I’ve always had a sweet tooth, and unfortunately, that wasn’t something I said good-bye to when we dramatically reduced our sugar intake. *Sighs dramatically*
Though, I am pleased to report that the type of sweets / desserts that I enjoy now are significantly different than before. Case and point: dark chocolate. Especially paleo, make it myself dark chocolate. What, what?!
The main difference between this recipe and other paleo/primal chocolate recipes that I’ve found is that it does not, I repeat does NOT, use coconut oil (My boyfriend detests the flavor of coconut, so that wasn’t an option for us).
So, what’s the alternative to coconut oil, you ask?! Enter raw cacao butter. Yum, yum, and more yum. Thanks to Wellness Mama and her dark chocolate recipe for inspiring me (Link to Wellness Mama’s original recipe is here)!! This recipe is based on hers, but uses much less raw honey, and adds some liquid stevia.
Let’s get into it.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup grated raw, food grade cacao butter (I am enjoying TerraFoods’ version presently)
- 1 TBSP raw honey
- 1 dropper full of liquid stevia**
- 1 tsp (heavy-handed) vanilla extract
- 1 cup cocoa or cacao powder
- Dash of NoSalt Salt Substitute (optional)
- Slivered almonds (optional)
** A note, I am using Trader Joe’s organic liquid stevia, and am pleased with the level of sweetness. You may need to tailor this, depending on how sweet your stevia is / how sweet you want your chocolate to be.
Recommended Tools n’Things:
- A boiler or pan/bowl combo to indirectly heat the chocolate. I’m using a steel bowl and pot.
- Silicone mat / parchment paper (I used parchment paper and a cookie sheet)
- Stirring device (garden variety spoon worked for me)
Instructions:
1. Grate the cacao butter (teehee, it looks kind of like white chocolate).
2. Melt it using indirect heat. (please note, grating is highly recommended, because the cacao chunks take a while to melt on their own. As seen in the photo below)
3. Add the vanilla extract, liquid stevia, and the raw honey. Stir.
4. Gradually add and stir in the cocoa powder.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Daaaaa-dunnnnn!! You have chocolate! Enjoy as you see fit!
**Highly recommend tasting the chocolate at this time. Remember, it is STRONG in flavor, and you may need to adjust the sweetness to your liking**
This next part is optional, but also highly recommended: while the chocolate is still warm and melty, add slivered almonds and make almond clusters.
YUMM-O!!
7. Gradually add the slivered almonds into the chocolate mixture. I eyeballed this, and stopped adding when all of the almond slivers were completely coated
8. Scoop out spoonfuls / clusters onto your parchment paper. (These are not beautifully scooped… I apologize)
9. Add a dash of NoSalt (or real salt, if that’s your jam) to each cluster.
10. Into the fridge they go to chill! Eating directly from the cookie sheet is also optional.
If you attempt this, let me know how it turns out (or, any variations you try)! The strength/intensity of the dark chocolate took some getting used to for us, but now, we love it.
Let’s eat and be merry, and healthy!
Xo Rae
RaeRae Yum Yum! 