We're bored with the one from the supermarket, let's make it ourselves at home!
Why homemade?
A homemade advent calendar has a lot of advantages! Simply comparing it to the advent calendar you buy is enough, and we will immediately want to make our own, original advent calendar, in which we will put not only healthy ingredients but also a piece of our own heart. In contrast, purchased advent calendars are mostly soulless and without ideas, and if we don't pay a few hundred crowns extra, we won't even get quality chocolate in them. Small chocolate squares are often made of low-quality chocolate and contain a lot of refined sugar to make them taste good. We can fine-tune our advent calendar exactly to our taste, and in addition, we can relax mentally while making it and tune in to the station of Christmas well-being. If we make an advent calendar for our children or loved ones, we will also surround it with the warm energy of love.
There are no limits to imagination
You can get inspiration from us on how to put such a calendar together, but the moment you start creating and producing it, your imagination will surely knock on the door and you can combine your advent calendar as you like.
What about him?
If the person for whom you want to make a calendar is not a sweet lover, or can't eat sweets, nothing happens. After all, the advent calendar can be filled with anything, whether it's different kinds of nuts or things that aren't actually edible at all! Photographs, pictures, rhinestones, feathers, glass softened with water, costume jewelry, small toys, wooden figurines... Or perhaps short letters or stories from life, if you are one of those who write. It just depends on what the person you are gifting likes.
Ideas
An advent calendar can serve as a beautiful and imaginative Christmas decoration, so it is not a bad idea to make it so that you can hang it on a wall or in a room. Nature lovers will certainly appreciate a nice, dry and sufficiently long branch, which can be hung on the wall using a linen string or a thin rope. The contents of the advent calendar are then individually divided into twenty-four bags decorated, for example, with a small pine cone and a sprig of some conifer, and we hang them on linen strings on a branch.
But now let's take a look at some healthy yummy recipes that are so delicious that kids and adults alike will appreciate them!
Unbaked cookies in a chocolate coating
You will have these unbaked goodies ready in half an hour and the ingredients are enough for about 24 pieces, so if you have a big sweet tooth and find it hard to resist sweet temptation, we recommend doubling the dose so that you don't end up eating all the cookies on December 1st.
What does it take?
- 1 cup of natural cane sugar
- 1 cup of ground oatmeal
- 6 tablespoons of softened (vegetable) butter or coconut fat
- 1 and 1/2 cups of peanut butter (homemade is best of course, don't hesitate and try making your own!), smooth or crunchy, it's up to you!
- 1 cup of grated coconut
For the frosting
- 1 and 1/4 cups of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (for example, homemade dark chocolate)
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- Any decoration
How to do it?
Put sugar, butter, peanut butter and grated coconut in a large bowl and mix everything properly. Mix for two to three minutes until the dough is beautifully soft. We line a baking tray or a tray with baking paper and form small balls from the dough, which we then place on the paper. When all the dough is used up, put the tray with the balls in the fridge. While the cookies are cooling in the fridge, melt coconut oil with chopped chocolate in a glass bowl immersed in a saucepan of boiling water and slowly stir until a fragrant chocolate coating is formed. We take the balls out of the fridge, which are probably already shivering from the cold and can't wait for a hot chocolate bath. We will give them this with the help of a toothpick, we always carefully stick the ball on the toothpick and dip it all in chocolate. Another option is to dip the balls into the chocolate bath with the help of a teaspoon, but this is an alternative that will probably result in more chocolate mess and droplets on the kitchen counter. Finally, we can decorate the balls as desired - sprinkle their tops with, for example, some fun and colorful combination of ingredients such as grated coconut, sliced almonds, chopped cocoa beans, bee pollen or sprinkle with strawberry, banana or vanilla powder. Even a few grains of sea salt will make our taste buds interesting. When the balls are decorated and beautifully presented, we put them in the fridge for an hour or two so that they harden nicely.
