World Cooking

It’s hard to believe Christmas is just a little over a week away. I’m consciously trying to slow down and work less day by day as we inch closer, trying to feel present and enjoy the little “visuals” I love immersing myself in this time of year. Our sweet-to-us ornaments hanging on our tree, and the lights strung haphazardly with love on the homes in our neighborhood. Something that always brings me back to the moment, and the physical world, is reorganizing – and I’ve been doing quite a bit of that around the house lately. There’s nothing like pulling out the Christmas decorations to make you feel like decluttering your home a bit. We kept gifts simple and to-the-heart this year, something that our wallets and souls are really grateful for. Because the truth is we have enough, but the other truth is there is joy to be had in giving.

On the note of giving, I’ll segment into something sweet you can give too. It’s my very own Cake in a Crate dessert kit for homemade Coconutty Candy Bars that I am so excited to share with you! This is something I’ve been working on with their lovely team for just shy of a year now. If you don’t know who Cake in a Crate is, they are an online shop for vegan baking kits that are also free of gluten and refined sugar – the dream team. They’ve partnered with so many wonderful bloggers to create a recipe kit unique to them, and I am incredibly honored and touched to have gotten to create one of my very own now too. The extra nifty part about this is I have the recipe below for you to follow if your heart desires, and the kit will be available to order for at least the next year on Cake in a Crate’s site here – yippee!

If you choose to order the kit, you’ll receive the cutest packaged box filled with all of the ingredients pre-measured for you, along with a recipe card with photos for guidance. This is nice seeing as the ingredients below may require one or two special items you don’t normally have on hand – and instead of buying a large amount of something you may not use again, you can get just the right amount in the kit instead. This is also wonderful for gifting to a special friend or family member who loves to make their own treats too!

I find these bars to be really exciting to make, because you’re not only building your own candy bar but making the chocolate from scratch as well! I always feel like Willy Wonka when I make these. Aside from being vegan and naturally sweetened, the gluten free cookie crust is absent of nuts – so this really is an allergy friendly treat. Two simple ingredients make up the chewy base, tigernut four and medjool dates. This special flour is one I fell for last spring when I shared these cookies with you, and I have been enjoying it in a variety of treats since. Tigernuts are a tuber rich in fiber and minerals, and when dried and ground, create a wonderfully sweet and nutty flour. Topped with a creamy coconut layer and dunked in homemade chocolate – these flavors are everything I want in a candy bar (and hope that you do too). Pop down to see the recipe, and order my kit here if you so fancy at anytime over the next year. I created a badge with a link in my sidebar that will take you directly to the kit at anytime, so you won’t have to find this post if you come-a-looking ;).

I hope you all have a joy-filled and festive weekend! Scott and I drove to Phoenix for a few days to spend Christmas time with each side of our family. We decided to do it a little more casually the week before so that we could spend our first Christmas in our home together. Typically we travel for the holiday, but this year we will get to carve out new traditions between just him and I here in California. It will be sweet for sure. I also cannot wait to chat more with you in future posts about some recent changes – like how I’ve been completely obsessed with savory breakfasts, and how (and why) Scott and I gave up coffee *gasp*, seventeen days clean! (Laughing.) It was pretty intense. Sending love and light and holiday cheer to you all.

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