homemade chocolate

Sharing a little treat today, out of enthusiasm for dark chocolate.

I’ve tried a number of homemade, usually raw, dark chocolates over the years and have been impressed with most all of them. They are always extra creamy, rich and deeply flavorful. A friend of ours makes incredible raw chocolate with amazing additions of things like goji berries, dried currants, ginger, chunks of mac nuts, shredded coconut. She has shared her recipe with me, but it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago when Alice posted a short and simple formula for the chocolate she had just made, that it really clicked for me. It seemed too simple not to try. And it truly is so simple! It took minutes to put together, and within about 20 minutes we had homemade chocolate that really does rival a quality dark bar.

I love that we can customize the bitter/sweet ratio and include any additional flavors we can dream up. So far we have kept it pretty simple and have topped ours with crushed espresso beans, chopped vanilla bean, cacao nibs and sea salt (not necessarily all at once). Next I’d like a salty toasted almond bar. My favorite so far is a simple dark bar with sea salt. Steven’s favorite is to make a pan with a different topping on each segment so each bite is unique.

Recipe adapted from Alice:

1/2 cup raw cacao powder (we are currently using this one)
1/4 cup coconut oil (I used this one I’ve had on hand for body care)
1 Tbs (or more to your taste) pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
sea salt to taste, sprinkled on top

Blend everything together, including any ingredients you wish to include (saving sea salt aside if you are adding it). I warmed it ever so slightly to soften the coconut oil.

Pour into a small pan and sprinkle the sea salt on top.

Chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Store leftovers in the fridge.

I’ve just ordered some organic cocoa butter to use in place of coconut oil. It will be more stable at room temperature, and I am a little bit sensitive to coconut so usually don’t eat it. Besides, we’re talking about chocolate here! If you try this out, I’d love to know what you think.

What’s your favorite chocolate? What would you add to yours if you made it any way you wanted? Our usual store bought favorites are Green & Blacks 85% and Endangered Species 88%. When we want a sweeter treat we usually choose Theo Salted Almond or Green & Black’s Mint Dark Chocolate (that one is dangerous around here!).