Who doesn’t love chocolate, right? Well I guess some people don’t, but I haven’t met them yet! And we’ve discussed the health benefits of chocolate many times.
So I wondered what it would take to make my own chocolate, and thanks to my colleague John Berardi, here’s the recipe I’m going to use.
See what you think.
Remember that the type of chocolate we benefit from is the really rich, high quality, low sugar chocolate that contains 85% or more cocoa.
The First Step – Raw Cocoa
Raw chocolate is made from cocoa beans which haven’t been roasted. You see, roasting changes the molecular structure of cocoa beans, reducing the enzyme content and lowering the overall nutritional value.
Unfortunately, commercial cocoa (and the chocolate made from it) is made from roasted cocoa beans. So, this recipe includes raw cocoa rather than roasted. And you’ll notice a huge difference between the two.
The ingredients:
- 1/2 cup cocoa butter
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
- 1/2 cup (raw) organic cocoa powder
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup agave syrup for sweetening (organic honey, stevia or raw cane sugar is okay too; or you don’t have to use any sweetener at all)
Now, the basics above form the foundation of your recipe. However, if you want to jazz it up a bit, here are some ideas for what you can add.
- lucuma powder (sweetener, also makes the chocolate more milk-chocolate like)
- berry powders (blueberry and buckthorn berry)
- purple corn powder (high antioxidants)
- cocoa nibs
- goji berries
- dried berries
- raisins
- dates, chopped
- crushed nuts, almonds, seeds
- chili powder
- maca
- green tea extract
- carob
- or anything else you like!
Here are the steps for making your own raw chocolate.
Step 1.
Grate 1/2 cup of the cocoa butter. It will melt easier when it’s grated. Measure also 1/2 cup of coconut oil.
Step 2.
Place cocoa butter and coconut oil in water in a small, heat safe cup or bowl. Then place the cup or bowl in a shallow pan containing a small amount of warm (not boiling, but nearly) water. Stir the oil and butter occasionally until it’s smooth.
Step 3.
Measure 1/2 cup cocoa powder. If you’d like to add any other dry ingredients, measure them out now and stir them together with the cocoa powder. Note: in this recipe, I used 1/4 cup lucuma powder and 1 tbsp maca. Natural vanilla or vanilla extract would work here also.
Step 4.
Pour the dry ingredients in the bowl with melted oil and butter. Stir continuously until smooth.
Step 5.
If you want to sweeten your chocolate, pour 4-6 tbsp agave nectar into the mix and stir. If not, skip this step.
Step 6.
Have someone check the quality This means go ahead and check if the chocolate is sweet enough. You can also add the rest of the additions at this point (like chili/cayenne, dried fruit, nuts, etc.)
Step 7.
Pour the melted chocolate on a pan / plate / ice cube tray. You can also throw some of the additions on top of the chocolate. It looks nice. Place the chocolate for 30 minutes in the freezer or 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
Step 8.
Here’s the hardest part! Enjoy in MODERATION with good friends or family. The more you share, the more you enjoy. I can assure you your friends will be astonished by how delicious REAL chocolate is!
Please let me know when you try this recipe. And send me some samples!! Thanks……..
