Love is in the air! It’s the week (as every week should be!) to show extra gratitude and love to your special someone. And, of course, that will always include food! This week, we will be featuring recipes to show some love to your favorite someone. I’ve made sure the recipes are indulgent, have aphrodisiac qualities, taste delicious, and are in the PERFECT portion and have the PERFECT potion for love!

Everyone knows chocolate is the ultimate aphrodisiac—the power lies in both the sedative and stimulating properties—chocolate relaxes and loosens inhibitions, and increases desire. Is there any better pairing than chocolate and peanut butter? The combined textures of these two ingredients will set you on fire! Enjoy! Plus, the perfect portion to make this yummy dessert guilt-free and enjoyment-filled!

                                                                                                                                        Prep Time: 45 minutes • Chill Time: 1 hour

24 Portions • 100 Calories = 1 Truffle

Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter, butter, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth and combined. Fold in the confectioners’ sugar to form a peanut butter dough.
3. Roll the peanut butter dough into 24 equal balls (using about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough each) and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Create a double boiler by placing a stainless steel or tempered glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.
5. Add the chocolate chips to the bowl of the double boiler and heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
6. Using a fork, place one of the chilled peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate and roll until fully coated. Gently lift the truffle out of the chocolate and tap the bowl to remove any excess coating. Transfer back to the sheet pan.
7. Repeat this process until all 24 truffles are coated. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until the chocolate coating has set. Store covered and refrigerated for best texture.

Mona Dolgov

Nutritionist, cookbook author, publisher and health and wellness entrepreneur Mona Dolgov lives her lifelong mission of creating healthier food products, recipes and inventing simple culinary tricks to easily create practical and healthier lifestyles. She is President of You Live Right, LLC, where she has authored and published over 20 cookbooks for top-selling kitchen appliances, health and wellness products and grocery retailers, focused on simplicity and using nutritious ingredients. She also is a private nutritional coach, offers educational and fun dinner classes at Mona’s Kitchen,  and is a speaker on nutritional well-being. Plus, she is very excited about launching Cook U. Follow Mona on Facebook or Instagram @monadolgov

She recently co-authored The Perfect Portion Cookbook, a 5-star rated cookbook (with Hollywood star Anson Willams) that makes American classics healthier and guides consumers to healthier portion control. This book (and Mona) was featured on the Today Show, The Doctors, and The Huffington Post. Learn more at www.theperfectportion.com

She is completing her second cookbook, Satisfy,  that will be launched in 2020, focused on simple nutritionally balanced meals all 500 calories or less with real ingredients and real portions. All of the recipes are gluten-free.