All Natural Recipes: Chocolate Candy

These are super easy to make. First you need some plastic candy molds. I got mine at Wal-Mart in the craft section. We have a ton of different ones that we use to make gummy snacks. Hobby Lobby or Michael's is also a good place to look. I found a candy making kit that had insect molds (my kids' favorite) and it had a squeeze bottle included. That makes pouring the chocolate into the molds easier.

2 cups of chocolate chips (we use Enjoy Life for dairy free, and Ghirardelli for non-dairy free)
2 TB of shortening (I use palm oil shortening from Tropical Traditions - order online, or you can use Spectrum brand from Whole Foods, online, or the health food store)

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a small saucepan on low, stirring continually until melted. I greased the candy molds with coconut oil, but this may not be necessary.

Transfer mixture to a squeeze bottle, or just carefully fill the candy molds however you want. Place in the fridge to set for about an hour. Turn the molds over and pop the candies out. If they don't pop out, use a knife to pry them out.

Can leave as solid chocolates, or add ingredients for variety. I added some rice krispy cereal to some. We use Erewhon brand for GFCF, or you can use Barbara's brand.

For another variety, I've added about 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint flavoring (I got at Whole Foods) to two cups of chocolate chips to make peppermint flavored chocolate candy or for chocolate covered marshmallows. My daughter loves it.

Then I sliced up some almonds and added those to a few. Almonds are stage two. Use peanuts for stage one. If you like be sneaky, throw in about 1/2 teaspoon of powdered wheat grass. :) The chocolate seems to mask the taste when I've added it to other chocolate treats.

These turned out really good and my kids loved them. I plan to make some marshmallows to go along with them for Valentine's Day. Might even throw in some graham crackers.

Store in the fridge or freezer.

The above ones, I got some lollipop sticks to make chocolate lolli's. My kids loved them. Added one of the chocolates to decorate a frosted banana muffin for a birthday party.

You can also wrap the chocolate candies in tin foil. Below are pictures from another Feingold member, Shawna Tamulen. Thanks for the pictures Shawna! Great job! (If you use the Baker's kit, make sure you throw away the chocolate that comes with it and use approved chocolate.