Chocolate Mousse with Toasted Hazelnuts and Strawberries (Vegan)

I can't even tell you how happy I am to post this recipe.  If I was going to describe how fantastic this chocolate mousse is I would tell you it's silky, smooth, a deep dish, and addicting, but I will let you be the judge.  The texture of this dessert varies according to how long it stays in the fridge.  The hardest it will go would be the texture of fudge.  Honestly, the most addicting part of this dessert other than the chocolate is the toasted hazelnuts.  I had no idea how deliciously scrumptious they would be until I popped a few in my mouth.  For some reason it reminded me of popcorn with a dash of salt.

The first time I made this mousse I tried to make a torte with it.  The filling was wonderful so I had to use it in one of my recipes.  I used to make avocado pudding and that was the closest thing to mousse for me.  All of my brothers thought it was so weird that I put something green in chocolate pudding.  This texture was super creamy and delightful, so eating chocolate mousse brought me back to those good ol' days.  

Chocolate Mousse with Toasted Hazelnuts and Strawberries (Vegan)

Chocolate Mousse Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used the Enjoy Life brand)
• 2 tbsps cacao powder
• 2 tbsps coconut nectar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch or two of cinnamon

Add Ins:

• strawberries or any other fruit
• toasted hazelnuts (the recipe is below)
• coconut whip cream (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan heat the semi-sweet chocolate chips on medium-high temperature until melted.  This will probably take a few minutes.  After they are melted stir them together.

2. In a blender, blend all of the ingredients until smooth (except the add ins of course.)

3. Pour the mixture in 3 cups and let the chocolate mousse set in the fridge for an hour.  You can leave the cups in the fridge longer for a more solid texture.  

4. After the chocolate mousse is set, top the chocolate mousse with the add ins.

• This recipe serves 3

Toasted Hazelnuts

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsps of hazelnuts
• a little less than half a tbsp of coconut oil
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 350F. and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for 8-10 minutes.  Sprinkle a little sea salt on the hazelnuts to taste.  

The Best Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello everyone, oh my it's been a while since I have blogged.  I used to work on my old blog called Gluten Free Love Story.  Now I decided this dessert blog is what I should work on.  I have tried to fix this website to the point where I sit at the computer desk and think, "uhhhhhhh, I can't figure anything else out."  Having a blog can be difficult to handle on your own.  My dream is to someday have a professional web designer help me with what I can't figure out.  

So here you have one of my favorite desserts of all time, with the perfect combination of everything.  This recipe is super easy to make and if any of your friends eat a few of these cookies they will hunt you down for the recipe.  

I am so happy  because I am basically done with high school since I have turned in all of my big assignments. This means I will have more time to do other things like blog of coarse.  So since I am starting this new blog, what desserts do you want the recipe for?  Whatever it is I will try to fix up the tastiest and most healthy batch I can.  Maybe you'll ask me to make a moist chocolate cake, or lemon bars.  Yum, just talking about desserts makes me hungry, even though I recently had gluten free pancakes topped with strawberry cheesecake filling and fruit-my favorite!  Your probably thinking, "gosh, what more could you want."  Ya, I got to admit it was a piece of heaven, and I'm not exaggerating.

The next thing that most likely will be posted is Gluten Free Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese or some kind of Ice Cream because we are buying an  ice cream machine.  I have seriously always wanted one.  I have been craving ice cream so much that I made banana ice cream from scratch with my vita mix machine.  It all started because I was going bananas for creamy, silky ice cream.  I bet the words bananas, ice cream, and weird are running through your mind.  It actually tastes good, especially with a hint of nutritional yeast, and if you're not familiar with that it just gives foods a cheesy flavor.  

The Best Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 cup cashew flour
• 1/8-1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut nectar
• 3/4 cup coconut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 3 tbsps cacao nibs

Directions:

1. In a bowl, sift the almond flour, cashew flour, sea salt, and ground flax seeds.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cacao nibs, and mix well.  Knead the cookie dough and smash any coconut butter clumps with your fingers or a spoon.  Add the cacao nibs and stir the dough until everything is mixed in well.

2. Next, place the dough on a long piece of parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll the dough until you reach the cookie thickness you desire.  With a round cookie cutter, or the inside of a round measuring cup, make a round shape.  Gently place each cookie unto a dehydrating tray or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place them onto it.

3. Option 1: Dehydrate the the cookies on 105F. for around 12 hours or over-night.  

Option 2: If you put them onto a cookie sheet this means that you will be refrigerating them to get a more solid cookie.  I really like this texture, and it requires no equipment other than a refrigerator.

4. When they are finished you can serve them with almond milk sweetened with stevia.

• This recipes makes 12-14 cookies