How to make your own chocolate. It's raw, it's healthy, and it's easier than you think.

 So, either you – or someone you love – loves chocolate.  That’s no surprise.  But what is surprising is that chocolate can actually be a health food.

That’s right, we’ve written extensively about the benefits associated with eating chocolate. (Especially the kind that’s high in cocoa).

Here’s a bit more about that:

• All About Chocolate
• Chocolate and tea: Antioxidant benefits

However, for today, our mission is to make our own chocolate.

You see, the type of chocolate we benefit from is not the milk chocolate stuff many of us call “chocolate.”  That’s actually “candy.”

No, the type of chocolate we can benefit from is the really rich, high quality, low sugar chocolate that contains 85% or more cocoa.

But there are a few problems with this type of chocolate.

• First, is that it’s often really hard to find.
• Next, there’s a huge taste difference between higher and lower quality.
• And finally, the higher quality brands are usually pretty expensive.

So, to solve these issues, Precision Nutrition community member Kaisa decided to share her favorite raw chocolate recipe.

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 chocolate) is made from roasted cocoa beans – unless stated otherwise.
So, this recipe includes raw cocoa rather than roasted.  You’ll notice a huge difference between the two.

The ingredients

Here are the ingredients (and amounts) you need on hand to make your own raw chocolate.

• 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 okay too; or you don’t have to use any sweetener at all)

Now, you won’t be able to find some of these ingredients are your local grocery store.  So try calling a natural food store in your area.  And if that fails, you can order the ingredients from Sunfood.

Ideas for additions

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 in the photo)
• 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!

Ok, let’s get started

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 a 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. Meaning… 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.

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!