Have I ever mentioned that I have a son who doesn’t eat sugar? Well, I do and it’s a good thing….usually. He will eat fruit and will put honey in his oatmeal and have maple syrup or dewberry preserves on his pancakes but for the most part he’s sugar free. 

Occasionally though it throws this mama off a bit, like at Christmas when one of the stocking stuffers we’ve done since they were little is to get everyone a theater size box of their favorite candy.

Now, what do I do for his stocking so it doesn’t look so sparse? Or when we decide to make homemade ice cream for an end of summer treat? What is his end of summer treat? I know, these are totally First World issues, but issues for me none the less. 

Fortunately, I came up with a very low sugar chocolatey treat that is actually pretty healthy and very tasty…Dark Chocolate Cranberry Bites.

How to Make Dark Chocolate Cranberry Bites

To make the bites you just need dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds and coconut flakes. Since Gabriel is really watching his sugar in take and I want to support that, I use bittersweet chocolate chips and add a 100% cacao baking bar. You may not want to go quite that dark, but we like it. 

To melt the chocolate, I like to use a make-shift double boiler. Put a couple of inches of water in a pot. Put the chocolate in a mason jar and then put it in the pot of water. Heat the water and it will melt the chocolate. I like to use a chopstick to stir the chocolate, you can use a spoon like a normal person if you prefer. 

If you have a 7 year old assistant, she can help you clean up the chop stick. You know, quality control and all. 

Once the chocolate is melted, bring it over to your work station. You’ll need to lay some parchment paper down and have your dried cranberries, seeds and nuts ready to go. 

Drop a small spoonful of the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. Let your helper begin “decorating” them with dried cranberries, nuts and seeds. 

I like to just do a couple of rows at a time. While I drop spoonfuls of chocolate, Esther, my helper, decorated them and took breaks to take a few photos for me (like the one above). 

Once all the chocolate has been spooned and decorated with the cranberries, nuts and seeds, you can leave it out to harden. Now, depending on how warm your house is, you might need to pop them in the freezer. Also, if your family just cannot resist them, you should probably get them in the freezer so they’re out of sight. 

After they have hardened, put into a glass jar or bowl, put lid on and store in the refrigerator. 

I’m usually able to make about five dozen with the one 10oz bag of bittersweet chocolate chips and the 4oz cacao bar. The great thing about using such flavorful ingredients like bittersweet chocolate and dried cranberries is that you only need to eat one or two to feel satisfied.

Thanks for sharing with your friends!