sugar-free desserts ever since I learned that sugar is one of the most acidic foods. A healthy diet means an alkaline environment where sugar doesn’t belong, but only clean ingredients.

The peanut butter chocolate cups only contain four ingredients: raw cacao, dry pitted dates, coconut oil and homemade peanut butter. I always make my own peanut butter, because the ones from the supermarket most often contain hydrogenated fats which are extremely unhealthy for the liver. For making your own peanut butter you only need raw peanuts (you can use toasted too, but the cups won’t be raw anymore) and a food processor; in about seven minutes you can make the healthiest peanut butter that you can flavor any way you want.

Peanuts are a great source of healthy monounsaturated fats, but also a good source of protein, B-complex vitamins, vitamin E and manganese. They also contain a powerful antioxidant called resveratrol, found in grapes and red wine. Together with the monounsaturated fats, the resveratrol contributes to maintaining a healthy circulatory system and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Raw cacao is another basic ingredient of these peanut butter cups, and also a very nourishing one. Raw cacao is made from cold-pressing raw cocoa beans, for removing the fat without killing the enzymes. In this way, the raw cacao preserves all the nutrients unspoiled and can have benefic effects on our health. It is loaded with magnesium (the mineral that your body needs when you crave for chocolate), iron, zinc, calcium and potassium. It also contains antioxidants and it’s an excellent mood booster. All the positive scientific studies on chocolate refer to the nutritional powers of the raw cacao, and not the one of the refined chocolate that we often buy. Raw cacao has a more intense flavor than the processed cocoa powder, so even if it’s a little more expensive than this one, it sure worthsevery penny.

Of course, these chocolate peanut cups aren’t recommended for a weight-loss diet, but if you want to indulge with a delicious yet healthy treat, this recipe is just what you are looking for!