Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 560 kcal | 159 kcal |
| Protein | 11.7 g | 3.3 g |
| Fat | 49.9 g | 14.1 g |
| saturated | 13.2 g | 3.8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 22.6 g | 6.4 g |
| sugars | 16.7 g | 4.7 g |
| Fibre | 9.1 g | 2.6 g |
| Sodium | 634 mg | 180 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.4 kg raw walnuts, soaked overnight
- 1 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 3/8 cups cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (38 ml) laky sea salt
- 1 1/4 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 3/4 cups honey or maple syrup
Instructions
- Drain the soaked walnuts and spread them on a towel until their surfaces are dry to the touch. A wet nut cannot take a coating — the mixture slides off and pools underneath it on the tray.
- Melt the coconut oil only as far as it takes to go liquid, then take it off the heat. Hot oil thins honey too far, and thin coating runs off a nut before it has any chance to set.
- Whisk the cocoa into the oil before the honey comes anywhere near either of them. Cocoa powder dropped into honey forms dry lumps that no amount of beating will break up.
- Pour the mixture over the walnuts and turn them with a spatula until every crevice is filled. A walnut is all folds and ridges, and the ones you missed are obvious once the rest come out dark.
- Use a solid non-stick sheet and never bare mesh. Honey finds every hole, welds itself to the plastic, and takes the coating off the nut when you try to lift it.
- Space the nuts so none of them touch. Shoulder to shoulder they set into one slab, and breaking that slab apart strips most of the coating back off.
- Dehydrate at 52 °C for 4 hours, scattering the flaky salt over them early while the surface is still wet enough to hold a crystal.
- They are done when the coating has gone matt and dry to a fingertip rather than glossy and tacky. Take one off and let it stand a minute before judging, because honey stays soft while it is warm.
- Jar them for a fortnight in the cupboard, or a couple of months in the fridge. Walnut oil turns rancid faster than almost any other nut, and a stale one tastes of paint.
