Does your Valentine love coconut? You’re in the right place! “Coco-Roons” are one of my favorite sweet treat recipes. They are really easy to make and are so decadent. They are a great source of healthy fats and low in sugar. They are also gluten free, dairy free and paleo (grain free). You can buy Coco-Roons at the health food store but they aren’t cheap (often $7.99+ a bag!). The ingredient list is so simple so I thought why not see if I could just make them? So, one day I googled “copycat” Coco-Roons and this is the recipe I found! Now it’s one of my go-to recipes especially for holidays. 

Copycat Coco-Roons
Recipe adapted from One Ingredient Chef

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut butter (expensive to buy, more economical to make yourself)
1/3 cup almond flour*
2 tablespoons maple syrup 
2 tablespoons cacao nibs (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions
1) Soften the coconut butter. Coconut butter is puréed coconut, so it will not melt like coconut oil, but it will soften into a thick liquid. I keep my homemade coconut butter in a glass mason jar so I use a water bath (place glass jar in a sauce pan with a small amount of water and heat on low) to soften it. If the coconut butter is freshly made (I use my Vitamix), it will already be liquid. You can also microwave for a few seconds to soften. 

2) Stir in the rest of the ingredients until combined. See below for several other flavor options.

*Note: Almond flour is finely-ground almonds (almond flour is blanched almonds without skins; almond meal is with skins and will be darker) . If you don’t have this ingredient, add whole almonds to a food processor and grind into a powder (but don’t process too long or you’ll have almond butter).

3) Coconut butter is very rich so it is important to make small serving sizes. I use a small stainless steel cookie scoop like this but you can also use a tablespoon to measure the perfect size then roll into a ball. These can be eaten room temperature, but they hold together much better after chilling for an hour or two to firm up. Tip: refrigerate on non-stick paper like parchment. You can also easily double or triple this recipe and freeze if you have leftovers.
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Other Flavor Ideas
I have made all of the following flavors below (less the cacao nibs) and they are all a big hit! Using the base recipe above (less the cacao nibs), try one (or more!) of the following options:

• Chocolate – Add a tablespoon of cocoa powder (or cacao powder to keep it “raw”) .
• Hazelnut – substitute hazelnut flour/meal (I found it on Amazon) for almond flour
• Almond flavor – substitute almond extract instead of vanilla extract (feel free to try any other extract you love – lemon? peppermint?)
• Drizzle with caramel – make coconut caramel (I made it for the first time this Christmas and it is so yummy!) and drizzle over the top (or dip cocoroon in caramel and refrigerate until firm)
• Drizzle with chocolate – melt a square or two of dark chocolate and drizzle over the top (or dip cocoroon in chocolate and refrigerate until firm)

​I hope your coconut loving Valentine loves this sweet treat!Any other flavor ideas? Please share in the comments below! Thanks for reading!