Chocolate Coffee “Martinis,” a Give-Away, & Holiday Food Fest!

December 2, 2009 { }

chocolate-coffee-martini

Welcome to Holiday Food Fest’s 4th week! We’re sharing Holiday Cocktails, Mocktails, and Appetizers today. I am so excited to see what everyone’s been creating for their upcoming celebrations.

It’s always fun on the holidays to have a special drink to serve guests. We don’t drink alcohol at all – nor do I cook with it. So, instead of a real martini, I made a ‘Mocktini’ that anyone can enjoy. It would be a fun dessert drink for after dinner.

I made this a little healthier – but still indulgent enough for the holidays. I used almond milk because it adds just enough richness while still being low in calories and low glycemic. The stevia adds a smooth sweetness and is non-glycemic. Use regular or decaf – it’s up to you. Brew the coffee ahead of time so you have time to chill it.

You can add your own twist by using more or less coffee. Or, you can substitute milk, water, half and half, or any other nut milk for the almond milk. I haven’t tried it with ice cream yet, but I’m sure it would be divine. (You know I love anything with ice cream!)

Although it uses ice, this drink isn’t icy at all – make sure you blend the drink long enough for the ice to melt. It makes a really cold, smooth sugar free, gluten free ‘martini’ with a fun layer of whipped coffee and milk on the top. I am excited to have a fun alternative to alcohol this Christmas. I hope you like this drink as much as I do.

Print friendly recipe
Chocolate Coffee “Martini”
serves 3 – 4

1 1/4 cup double stregnth brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons carob or chocolate chips
5 fresh mint leaves
20 drops of liquid stevia
1 1/2 cups ice cubes

Place ingredients into your blender or Vitamix in the order they’re listed in the recipe. Blend for 45 seconds to 1 minute until the color is uniform and ice has melted completely. This isn’t an icy drink – the ice just makes it really smooth and cold.

holiday-food-fest Last Week’s Winner

Last week’s winner of the EatSmart Precision Pro Scale is Linda from The Gluten-Free Homemaker. Congrats! I know you’ll love this scale. It’s so easy to use and store. Enjoy!

Next Thursday Holiday Food Fest will be hosted by Shirley from Gluten-Free Easily. Get your holiday dish ready – anything holiday goes. A jar of Gold Label Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions will go to one lucky participant.

The Give-Away from Honeyville Grain!

This week we’ll have two winners instead of one thanks to the generosity of Honeyville Grain. I’m so excited to be able to share these quality products with you – things any kitchen diva would love to have! The two prizes are:

a 5 pound bag of blanched almond flour
a gift assortment including a 5 pound bag of top-quality flax seed, gourmet hot cocoa, and freeze dried apples

The winners must live in the lower 48 US states. (Sorry to our other friends!)

There are many ways to enter:

Link your holiday cocktail, mocktail, or appetizer AND link back to this post. (Link as many relevant posts as you choose.)
Leave a comment.
Tweet about this give-away and leave a comment telling me that you did.
Post about this give-away on your blog, link back to this post, and leave a comment telling me you did.

When you link, please tell us who you are and what you’re making. For example, I’d enter:

Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free (Chocolate Coffee “Martinis”)

And, please make sure to link back to this post so that your readers can find the other recipes here.

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Comments

67 Responses to “Chocolate Coffee “Martinis,” a Give-Away, & Holiday Food Fest!”

Cara
December 2nd, 2009 @ 9:32 pm

This martini looks incredible – can’t wait to try it!

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Lauren
December 2nd, 2009 @ 9:12 pm

Oh my, this looks great! I don’t drink (but I will cook with it), so this sounds great – but I’m not a coffee girl, so maybe tea?

Love your photo! Its definitely awesome Amy =D.

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Amy Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
@Lauren, It would be fabulous with Chai tea and leave out the mint. Yum. Great idea!

