Chocolates are considered as food of love. We give it to our sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, doting parents give it to their children in the form of a bunny on Easter, and it sweetens the beginning of a date in a heart-shaped box. There are lots of links between chocolate and love.
Many people have attacked it as a guilty pleasure, a distraction from a healthy diet. But, when it is enjoyed in moderation, it actually has significant health benefits. It contains flavonoids and antioxidants, which improves the blood flow, guards against heart disease and cancer.

But chocolate goes beyond clinical studies and scientific analysis, it is something near and dear to our hearts not just simply chemically, but emotionally as well. Scientists now attribute this effect to two chemicals it contains, tryptophan, a building block of serotonin, which has been shown to lessen pain, and phenyl ethylamine, a stimulant connected to amphetamine, which is released in the brain when people fall in love.

These chocolate candies are use as a holiday gifts, Valentines’ Day Gifts or on any party’s dessert table and they will keep for several weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator. As with any recipe, the quality of your ingredients is crucial in these types of recipe, the better the chocolates you use, the better your dairy-free chocolates will be.

Quantity: Makes about 24 chocolates

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar. 
 2 T. dairy-free cream cheese.
 Pinch salt. 
 1 ½ t. Maple Syrup. 
 1 t. maple extract. 
 1 T. plus 1 t. Water.

How to Make:
Make the filling. In a medium mixing pot with an electric hand- mixer at very low speed, mix the confectioners’ sugar, dairy-free cream cheese, salt, maple syrup, maple extract and water until mixture starts to hold together. Turn hand mixer up to high and beat for three minutes more.

Turn out the filling onto a dry surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar and blend as you would a ball of dough until mixture is flexible. Place the filling between two sheets of powdered scroll paper on a large baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.
Without removing the parchment paper, roll the filling into a 12” x 12” square. Remove the top sheet of the parchment and, using a powdered knife, cut the filling into 24 squares or whatever shape you’d like. Freeze for 15 minutes more while preparing the chocolate.
Prepare the chocolates coating. Boil several cups of water in a small saucepan. Place about ¾ of the chocolate in a heat-proof stainless steel bowl and set this over the boiling water, stirring sporadically until melted. Remove from heat and mix in the remaining chocolate. Allow chocolate to rest for about 3 minutes, then mix and return above the boiling water for one minute more.

Assemble the chocolates. Remove the baking pan from the freezer and, leaving the squares on the parchment slide the parchment sheet from the pan to the counter or work area. Re-cover the pan with a fresh sheet of parchment and set aside.
Using two forks drop each filling square one at a time into the chocolate. Working frequently, passes the square between the forks until evenly coated and place on the fresh parchment paper. Repeat with remaining squares, and then place in the freezer for several minutes to get cool. Remove from freezer and serve or store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.