Nothing says Valentine's better than love and chocolate, and nothing could make you happier than eating guilt-free vegan chocolate, which you can have ANY TIME of DAY or NIGHT- year-round and not just on Valentine's. Our delicous, healthy Chocolate recipe is packed with vitamins and antioxidants as well as a flavor you and your loved ones will love, so you'll enjoy a sweet treat that is actually a superfood and not just candy.
We prefer using raw organic cacao for its amazing health benefits. You can use cocoa powder if you don’t have cacao, but please don’t confuse these two, they’re not the same at all.
The unprocessed RAW CACAO is a superfood, turbocharged with powerful antioxidants such as magnesium, flavonoids, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese to name a few. This is important to know because raw cacao is made by cold-pressing unroasted cocoa beans which means these antioxidant nutritional benefits aren't lost during processing, unlike with the chocolate bars sold in stores which are from roasted beans.
Cocoa powder is basically raw cacao that’s been roasted at high temperatures. Unfortunately, roasting changes the molecular structure of the cacao bean, reducing the enzyme content and destroying the overall nutritional value. Sadly, companies roast the cacao beans to make the chocolate bar sweeter which means more sales and more profits for them, but without any health benefits for YOU.
I don't think I have to mention to you the many health benefits of coconut oil, which is another superfood ingredient used in this healty chocolate recipe.
Using our tried and tested recipe to make your own chocolate will not only give you the health benefits of raw cacao, coconut oil, PLUS those of essential oils, but will give you a “license” to indulge in this sweet treat at any time of the day or night knowing that you’re eating a superfood, which is NOT just a mere chocolate candy bar, sold in the stores, and overloaded with sugar and artificial ingredients that have no health benefits and could also cause you more harm than good from all the additives used.
Our chocolate recipe is also soy free, diary-free (vegan), gluten and sugar-free (as an option), so you can and you should it indulge in it guilt-free every day and every time to get more health benefits. And by the way, did we mentioned this homemade chocolate is much cheaper than any candy bars you purchase and it requires no “emergency” trips to the store at night when you have a strong sweet tooth urge and nothing in your home to calm your cravings?!!
This chocolate takes only 5 minutes or so to make and the aroma and flavor of these essential oils will change your definition of real chocolate forever -we promise!
We suggest making this recipe for yourself, your loved ones, and as a gift for all your friends and loved ones to spread the cheer and a healthy lifestyle without the worry of overindulging!
Total time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup organic coconut oil
1 cup organic raw cacao powder (cocoa powder as a substitute)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp of honey (1/2 tsp erythritol or stevia as a sugar substitute)
1 drop essential oil (or more to taste) - Chose only ONE oil: clove, cardamom, cinnamon, bay, thyme, gingergrass, orange, lemon, grapefruit, or peppermint (DO NOT MIX THESE OILS TOGETHER). If you want to experiment with different flavors, just divide the chocolate batch in multiple containers, and then add a different essential oil drops to each separate batch.
Silicon molds or cupcakes for chocolate (optional), or other plastic containers (don't use ceramic or glass containers to avoid the risk of breaking them when you cut the hardened chocolate).
Instructions:
Mix 1 cup of organic coconut oil, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1 pinch of salt. Add your ingredients to a pot on the stove and mix until melted together.
After you removed the mix from the stove, ONLY then add 1 cup of organic cacao powder (that way to ensure you’re not destroying the antioxidants in the raw cacao, which are removed during heating). When the chocolate mixture gets a bit colder and harder in texture, add 1 tsp of honey (or more to taste) and mix it well together so the sweetness of honey will be distributed uniformly.
TIP: If you add the honey while the mixture is warm, it will drip to the bottom and the top of your chocolate will be bitter, while the bottom will be too sweet. If you need to avoid all sugar, you can substitute honey with ½ tsp of erythritol or stevia in which case you want to melt it with the coconut oil before you mix it with the raw cacao powder and the rest of ingredients.
The next step is where all the fun is! Divide your melted mixture into 4-6 small bowls/ silicone molds or any small containers you have. Add ONLY 1 drop of ANY of the following essential oils (don’t mix them together) to each bowl: clove, cardamom, cinnamon, orange (a big favorite!) lemon, grapefruit or peppermint, then add the containers to the fridge for 15-20 minutes. If you’re in a rush, you can put them in a freezer for a few minutes. Also, if you want to make individual servings for a special ocasions such as Valentine's Day, you can pour the chocolate mixture in paper cupcakes while it's still soft, and then refrigerate.
TIP: only add the oils after the mixture has been removed from the stove, as heat is the enemy of essential oils and it will destroy their therapeutic benefits. (Check our blog and our essential oils page, we have detail information on how to use each oil and their health benefits.)
EXTRA TIP: The aroma of essential oils will elevate the flavor of any chocolate. You can also mix it up with hemp, toasted sesame, sliced almond, chia or poppy seeds, coconut flakes, raisins, goji berries, any dry fruits, and even your favorite sweet liquor. You can even add some coconut heavy cream to your mixture if you prefer as milk chocolate or souffle.
All these oils have been recognized by the FDA as safe for consumption, but this is only the case if you purchase a pure, unadulterated oil. We can only recommend ingesting oils that are USDA Certified Organic.
Having the USDA Certified Organic label on the bottle itself is the only sure way to know the oil is pure, which is truly safe and edible as the plants are grown in organic soil within an organic farm, hence it doesn't contain any pesticides or artificial fertilizers and GMO's like the plants grown on conventional farms.
Using anything else runs you the risk of ingesting GMOs, chemicals and pesticides which could lead to major health issues like allergies, blood thinning, diarrhea, leaky gut and other chronic diseases on the long term.
Enjoy different flavors of this healthy guilt-free chocolate and make sure to always read the labels for your ingredients and buy USDA organic as much as you can.
Buy the oils for this recipe from our ESSENTIAL OILS COLLECTION.
Enjoy your homemade and guilt-free chocolate anytime, day or night!