Chocolate bars have become exorbitantly expensive, prompting me to start making these truffles as a cost-saving measure. Only the priciest brands are free from emulsifiers and other additives that I prefer to avoid for an optimal physique. These truffles are easy and foolproof to make, allowing for the incorporation of healthful ingredients not typically found in store-bought versions. Puffed amaranth is a wonderful addition, though puffed rice or quinoa also works well, although these two ingredients will resemble chocolate bark or mounds more than truffles.
I love adding sweet herbs like lavender; the photos feature a version with 1 oz of puffed amaranth and about 1 tablespoon of dried lavender flowers, plus a topping of a lavender floret on each one increasing the luxury of each treat.
This is a flexible recipe and you will learn to the art of how much you can add of different ingredients. A key metric when making your bars is that the right balance of fillings ensures there’s still plenty of chocolate ‘dough’—if that’s what you want to call it. This recipe is as much an art as it is a process, and with practice, you’ll learn the limits of what to add if you desire to stray from the instructions here. Finely diced almonds or small seeds like sesame are other nutritious and flavorful ways to enhance the truffles. Sesame, compared to other seeds/nuts, offers the broadest range of nutrients, from vitamins to minerals.
For those inclined towards a vegan lifestyle, coconut milk is an excellent substitute for dairy milk, yielding superb results in any recipe. However, in my early motherhood years—spanning pregnancy to when my child turns seven—I’ve found that some dairy is essential for meeting his nutritional needs. The dream of raising a vegan child fades when faced with the practical challenge of ensuring they consume adequate riboflavin and folate.
It’s a tough sell to expect children to consume enough greens and mushrooms to match the nutrient content found in milk, making the idea somewhat laughable. Even introducing them to less sweet, yet highly nutritious fruits like papaya can prove difficult. This does not negate the fact that, for adults, the consumption of greens and mushrooms is preferable due to the various detrimental effects of milk. However, these adult considerations are outweighed by the paramount need for children to ingest all the essential micronutrients for their growth and development, which can be more readily achieved through the consumption of milk and some fruits.
Convincing a little one to drink just ½ cup of sheep’s milk can be done and you might have to be creative to supplement their milk with a few bites of papaya, such as teasing them about having squishy eyes that get better with each bite of papaya… to emphasize the importance of their eye health to encourage them.
And no, the nutrient levels in high-quality dairy milk cannot be matched by alternative milks like soy or almond, especially those that are store-bought and packed with chemicals and sugars and do a disservice to a child. These alternatives come laden with additives, lacking in essential nutrients, and do not compare to the nutritional profile necessary for a child’s development. They also are pasteurized in plastic lined containers making them another source of endocrine disrupting chemicals to your child.
On the other hand, homemade almond, hemp, and soy milk can be nutritious, particularly soy milk. Yet, considering a child’s physiological needs, they’re designed to consume human breast milk until about five, possibly even up to seven years old, and plant milk is not a comparable substitution. This isn’t a recommendation to continue breastfeeding until then, but it highlights that children naturally retain the enzymes to digest milk and rely on their mothers for psychological development during these formative years.
The gastrointestinal system and brain of a child continue to develop post-birth, suggesting that providing high-quality milk is aligned with their physiological development. The milk available in my area, while not certified organic, comes from small farms specializing in sheep or goat milk. Despite their wider distribution, these options are preferable to commercial cow milk, which can contain endocrine disruptors like dioxins and other pollutants ranging from IGF-1 growth hormone to pesticides and herbicides. Even organic cow milk available to me, which isn’t raw and comes from a large distribution chain, may not guarantee grass-fed cows, impacting the milk’s nutritional quality. When cows are organic, but not fed grass, the fatty acid content of the milk is still inflammatory. On the other hand, cows fed grass have milk containing the anti-inflammatory fat, DHA.
Another reason for my preference is the protein content; cow’s milk is high in protein, suited for rapidly growing beefy calves, not humans. Human milk, interestingly the lowest in protein content across the mammalian kingdom, is closer in composition to sheep’s milk, followed by goat milk, making them better choices for young children.
Chocolate Amaranth Truffle Boxes
Equipment
- 1 pan
- 1 stainless steel bowl to make a double broiler
Ingredients
- 6 oz Valrona unsweetened chocolate
- 1/4 c muscovado sugar This is higher in iron than regular sugar
- 1 T coconut oil
- 1 oz finely chopped walnuts or other chopped nuts, can be replaced with amaranth
- 0.5 oz puffed amaranth
- 1/2 t vanilla
- 3.6 oz whole sheeps milk or a few tablespoons, until the chocolate comes together in a sudden big clump
Instructions
- Dissolve chocolate on a double broiler (put a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water)
- Add sugar and coconut oil and let melt another 15 minutes
- Add walnuts, amaranth and vanilla, stir to combine
- Now add milk slowly, while stirring with a wide spoon or spatula
- The whole mixture should immediately come together into a brownie like dough.
- I tried making these with a nut milk but the chemical reaction simply did not work
- Grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil, spoon mounds onto your sheet pan, you can form them a bit with your fingers if you need. The dough should be a bit oily and will not stick to your hands. If desired, put a small lavender floret on top of each mound, or a piece of walnut.
- Put in the fridge or freezer to solidify. Remove to a box after they have chilled. At this point you can stack them. Store in the fridge for best results.
Notes
Acknowledging the physiological and dietary needs of children has led me to the pragmatic approach of incorporating high-quality milk into their diet, especially in the time from weaning at 1-2 years until the age of 5. This ensures they receive the vital nutrients in a form they are willing to consume, aligning with their best health outcomes while navigating the practicalities of dietary preferences and the developmental needs of young children.