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Lauren Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
@Amy, Amy I love you. I just made this with Vanilla chai tea, normal milk (what I had on hand), chocolate chips (might have added a bit more ;D), and maple syrup (don’t have stevia), and the ice of course. It was killer. Mom said to write it down for warmer days. Its a tad to cold for her, but I found it oddly comforting!

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Amy Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
@Lauren, Oh good! I like it chilled, too. Oddly comforting is a great way to describe it. The drink was just slightly chocolately when I made it – more would definitely add an extra punch. Vanilla chai tea sounds fabulous. I’ve had chai tea on the brain since it got cold here.

Lauren Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
@Lauren, Amy, Mine was just lightly chocolaty too, as I only have a normal blender, it settled to the bottom. Might just add a bit of cocoa powder instead next time. I only realized that when I went to finish it off, but I’m sure lots of chocolate would be great if you could pulverize it, or use chocolate milk. Or make it hot and melt the chocolate. My mind is racing with ideas! for this one =D.
Phoebe @ Cents to Get Debt Free
December 2nd, 2009 @ 9:18 pm

Oh my! I love chocolate, and coffee–hope to try this!

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Linda
December 2nd, 2009 @ 9:18 pm

I’m excited about winning the scale. I use one all the time for the dogs’ food, but mine is really cheap. This will be nice. Do I need to email my address to you?

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Amy Reply:
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
@Linda, Yes please.

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Liz@HoosierHomemade
December 2nd, 2009 @ 9:45 pm

That looks amazing! I’m not a coffee drinker, but I may just have to make those. Thanks so much for hosting!
~Liz

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++MIRA++
December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:15 pm

hiya. interesting site and so is ur story! i’m confused though, are u a celiac or did u just find that no gluten helps u be healthier? i’m intrigued/…

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
@++MIRA++, I don’t have celiac disease. I figured out that wheat and sugar trigger binge eating for me. Today I don’t eat them and I no longer binge eat. I’ve been able to maintain a 60+ pound weight loss for almost 6 years. So, yes, it helps me to be healthier.

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Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship
December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:52 pm

I have got to pick up more drink recipes! Mmmm!

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Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship
December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:52 pm

Tweeted ya!

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Nikki Orth
December 3rd, 2009 @ 1:07 am

OOOO… that sounds delicious, I like the idea of adding mint. Instead of mint you could also try raspberries. That would be a decadent mix as well.

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Susie's Homemade
December 3rd, 2009 @ 5:45 am

Chocolate martini?? I am so there:-)

And that is REALLY cool!! How do you make your recipes “print friendly”?

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Amy Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
@Susie’s Homemade, Sorry this took so long to answer this. Jeanette Fulda from Make My Blog Pretty made them printable. She’s a fabulous person and her prices are very fair.

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Iris
December 3rd, 2009 @ 7:35 am

Hi Amy! I love that picture! I linked up to my fruit and nut truffles, which were inspired by your raw date truffles from a few weeks back and Chocolate Covered Katie’s Fudge Babies.

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Iris
December 3rd, 2009 @ 7:37 am

Oh, and I would love to win that almond flour! There are so many recipes from Elana’s Pantry that I want to try now!

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Alta
December 3rd, 2009 @ 7:52 am

This sounds so delicious! I bet hemp milk would be good in this too (it’s nice and creamy). I’ll be linking up later today!

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Alta Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
@Alta, Okay so I forgot to link up yesterday. Just did now!

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Katrina (gluten free gidget)
December 3rd, 2009 @ 7:53 am

um…. YUM! Gotta love a good “Mocha Mock-tail”!

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Nancy
December 3rd, 2009 @ 7:53 am

The drink looks great. I may need to add vodka about halfway through Christmas break…

On a side note, I made the Mushroom, Leek, Brown Rice recipe last night and it was delicious. Thanks!

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gfe-gluten free easily
December 3rd, 2009 @ 8:04 am

Amy, this is such a beautiful and appealing drink and I love your festive background, too. I don’t drink coffee, but I like the discussion with Lauren on the chai tea possibility.

