Planetary Hazelnut Pops - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup organic almond butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup chopped hazelnuts
2 cups lavender chocolate candy melts
9 wooden dowel sticks
food coloring (gold powder paint)
vodka, to mix powder paint

Preparation

Mix almond butter and powdered sugar together until a dough ball forms. Roll out 9 gumball-sized balls and roll them in a 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts to coat. Freeze.
Once frozen, remove from freezer and cut in half (keep frozen until ready to use). Melt lavender chocolate and pour a tablespoon into a 18-slot half-dome baking tray. Press frozen hazelnut ball halves into each slot and freeze. Spread most of the remaining chocolate (leaving yourself about a third of a cup in the pot) onto a silicone baking mat or parchment sheet. Spread out to about 1/8 inch thickness and sprinkle 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts. When almost set, use a 3\" circular cookie cutter to ident 9 initial cutouts and freeze until ready to use.
Assemble by popping half-dome melts out of the mold and removing the round discs from the parchment sheet. 'Glue' together with remaining chocolate and heat the wooden dowels to press into the underside of the pop. Roll the lip of the ring in chocolate and use the last of the hazelnuts to coat. Finish by dusting the asteroid belt with gold luster dust and using a fine brush, paint on planetary designs to the tops and bottoms of the planets. Stick the pops in a decorated half dome of styrofoam or other stand of your choosing.