Choco-Zen Cookies (Chocolate-Hazelnut Giveaway!!)

Growing up, one thing I distinctly remember loving most which gave me immense peacefully satisfying feeling is – eating chocolates! I had initiated myself with a mantra – this powerful mantra or affirmation if you will, kept me in a sense of togetherness with my body and my mind. I called this sweet serene world of mine “Zen”. It would rather be unfair not to mention my dad here, as he was the partner in crime for invocation of this mantra!. Want to know what my mantra was – Life is meaningless without CHOCOLATES!!!

Agree with me? YES! Read on…

Thank heavens chocolate isn’t junk food anymore! Science is now proving there are many health benefits to eating good high quality cacao. Packed with flavonoids and theobromine this little bean is ranked as one of the top superfoods today! The key thing to remember is “high quality cacao” and most importantly to indulge in “moderation” of course.

Unfortunately when milk, sugar, and butter is added to this cacao we get our regular chocolate sweet and addictive to our taste buds but not necessarily good and healthy for our bodies. Don’t fret, yet! There is a way out…

Tada! Introducing Rawmio Chocolate Hazelnut! This spread is HEAVENLY!! Are you a fan of Nutella?…you’ll fall in love with this healthier, vegan, raw, organic Nutella in a blink of a second! What I like about this product is of course the awesome taste but more importantly the ingredients. The first ingredient is not sugar, no emulsifiers, no artificial flavors. It has only three ingredients all pure goodness  – Raw Hazelnuts, Raw Cacao, and Coconut Sugar (all 100% organic and fair traded).  How can you not like this…but wait there’s more to this decadence than meets the eye!

To be honest, I tried to replicate this spread as I had all the three ingredients (mentioned above) in my pantry. I took out my Vitamix grinder and tried to make this spread. Guess what…this is the first time I was not happy with my Vitamix’s performance  It didn’t taste anything like what I was tasting from the Rawmio jar and the consistency was way off….

I came to know their secret, Rawmio sources premium high quality products – their organic raw hazelnuts comes from Italy, organic raw cacoa comes from Peru and last but not least the low glycemic index coconut sugar comes straight from Bali!! And if this is not enough they stone-groundall the three ingredients on a granite stone for only 48 hours to a perfect smooth consistency!!  I can eat this goodness straight out of the jar, but to follow the Ayurvedic principle of “moderation”, have come up with a simple easy to make raw-licious cookie topped with this heavenly smooth-licious spread!

You could also call this raw-tella cookies. Made with gluten-free rolled oats and flax-seed meal, flavored with aromatic spices and topped with chocolate-hazelnut spread.

Choco-Zen Cookies Ingredients: (approx about 4-6 cookies)

• 1 cup Rolled Oats flour
• 1/2 cup ground Flaxseeds
• 2 soaked Medjool Dates (more if you like it sweeter)
• pinch of Cinnamon, Cardamom, Nutmeg pwd (adjust as per your taste)
• pinch of Saffron (optional)
• pinch of Himalayan Salt
• approx 2 tbsp of warm Water (to form the dough)
• Rawmio Chocolate Hazelnut (for topping)

Add all the ingredients mentioned above in a bowl (except the chocolate-hazelnut spread) and knead it to form a cookie dough using warm water. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Press down with your thumb to make a small well in the center of the cookie. Now, fill it with a teaspoon or more of Chocolate Hazelnut spread. Time to devour the cookies!

Did you know the botanical name for cacao is theobroma which roughly translated means “food of the Gods” or in the literal sense means “God food”. Go ahead and enjoy in this Godly Indulgenceguilt free because you deserve it!!

Now to the best part, RawGuru is giving one lucky winner a jar of their awesome Rawmio Chocolate Hazelnut spread to try out!!

How to Win this Giveaway: (this giveaway applies only for US residents)

1. Subscribe to JeevaLifestyle with your email (please make sure your email id reflects your first name and/or last name)

2. Like RawGuru and Raw Food Recipes facebook Page

3. Post a comment below – why you like Raw Cacao, or why you want to try this Rawmio Chocolate Hazelnut spread (all comments are screened for spam so it takes a while to get them posted on the website)

4. Pin this Choco-Zen Cookie recipe on your Pinterest

The winner will be chosen randomly on March 14th and will be announced on JeevaLifestyle, Raw Food Recipes and RawGuru facebook pages.The spread will be mailed directly to the lucky winner by RawGuru.