I added my crab ball and reindeer antlers punch … those two can really make a party go from “good” to GREAT!

I love party recipes, so I can’t wait to check all of these out. The giveaway is the very best! Two winners … woohoo! Will tweet later and report back.

Shirley

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Rebecca
December 3rd, 2009 @ 8:16 am

I would love a chance to win items from Honeyville Grain. I just started using their almond flour and love it. I can always use more! Drink looks yummy and I like the fact that it is without alcohol and still looks festive and tasty!

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Kim
December 3rd, 2009 @ 8:32 am

We have just discovered my teen age daughter can’t have gluten and needs to restrict sugars. What a learning curve in eating new ways! Thanks for sharing and helping others be successful in this. I’m a greatful Mom. I’m hoping to do some Almond flour cooking soon!

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Jenn
December 3rd, 2009 @ 8:40 am

Mmm that drink looks absolutely delicious!!!!!

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Loflin
December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:20 am

I can’t wait to try this! Coffee and chocolate are 2 of my favorite things!

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Jen
December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:25 am

It would be good with a little kahlua too!! (If you can add alcohol with your diet restrictions…)

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Grace
December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:31 am

Your Chocolate Martini looks great!
I would love to be entered in the almond flour giveaway – been dying to try the Honeyville.

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Arielle
December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:35 am

Oooh, I’ll be trying this recipe tonight, thanks!

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Anna
December 3rd, 2009 @ 10:49 am

I want to try your recipe with a twist — how about a Chocolate Chai Martini… substitute Chai concentrate (Third Street’s Sugar-Free is sweetened with Stevia!) for the coffee, and cinnamon the mint leaves… perhaps garnish with a cinnamon stick too?!

Also, I just discovered that WestSoy makes an unsweetened chocolate soy milk… perhaps it would be a good milk substitute – not too sweet, but just enough cocoa flavor!

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Betty
December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:18 pm

I found the comment box!! I depend on almond flour since I can’t tolerate any grains. Either gift would be wonderful! Many Blessings to you for blessing so many others!

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Winnie
December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:45 pm

Your mocktini sounds great…I linked to my Cranberry Glogg recipe (sorry I messed up with the first link so it’s there twice
I will go tweet about your giveaway right now!

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Krista
December 3rd, 2009 @ 1:24 pm

Oh, please enter me in the giveaway! I’ve been putting off buying a bag of that almond flour for months now (plus gourmet hot coco, flax, and freeze dried apples sound like the building blocks of a great winter treat). This drink sound divine, only with hot coco instead of coffee, or half coffee and half coco? mmmmm….

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judy
December 3rd, 2009 @ 3:19 pm

i can’t wait to make this mocktail this weekend for my vegan dinner party!

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Gluten FREE foods ROCK
December 3rd, 2009 @ 3:53 pm

The giveaway sounds wonderful. I added Easy Elf Punch. Also posted about the giveaway.

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Mallory Sanders
December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:44 pm

I am excited to try this! I just started making my own almond milk in my vitamix and it is unbelievable~so adding some chocolate couldn’t hurt!

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Sandy Gillett
December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:56 pm

This is ingenious Amy.

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Nellie
December 3rd, 2009 @ 11:24 pm

hi Amy

I just went gluten free a few months ago to address a health issue and after reading your blog I have decided to try going sugar free aswell. I just got some agave nectar today and I am really excited to start experimenting with it. thanks for the great blog!

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Amy @ Finer Things
December 4th, 2009 @ 9:27 am

I don’t do coffee. But chocolate coffee… I could go for that!

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Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen
December 4th, 2009 @ 2:03 pm

Beautiful photo! I agree this would be a wonderful dessert in itself!

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Mary C.
December 4th, 2009 @ 3:33 pm

That looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing

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julie
December 4th, 2009 @ 3:39 pm

this will be perfect for the teenagers in the house while the rest of us have real ones
( guys will be having beer) will be having a big X-mas party at my house 24 people all Gluten Free food….

