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Growing Reader

Chocolate Nut Clusters and
The Gruffalo — A Perfect Recipe and Read-Aloud Pairing

by Pearl Barrett & Serene Allison

Photo credit: Rohnda Monroy; Background image: Marina Grau, Shutterstock

What goes great with storytime? Snacks!

Pair a tasty treat with a delightful story and watch the smiles spread.

The Chocolate Nut Clusters from our latest cookbook, Trim Healthy Mama’s Trim Healthy Table, are super yummy and so fun to make with children! For storytime, we suggest pairing this kid-friendly recipe with The Gruffalo, a delightful picture book about a tricksy little mouse written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Our children love The Gruffalo! The rhythmic and rhyming text, the amazing pictures, the humor, and the imaginative story make this their favorite book to read over and over again. Plus, a tasty nut makes a surprise appearance in the tale, making it a great story to read with a serving of Chocolate Nut Clusters. (After finishing The Gruffalo, make sure to check out its sequel, The Gruffalo’s Child, which is another hit in our homes.)

This is such an easy treat to whip up! As you’re making this delicious recipe with your children, watch the nuts magically turn into a chocolate covered, outrageously good snack. Frozen nuts are the key to this super-speedy, easy to make recipe. They instantly turn the Skinny Chocolate into a crunchy, nutty, chocolaty sensation. Bonus: Your kids won’t know it, but this dessert is even a little healthy. Nuts and coconut oil offer protein and healthy fats to nourish your child’s brain and nervous system, and natural cocoa powder is chock-full of antioxidants to boost health and help fight off diseases.

So sit back, snack on this treat, and enjoy a wonderful storytime with your children.

MAGIC SKINNY CHOCOLATE NUT CLUSTERS

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup melted coconut oil (use the flavorless kind if you don’t want a coconut flavor)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4 to 6 teaspoons Gentle Sweet* (depending on your sweet tooth)
  • 1 to 2 pinches Mineral Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
  • 1 cup frozen nuts of any kind

Directions

  1. In a bowl, mix together the coconut oil, cocoa powder, sweetener, salt, and vanilla. Add the frozen nuts. Stir, then chill.

*Or use an alternative grocery store sweetener of your choice. Using a natural, sugar-free, stevia-based sweetener (like Trim Healthy Mama’s Gentle Sweet, or any other natural sweetener available at your local grocery store) enables you and your children to eat yummy, sweet treats without raising blood sugar to dangerous highs.