I’ve never been the type to celebrate Valentine’s Day. With all the pressure to buy roses and diamonds for your love, it just seems so over-commercialized, too pricey and too stressful. There is no need for flowers or chocolates or fancy dinners for this lady.

Yet I do still find fun in the tradition of gifting valentines to family, friends and colleagues. Rather than mass-produced, cartoon-embellished cards, creating my own edible gifts always wins me huge points from anyone on the receiving end. Today I’m sharing with you a true winner: the maca mint chocolate truffles recipe from my latest Edible Gifts ebook. Lisa and I created this collection of ebook recipes to inspire you to start the tradition of gifting homemade vegan treats, and I think Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday to put these recipes to use. It’s like your carefree, super fun and—most importantly—insanely delicious guide to gifting. (You can order your copy here.)

These particular minty confections from the ebook are super easy to make yet look like they came from a professional candy shop. A little effort in gift presentation always makes things extra special, so set them in foil candy cups and package in decorative tins and your gift recipient will love you forever.

Speaking of heart-warming gifts for this lovey-dovey holiday, the fine folks at Nature’s Path have offered to give away a beautiful Valentine’s Day prize pack to one ADC reader! The giveaway includes:

• Nature’s Path Love Crunch Granolas (Dark Chocolate & Red Berries and Dark Chocolate Macaroon),
• Nature’s Path Pure Oats Oatmeal,
• Kicking Horse Organic Coffee,
• Choice Organic Tea, and
• Presented on a beautiful, sustainably sourced wooden tray, as well as matching bowl and spoon.

One of the great things about this company is that they use high-quality, organic, fair-trade, non-GMO ingredients. Their Valentine’s Day inspired Love Crunch granola includes flax granola, freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries, coconut and dark chocolate chunks. And, for every bag of Love Crunch sold, Nature’s Path gives the equivalent in food and cash to Food Banks Canada as part of their Bite4Bite program. How awesome is that?

If you’d like to win this amazing giveaway, be sure to enter below! I will choose a random winner on Wednesday, February 12th. This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Maca-mint chocolate truffles

Yield: 12 to 14 truffles

Ingredients:

For the truffles:

• 3/4 cup (65g) natural cacao powder
• 1/2 cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup (80mL) melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup (60g) soft, pitted Medjool dates
• 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp (1.25mL) pure mint extract
• pinch of sea salt

For the coating:

• 1/4 cup (25g) natural cacao powder
• 2 tsp (10mL) maca powder

Directions:

1. Using a food processor, process the cacao powder, maple syrup, coconut oil and dates until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla extract, mint extract and salt and process briefly to combine. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to firm up.
3. Sift the cacao powder and maca powder in a small bowl. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of the truffle mixture and roll it into a ball between your palms. Dip and roll the truffle in the cacao powder mixture and then place in a paper candy cup. Repeat with the remaining truffle mixture. Store the finished truffles in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.

Recipe from Edible Gifts ebook

The SOS challenge was created specifically for people who follow a special diet, whether because of allergies or otherwise. It invites bloggers to create delicious dishes based on one key ingredient. This month, it’s mint!

I must admit, I’ve never been a big fan of the green mentha herb. I love the smell of it, but sometimes the taste can be, well, a tad overwhelming for my taste buds. So, for this challenge, I knew I had to come up with a flavour combination that resulted in a very light, yet noticeable, touch of minty sweetness.

I don’t really know where the initial inspiration for this recipe came from, but it somehow ended up almost perfect on my first attempt. These blondies have a moist, brownie crumb (hence the reason why I called them blondies) with a sweet taste of brown sugar and mint. The addition of maca root powder, rich in essential minerals and amino acids, makes this a more nutritious treat.

Maca mint blondies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbsp maca root powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup sunflower or canola oil
• 1 cup Sucanat
• 1/2 cup nondairy milk
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp pure mint extract
• 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, maca powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, non-dairy milk, vinegar and mint extract; add to the dry mixture and mix until combined.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips. Don't overmix.
4. Spoon batter into an oiled 8 x 8-inch square pan and smooth out with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted in the center of the batter comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.