Ornate date caramels in chocolate
Almost everyone likes caramels, but date caramels are a real treasure for lovers of healthy snacks! Fragrant, beautifully supple date caramel in crunchy chocolate... Another goodie that will tempt us to fill out the entire advent calendar at once! However, the ingredients are enough for 24 caramels, so the decision whether to double the portions or your self-control is up to you.
What does it take?
- 2 and 1/2 cups pitted dates (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (you can also make homemade, kuk: Homemade extracts)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
For the frosting
- 1 cup of chopped chocolate
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- Ingredients for "decorating" caramels
How to do it?
Add the chopped dates, coconut oil, vanilla extract and sea salt to a food processor and blend for at least two minutes or until smooth. Roll out the resulting dough between two sheets of baking paper on the kitchen counter or rolling pin, if the dough is very sticky, put it in the refrigerator for a while. Then we can either cut it into 24 small cubes or rectangles, or we can also use cutters. Place the caramels on a tray or baking tray lined with baking paper and put them in the freezer for a quarter of an hour so that they harden nicely. In the meantime, prepare the chocolate coating, using the same preparation method as in the previous recipe, and soak the hardened caramels in it. At the end, we decorate the caramels nicely! Each one can be individual, so that a slightly different caramel appears in the bag of the advent calendar every day. We can use various chopped nuts, for example green pistachios look nice. The green color can also be obtained by dusting the caramels with the freshwater algae spirulina or the slightly lighter moringa, a powder made from the dried leaves of this tree. The yellow color is given by bee pollen, we can also use various powders - for example the aforementioned vanilla, strawberry or banana. Orange to red colors can be achieved with the help of chopped goji berries. And the thematically white color like freshly fallen snow will of course be provided by fragrant coconut.
Chocolate-hazelnut truffles
Truffles are a luxury treat that not everyone can afford. However, chocolate truffles are a luxury that is available to almost everyone, and this vegan version definitely proves it. Preparation takes about half an hour again, but the result is worth it. The ingredients are enough for approximately 30 truffles.
What does it take?
- 2 cups of walnuts
- 2 cups of cashew nuts (or hazelnuts or almonds)
- 20 pitted dates (soak the dried dates in water for 10 minutes before draining them)
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa (+ a little extra for coating)
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
For the frosting
- 2 and 1/2 cups of chopped chocolate
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
How to do it?
Blend both cups of any nuts of your choice in a kitchen blender to the consistency of nut flour and mix. We repeat the same action with dates, it is ideal if they are chopped into tiny pieces, not completely finely. Mix them with hazelnut flour and divide into two halves. Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa to one half and continue mixing, while gradually adding the remaining nuts and carefully monitoring the consistency, we want to achieve a mass that can be formed into small balls. It is therefore possible that we will not use all the nuts, the remaining nut flour can then be used for decoration. When the dough meets the desired consistency, we can start forming the truffles. For each truffle, take approximately 1 tablespoon of the mixture. Place the balls on a tray lined with baking paper and cool in the fridge. In the meantime, in the same way as in the previous recipe, we prepare a glaze from chocolate and coconut oil and dip the cooled truffles into the glaze. When the chocolate on the truffles hardens a little, sprinkle the truffles with cocoa or carefully coat them in it.
FINAL TIP
Store all goodies in the fridge or freezer, and put them in the bags just before unwrapping.
Isn't it still the real nut?
If none of the above recipes were a hit with you, Ekokoza has more ideas in store! Real nutty comes with nuts! How about adding delicious roasted nuts in cinnamon caramel to the bags? Yummy, vitamin-packed turmeric jelly candies are another great and healthy option, which will support your immune system and significantly reduce the chance of blowing your nose on Christmas Day. And especially little sweet tooths will appreciate the soft foam candies, so-called marshmallows. And if you are a minimalist and appreciate a simpler version, you can make completely classic Advent chocolates at home, but unlike the ones bought, these will be much better, both in terms of taste and content!
So how do you combine your advent calendar?
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