Homemade Chocolate.

Dairy Free. Gluten Free. Refined Sugar Free. Yumminess!

Healthy AND delicious chocolate? Is it even possible I hear you ask…Yes it is. Health benefits? Yes there are. BUT all chocolates are not created equal. Have you read the ingredients on store bought chocolates? There are all kinds of nasties in them. Numbers, preservatives and emulsifiers in them to make them last on a shelf and to bring costs down…all at the expense of our health. Homemade chocolate is so simple to make.

I’ve got two words for you. Cacao butter. That’s the stuff that gives chocolate that creamy velvety consistency. Cacao butter, in it’s raw form is cream in colour and smell oh so good, just like chocolate BUT the taste is not great on it’s own. It’s what we put with cacao butter that gives it is delicious flavour.

So let’s not add any of those chemical nasties that mess with:

– your gut health;
– your immune system;
– your hormones and mood.

This is the perfect recipe to give as a gift at Christmas or for a birthday especially for those peeps that can’t have the conventional stuff…we can all benefit from avoiding numbers and preservatives so I plan to have a bowl of Peppermint | Coconut Bark at Christmas for my family and friends to nibble on!

What do you need?

100grams cacao butter (you can buy it here or from your local health food shop)
3 tablespoons cacao powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup (you want pure maple syrup, you can buy it here or from a grocery store)
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or powder
Pinch Salt (I used Celtic because it’s what I had)
Essential oils to add:
– 5 drops Peppermint and 50grams desiccated coconut; OR
– 8 drops Wild Orange & 2 drops Cinnamon oil; OR
Chocolate moulds OR a flat tray to make a bark

How do you make it?

Step 1. Measure out all your ingredients and have them at room temperature.

Step 2. Next you’ll need to melt your raw cacao butter. The conventional way to do it is using the double boiler method so that chocolate doesn’t go grainy. I choose to go the unconventional and ‘quick method’. Place raw cacao butter into a heavy based stainless steel pot over very low heat and stir. As you can feel the heat getting up slightly, move the pot off the heat for a little while and continue stirring.

Step 3. When all the butter is melted add maple syrup and give it a good stir.

Step 4. Add your essential oils of choice and give it a good stir.

Step 5. Then add the rest of your ingredients and give it a good stir until well combined and smooth.

Step 6. Either pour your chocolate into mould carefully OR pour your chocolate into a shallow tray lined with baking paper. Pop your chocolate in the fridge to set for about an hour.

Step 7. You’re done, enjoy.

Notes

• You can add any nuts of your choices or dried fruit.
• You can substitute the maple syrup for a sweetener of your choice. I would also try Brown Rice Syrup.

There you have it. A super simple recipe that literally took me 15mins to whip up. The ingredients I used are staples in any home that wants to create healthy and delicious meals, snacks and even skin care and beauty products would you believe?

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