My Chocolate Fix- Chunky Elvis Treats

One of the things I'm really working on eliminating from my diet is sugar.  That means...you guessed it *gasp* no chocolate!  It's not like I had a bad habit although I think I was a sugar junkie and did go on candy binges.  Candy bars were my comfort and often the object of my mindless eating.  I could inhale one and not even taste it!

Part of eliminating sugar is identifying it in it's many forms, the hidden sugars.  Banana's are another thing that I've always loved and never thought about the calories or sugar contained in them...I mean, they're a fruit and healthy right?  An average banana is 110 calories but a whopping 19 grams of sugar which is almost 5 tsp of sugar and although it's filled with so many good things it's one of the things I don't have on a daily basis anymore...and I miss them! 

I've also been missing grapes which I absolutely loved to freeze and eat, they are like little frozen Popsicle in my mouth.  I still buy bananas on a regular basis because the hubby takes one for lunch every day I end up with at least 1 or 2 bananas that turn brown before he can eat them, usually I peel and freeze them and use them for banana pancakes or banana bread.  I thought I'd try freezing some banana slices then I could enjoy and savor a slice or two when I wanted something sweet, of course being the kinda girl who can't leave well enough alone at times I took it a step farther.  I thought a dab of peanut butter between the banana slices would be fabulous, and of course introduce a bit of protein as well, so I made some mini peanut butter banana frozen sandwiches.  I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches so these just had to be delightful!  

They were ok but thought I could make them even better with...you guessed it!  Chocolate!  That heavenly, velvety, melt in your mouth goodness that I'd been craving.

One of the other things I've been experimenting with is introducing coconut oil into my diet...and hands, face, arms and legs!  My hair will be the next great experiment...it's so dry and fizzy.  While perusing some healthy *cough* cookie recipes to make for the Christmas season I happened upon a recipe homemade Magic Shell...you know that stuff you pour over ice cream and it gets all hard and crunchy but melts so gently on your tongue?  Guess what?  I had the all the ingredients...coconut oil and chocolate chips!  I had a bag of Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips in my pantry and a 1/4 cup of coconut oil melted in a double boiler...or in my house, a glass bowl set on top of a pot of simmering water and in no time I was ready to make my frozen banana chunks of goodness. 

I put them on a rack with wax paper beneath to catch the drips and began topping each one with a dab of my homemade magic shell.  I popped them back in the freezer for a bit before attempting to coat the rest of them, I found just dropping them in the bowl of chocolate worked the best them stabbing the peanut butter center with a toothpick to pull them out was the best method.  Of course I tried to make them all fancy pants Chocolatier looking with tongs and stuff till I remembered most chocolate dipped candies were still done the messy way, with their hands.  I let them harden on the wax paper in the freezer for a while then pulled them out, peeled them off the wax paper and put them in a bag in the freezer.  Where they wait for a snack attack. 

They are delish and usually 2-3 satisfies my craving!  Well, 2 always satisfies it but remember that part I said earlier about leaving well enough alone? 

I've decided to call them Chunky Elvis treats because he knew a good thing too!