Chocolate Haystacks and Snow

I just spent a week enjoying the great outdoors in Big Sky, Montana. Something about skiing and playing in the snow gave me an intense craving for chocolate anything. I think all the hot chocolate I used to drink to keep warm while learning how to ski as a kid during the frigid Minnesota winters wired me to associate cold weather sports with chocolate.  But have you looked at the ingredients list on the back of instant hot cocoa? Nasty corn syrup solids are usually either the 1st or 2nd ingredient….not cocoa powder.

Luckily for me there was a awesome natural foods cooperative in nearby Bozeman where I could pick up the essential ingredients to make one of my all-time favorite, quick and easy chocolate recipes: Chocolate Haystacks. I made a double recipe of these for dessert one night to serve to my meat and potato loving parents and a group of kids aged 6-10. At the end of the evening there was only one haystack left. I consider that a sign of a successful recipe. Enjoy.