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melissa
December 6th, 2009 @ 11:49 am

I just found your blog and it looks like you’ve got some great ideas!

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Lauren
December 6th, 2009 @ 2:51 pm

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I tweeted and posted about the giveaway =D.

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Lauren
December 6th, 2009 @ 3:50 pm

Part 2 ;D. Tweet/posting on the blog!

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Jodi
December 6th, 2009 @ 5:38 pm

I’m gonna be honest… I just came for the almond flour but I’m going to stay for the awesome recipes! Wow Amy this is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing xoxo

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
@Jodi, You are a riot! I would show up just for free almond flour, too. Glad you like what you see…would love to have you visit anytime.

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Dee Merritt
December 7th, 2009 @ 7:01 pm

This sounds yummy – for me I would substitute Teeccino – which is an unbelievable coffee alternative made from chicory, almonds, dates and barley – the label says it is gluten free and it doesn’t bother me. I gave up coffee 1 year ago and swapped it for Teeccino and have not looked back since.

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
@Dee Merritt, That sounds like a delicious alternative. I’ve never heard of it before. I wonder how they get gluten-free barley? I’ll look into it. Thanks for sharing it with me.

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cheryl
December 7th, 2009 @ 9:14 pm

that looks like a luscious winner!

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Suzanne
December 7th, 2009 @ 10:27 pm

This looks delicious…..I just discovered your blog and am loving all the recipes! It would be great to have some almond flour…..it is one of the gf grains I haven’t tried yet…thanks for the giveaway!

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Susie
December 8th, 2009 @ 5:00 am

Thanks so much for all you’re doing here. I really appreciate seeing the healthy things you’re eating and trying some of these recipes for my family.
Working towards doing better – a good way.

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Susie
December 8th, 2009 @ 5:01 am

Plus which I think it’s fun how there’s a quilt square by each comment. Fun!

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Kristi
December 8th, 2009 @ 8:09 am

These look yummy! I’d love the gift assortment, great giveaway right in time for the holidays

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Betty
December 8th, 2009 @ 8:39 am

I had contacted that company (Teecino) and they told me it wasn’t gluten free because of the barley…. I’d love to hear if you find out something different.

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Rosita
December 8th, 2009 @ 11:57 am

Looks great. I think I will have to try it with Chai tea.

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ali
December 8th, 2009 @ 2:53 pm

I love your creativity!
Thanks for being such a voice for gluten free, nutritious, delicious food and nunsuch. I would love to win too!

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Susan R
December 8th, 2009 @ 5:32 pm

Yum, that drink looks delicious!
And so does the almond flour. I’ve been so anxious to try it lately.
sejotess@yahoo.com

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Janice
December 8th, 2009 @ 6:13 pm

Coffee and chocolate together…divine.
I am so happy to have found your website. I made your kale chips and my husband and brother can’t get enough of them. I have recently switched to a wheat free diet and have been using Honeyville almond flour in most of my baking. Would love to win more.
Thanks!

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Junecutie
December 8th, 2009 @ 10:54 pm

I really enjoy reading this blog, and I would love to win the Honeyville almond flour.

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Amanda
December 9th, 2009 @ 8:57 am

That’s a fabulous giveaway, almond flour rocks!

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Fuji Mama
December 9th, 2009 @ 9:13 am

Ooooh, what an awesome giveaway! I’m with Amanda, I LOVE almond flour!

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Deeba
December 9th, 2009 @ 9:31 am

Love that martini…nom nom nom! Found you through food blog groups & am glad I did! Fab give-away!

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Katrina
December 9th, 2009 @ 9:55 am

Love Honeyville Grain Co. and almond flour and hot cocoa and….;)

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Jackie
December 9th, 2009 @ 7:22 pm

Your drink looks good even though I don’t drink coffee. My son is allergic to wheat among several other things, so I would love to win the almond flour. Thanks!

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