Recipe: date, peanut & dark chocolate power cups
Magnesium is a core nutrient for the pregnant, birthing & postnatal body: these absolutely delicious no bake power cups are a packed with it.
Why does my baby-bearing body need magnesium?
Put simply, this mineral is a vital part of your muscular and nervous system’s health.
Making sure that you get enough of it can help to make your journey from pregnancy to parenthood so much smoother.
Magnesium is one of those minerals that affects our whole body health: when we have enough of it, we sleep better, think better and generally operate as a human better.
But when our stores of magnesium dip we feel it too: our mood, skeleton, hydration, digestion and muscle function all start to wobble, and even more so during pregnancy. While there has been limited research into this area, the studies that have been done associate magnesium deficiency during pregnancy with:
gestational diabetes
preterm labour
preeclampsia
smaller babies or restricted growth
When it comes to life after birth, there is also research to suggest that the levels of magnesium in our bodies have a significant role to play in our mental and physical health. Low levels of magnesium are associated with:
difficulty concentrating
headaches and neck pain
muscle spasms and tremors
a higher incidence of postnatal depression or other postnatal mental health issues
Magnesium is typically present in pregnancy and postnatal vitamin supplements as it’s generally recommended to up your intake when you are pregnant. However diet is a great way of ensuring you’re getting this mineral too (especially if, like me, you were rubbish about remembering to take them!)
Dates, peanuts (in fact all nuts) and dark chocolate are all rich in magnesium & will help to support your body at all stages of your pregnancy and postnatal journey. But there are added bonuses too! Research has shown that eating between 4 and 6 dates a day from 36 weeks of pregnancy helps to shorten labour; it does this by toning the uterine muscles so eating these in the run up to birth is likely to help you have a spontaneous, quicker birth experience.
This is what makes this recipe a brilliant addition to your pregnancy and postnatal diet. But as with everything, eat in moderation: these sweet treats are higher on the calorie side so do take care if you are watching what you eat for any medical reasons.
Gemma’s recipe for date, peanut & dark chocolate power cups
You’ll need:
18 medjool dates
12 teaspoons of peanut butter
200g dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil
and also…
a silicone muffin mould
a freezer
a pan of boiling water & heatproof bowl
some greaseproof paper & a rolling pin
Take the stones out of the medjool dates and slice in half.
Place the pitted, sliced dates between two sheets of greaseproof paper. Gently roll a rolling pin over the dates to flatten and thin them (about 3-5mm thick is good).
Line the bottom of the cups of a silicone muffin tray (like this one) with the dates: aim for 3 halves of dates into each cup.
Place a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of the date bases. Spread out so that the dates are covered with the peanut butter.
Pop the tray into the freezer.
While the date & peanut mix is chilling, put the chocolate chips and coconut oil into a heatproof bowl. Melt them together gently over a pan of boiling water (do not let the water touch the bowl!). Stir every so often to keep the two blending.
When the chocolate chips and coconut oil are melted and mixed together, retrieve the date & peanut cups from the freezer. Using a ladle, pour equal amounts of the chocolate mix into each cup ensuring that the peanut & date mix is completely covered.
Return the tray to the freezer very carefully (placing it on a baking tray might help you to do this cleanly!) and leave to freeze.
When you’re ready to eat them, turn the cups out of their moulds and leave to warm slightly if you don’t want them too cold & crunchy.
Food is such a big part of what I do as a postnatal doula: from helping them to stock their freezers before baby arrives to cooking the meals that sustain them once they have, perinatal nutrition is never far from my thoughts.
If this is something you’d like more support with, either with an antenatal education session or through postnatal doulas support, get in touch! Everything I do is tailored to the individual and we can create a package that gives you what you need to feel good about the journey ahead.
