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Have you seen the Christmas gift guide I put together featuring a bunch of crafters and small businesses? There’s some great (and DIVERSE!) stuff in there! You can check it out here and give them some love.
These pretty chocolate cranberry clusters are the perfect combination of subtle orange, tart cranberry, and dark chocolate. I think they taste pretty gourmet, and my sister Katelyn and I loved them. My parents did not, so it appears that this is kind of a love-hate recipe. If you’re not a fan of sour, don’t make these because the cranberries are undeniably tart. I think this makes for a great flavor, but not everyone agrees with me.
Coconut oil is a great way to rev the metabolism, and coconut oil chocolate has become a staple in many Trim Healthy Mama and low carb kitchens. Problem is, we often like to add lots of goodies to said chocolate – like peanuts – and if those goodies are calorie-dense themselves, the “Skinny Chocolate” can lose its skinny properties. It’s still healthy, but no longer nearly as slimming. This is why I like to find chocolate variations that still retain their skinniness: enter cranberries! Cranberries are a Fuel Pull in the Trim Healthy Mama healthy eating lifestyle (which you can find out more about here), which means that they are both low fat and low carb. Not only that, but there are only 46 calories in a whole cup of cranberries! They add a great pop of flavor to break up the chocolate, but they’re not going to take away from the metabolism-revving properties of the coconut oil.
These are a great candy to have on hand over the holidays! I’m going to be working on a couple of other Christmas candies and treats as well, so stay tuned! Do you have a favorite Christmas candy?
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- ½ cup refined coconut oil
- 3 T cocoa powder
- 1-2 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend, powdered in a coffee grinder if desired (or more, to taste)
- ½-1 tsp. orange extract (to taste)
- ⅛ tsp. ground ginger, optional
- 1½ cups frozen cranberries
- Pink salt and orange zest for sprinkling on top, optional
- Melt the coconut oil and cocoa powder together until the coconut oil is soft but not totally melted. Whisk in the sweetener, orange extract, and ground ginger to taste. Taste and adjust. I don't usually powder my Super Sweet Blend because it seems to dissolve just fine for me, but if you have problems with grittiness, powder it before adding it. Tweak the sweetness levels to your taste because I'm a dark chocolate lover and most people will probably want more sweetener than I use.
- When the chocolate is as you like it, stir in the frozen cranberries, and keep stirring until the chocolate freezes onto them. Break them into bite-sized chunks and sprinkle with Himalayan pink salt (or regular mineral salt) and orange zest. If you don't have a mineral salt for topping, add a pinch of regular salt to the chocolate mixture before adding the cranberries.
- Store in the freezer. Yields 4-6 servings.
Suggested products:
- Watkin’s Orange Extract
- THM Super Sweet Blend and Mineral Salt can be purchased from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
I have solid at room temperature and liquid coconut oil. Will the liquid work in this recipe? Thanks, Vickie
I recommend the solid in this recipe.
Super Yum! I had just gone to the freezer and finished off my last two pieces of skinny chocolate and was about to mix up another batch when I saw a bag of frozen cranberries. I thought to myself, chocolate and cranberries sounds great, I wonder if there’s a recipe online for skinny chocolate with cranberries. A google search and a few minutes later, I found this. Thanks! Just as an aside, I actually used True Lime in the skinny chocolate instead of the orange extract, because that was what I had on hand, but orange sounds good too.
I would love to make these but I’m confused a little with your instructions. At what point do we take the chocolate off the heat after melting? Thanks for getting back with me.
It won’t let me rate 5 stars ?
The chocolate is taken off the heat after the first sentence of instructions. I actually usually use a microwave to soften the coconut oil, and no heat is used after that.
I made them with just using the skinny chocolate from cookbook and frozen cranberries. Threw them in a little at a time and placed on wax paper. Put in freezer for 5 mins and turned out DELISH! Hubby and kids didn’t care for them because of being sour but that means more for me 🙂 ! I also pre-ordered your cookbook and can’t wait! Thank you for such great ideas.
I love these! I have been on a chocolate kick , this will help keep me on track. Thanks for sharing!
I love these! I can’t put them down though so….that could be a problem….
Yummm! I never ate raw cranberries before. Now I can’t stop!
Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful recipes!
Although I think this would be too tart for me, I think some of my family will love it. I’m making it for Christmas Eve. I think I will also make some with blueberries–I know it will be somewhat of a crossover, but I’m okay with that for Christmas! Thank you for this recipe!
Not a crossover unless you eat more than 1/2 cup’s worth. 🙂 Great idea!
Going to make this for our church Christmas party Saturday; can’t wait!! Thank you for the recipe!