Every year, my kids have enjoyed opening the little doors on Advent or holiday countdown calendars and eating the little chocolates. For many years, Charlotte was content to give her Advent calendar chocolate to her brother and eat a very small keto treat instead. Last year, it occurred to me that I could simply open the calendar and dump out the cheap, bad chocolate and refill it with a chocolate of our choice. It could not have worked out better! Charlotte was thrilled and enjoyed every second of opening the little door and enjoying the small treat along with the rest of our family. Just feeling included was probably the best part of all for her.
This year I saw a ChocZero keto advent calendar, but it if it’s too late for you to order it or you don’t love the price tag, my mom-hack DIY version will work just as well! If you simply can not use a food based calendar, there are many toy, trinkets, and other non-edible options out there. Lego makes some fun options, Aldi has many different types at very affordable prices, and you can even invest in an empty reusable one that fits small toys or treats of your own choosing. One last mention… I discovered this charm bracelet calendar on Amazon, and I know Charlotte will love it!
Read below for step by step directions for my DIY keto advent calendar. If you are already in holiday prep mode, I have some really great high ketogenic ratio keto cookie recipes that you may like!
Holiday Recipes
Step 1
Carefully cut open the box using a sharp knife. The glue can be strong so please be careful! If you work slowly and carefully, you should be able to do this so that it is unnoticeable. Remove the original chocolate and discard.
Step 2
Break the keto chocolate of your choosing into small pieces and place them in a zip top bag. I am using Lily’s Original Dark Chocolate Bar. If the Lily’s bar is too low of a ratio, mix it with some pure cocoa butter which will stay solid at room temperature. Seal the bag and place into a bowl of hot tap water. Let the chocolate melt. If you would like the treat to be a serving of fat consider using my Keto Caramel instead of chocolate! The calendar will need to be stored in the refrigerator if the caramel is used.
Step 3
Next, snip a tiny corner from the bag and fill each space with the melted sugar-free chocolate or other filling options. Allow enough time for the filling to harden before returning to the box. Reseal the opening with glue or tape.
Step 4
Enjoy your treat as you count down to the holidays! How easy and fun is that?!
A Few Notes
A note regarding plastic. There are neurotoxic chemicals in all plastics. Acidic ingredients such as chocolate leech these chemicals into the food items that come in contact with the plastic so please consider this and your personal health concerns before using plastic products. If you are concerned about unsafe chemicals leeching into the chocolate from plastic, melt the chocolate in a glass bowl set over hot water. Use a silicone mold to make small chocolate shapes. Obviously these will not fit the plastic molds that come inside the advent calendars, instead you can use an empty reusable calendar to put them in.
