Raw Mint Chocolates with Gooey Banana Centres

Ingredients

Makes 12 - 15 small chocolates

• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup liquid sweetener of choice (or to taste)
• 1 tsp peppermint extract (you can add more if you want a stronger mint flavour)
• 1 ripe banana

Note: you can always make these without the peppermint extract if you just want plain chocolate!

Method

Fill a large bowl about a third of the way with boiling water then place a smaller bowl inside it. This is to make sure the mixture doesn't solidify while you're making the chocolate but if you live in a tropical climate you probably won't need to do this!

Put the cacao powder and melted coconut oil into the smaller bowl and mix them together until no lumps of cacao remain. Stir in 1/4 cup of your sweetener of choice (I used maple syrup which isn't raw but you can use a raw sweetener such as agave if you wish) and taste - if it's not sweet enough then add a bit more and taste again (I ended up using 1/2 cup). 

I used a chocolate mould to make mine but if you don't have one then you could either use an ice cube tray (they may be difficult to remove though) or cupcake cases (the cases will yield larger chocolates). Using a teaspoon, fill the spaces of whatever mould you're using about a third of the way each and place the tray in the freezer for about 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set - if you're using cupcake cases pop them onto a baking tray before you put them in the freezer. 

While you're waiting for them to set chop your banana into slices that are about 0.5cm thick (you'll only need half the banana so either cover the rest and store it in the fridge or eat it straight away!). If you're using cupcake cases you don't need to cut them up any smaller but if you're using a chocolate mould or an ice cube tray cut these slices into quarters to form small banana chunks. When the chocolate in the freezer has set simply put the banana slices/chunks on top and then cover them with the remaining chocolate mixture divided equally between each space. Put them in the freezer again for about 10 minutes, then remove them from the moulds and enjoy! 

As these melt very easily due to the coconut oil you should store them in an airtight container in the fridge.