Easy Raw CHOCOLATE Recipe
I love chocolate, AND I also really value making healthy, guilt-free choices, especially when it comes to foods I like to eat a lot of. When eating chocolate in the raw, you get all the wonderful nutritional benefits and antioxidants. I’m most impressed by theobromine, which gives the body a boost of “bliss” chemicals found to increase serotonin, a mood enhancer that aids in combatting depression. It’s no wonder I love chocolate so much.
Unfortunately, most store-bought chocolate, which has been over cooked and mixed with processed sugar and milk, has lost its vital nutritional benefits.
With this easy recipe you can make chocolate at home that preserves the wonderful health benefits that chocolate in the raw has to offer.
Chop 12 tablespoons raw cacao paste. If you cannot find the paste at your local health food store, you can order it online or substitute with cacao butter and raw cacao powder. (Note: *cacao is made from a raw chocolate bean, *cocoa is made of roasted beans).
If you use the butter/powder combo you will need to melt the cacao butter down to a liquid first and then slowly mix in the cacao powder a spoonful at a time to reconstitute the chocolate foundation.
To do this, place your cacao paste or cacao butter in a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler, you can substitute a makeshift one by nesting a glass heat-resistant bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir solids consistently with a wooden spoon over low heat until melted to a mildly runny molten consistency. ( I prefer to use a wooden spoon because cacao is so powerful at removing heavy metals that it can even pull it out of your metal cookware).
After the chocolate base is liquid, you are ready to mix in the following ingredients:
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons maca powder
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of cayenne
Dash of salt
Now your molten chocolate is ready to pour into your mouth, ahem, I mean, over a cookie sheet.
After pouring the chocolate, sprinkle your favorite ingredients over the liquid chocolate.
This time around I used walnuts, raspberries, and bee pollen.
Place in freezer to set the chocolate.
Once the chocolate hardens, break it free from the cookie sheet and enjoy your decadent chocolate “bark.”
(For another fun option: Dip raw organic strawberries in the liquid chocolate and set them on a plate in the refrigerator to harden.)
Enjoy! xo
