Sweet Hearts for Your AIP Sweetheart! (Gut-Healing Snacks)

This is not my recipe. But these are delicious and gut-healing — and they make great sweets for your valentine who has to eat AIP (AutoImmune Paleo). So I’m going to tell you what you need and what adjustments I made to these yummy gelatin bites (and no, they’re not gelatinous), and then (not yet!) I’ll send you over to read the recipe.

Sweet Hearts for Your AIP Sweetheart — My Adaptation

The original recipe these are adapted from uses collagen protein. Basically, it’s gelatin that doesn’t gel. They are probably better that way. However, I didn’t have collagen, and I did have plain gelatin, so I decided to see how they’d work with that. And they worked, BUT…

The first few times I made these (including the ones you see in the photos), I didn’t have the “good” gelatin yet; I just had some unflavored gelatin I’d bought in bulk. It’s rather grainier and, although it made for somewhat grittier bars than I’d imagine they’re intended to be, it worked fine and they tasted fabulous.

Then I got some of the good stuff. And it’s much more finely-ground. I think this means (since there’s less air space), there’s actually more in the same measure, so it absorbs more water, and I should have skimped a little. This still tasted, fine, but it kind of stuck in my throat, and I think it’s because it was still trying to soak up more moisture.

So, if your gelatin is really powdery, use a little less. And, ideally, use collagen protein (the blue jar below)!

Apart from that, these require coconut butter (this is the same thing as coconut manna, but NOT the same thing as coconut oil), honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and a tad bit of salt. (In these, I used ground vanilla beans; that’s what the darker flecks are.)

One last note, with the gelatin, I skipped the “extra tablespoon” called for and just went with an even quarter-cup.

Making the Gelatin Bites

It’s pretty cold here. That means my coconut oil is hard, and so is the coconut butter. (The oils in it harden, I think, and then it’s all dry.) So the first thing I have to do is soften the butter and melt the oil. I measure the coconut butter into a glass measuring cup and the coconut oil into a glass measuring shot glass, and put them in a pan of water on the stove on low.

The oil will pretty much liquefy on its own. The coconut butter can use a little help. Stir it every few minutes until it’s creamy instead of powdery or chunky. Then you can take them both off the stove.

Measure the collagen or gelatin into the coconut butter and mix it in. With the grittier gelatin, it looks like this at this point:

Then add the honey and stir.

It’s kind of like wet sand up to this point. Then stir in the oil (and then the vanilla and salt).

See how it comes together at this point, and looks much more like a dough? Now scoop it into silicone molds (we used silicone ice trays) and press it down. Stick the tray in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to let the bites harden, then pop them out. (You’ll still want to store them in the fridge so they don’t melt. Possibly not an issue, though, if it’s well below freezing where you live, like it is here!)

If chocolate is okay for you (it isn’t AIP), you can melt some chocolate chips and then partially dip your bites in the melted chocolate to coat. Place the coated bites on parchment paper to harden. (Popping them back in the fridge will help them set up faster.)