Healthy Home Made Chocolate

Make your own chocolate that is good for you! It's so quick and easy using our new Cacao Wafers!

This recipe shows you how easy it is to make healthy homemade chocolate using Changing Habits Cacao Wafers

Ingredients

250gms Changing Habits Cacao Wafers
100gms Changing habits Rapadura Sugar
1/4tsp Changing habits seaweed salt
50gms coconut oil

Stove Top Method

Use a double boiler for this recipe. If you don't have a double-boiler then you can place a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of boiling water (make sure the water does not come right up to the bowl).

Boil water in the saucepan. Place double boiler or bowl over the top.

Add all ingredients together and stir for 20 minutes.

For different variations as above, simply add your favourite food or oil at the end and stir through before placing in mould or dish to set.

Please note – The ideal temperature is 37 degrees, if you have a cooking thermometer then place this in the double boiler to maintain an ideal temperature.

Variations

Kaffir Lime Chocolate - add 4 dried kaffir leaves into the mix, then remove and add 2 drops of lime essential oil before pouring into mould.

Peppermint chocolate - stir in 3 drops of peppermint at step 3 of method

Cherry Ripe - add 1/4 cup goji berries and 1/4 cup desiccated coconut at step 3 of method

Nut Crunch Chocolate - Place 1 cup of chopped mixed nuts and add at step 3 of method.

Ginger Chocolate - place 1/2 cup of chopped crystallised ginger at step 3 of method or if you would like to use fresh ginger place 1 inch of peeled, fresh ginger in the bowl at step 3 of the method

Chilli Chocolate - 1 tsp of chilli flakes added at step 3 of the method, if you want it hotter add more.

Berry Chocolate - If you have moulds place one blueberry in each mould and cover with the chocolate at step 3 of the method. You can use any berry it all depends on the size of the berry and the size of the mould.

Orange Chocolate - 3 drops of orange essential oil added at step 3 of the method, you can also 1/2 cup of homemade orange marmalade at step 3 for extra taste.

Fruit Chocolate - Any fruit, peeled and cut and cold then dip them in the chocolate, covering the whole fruit, place on a baking tray covered in baking paper, place in fridge and watch them become a favourite at any dinner party, if you can get them on the table before the kids find them in the fridge.

Fruit and Nut - Add 1/4 cup oil free sultanas and 1/4 cup of chopped nuts at step 3

Coffee Chocolate - Add 1/2 cup of slightly chopped roasted organic coffee beans at step 3 of method.

Walnut chocolate - If you have moulds place 1/2 a walnut into the mould and cover with the chocolate at step 3 of the method. If you have larger moulds put the whole walnut in. My favourite.

Rum and Raisin Chocolate - soak 1/2 cup of sultanas in 2 TBS rum, add at step 4 of the method but make sure you put your blade on reverse speed, otherwise you will lose all the rum out of the sultanas Coconut Rough Chocolate - my brothers favourite. Add 1 cup of organic desiccated coconut at step 3 of the method.

If you are looking for some good quality essential oils to add to your chocolate - twenty8 sell a fabulous range including peppermint, orange and lime click here for more details 

10 Top Tips To Spot a Healthy Chocolate

So, you've probably heard that nutritionists and dieticians are now saying that chocolate, in moderation, can be good for you – that it contains amino acids, minerals and antioxidants which can improve cardiovascular function and even reduce cancer.

All of this is perfectly true. Cacao (cocoa) in its pure form does hold all of these vital ingredients but, chances are, you're getting very little of it in the standard chocolate bars that you buy. And all too often, the goodness of cacao is drowned out by other ingredients such as soy lecithin, flavours, colours, preservatives, hydrogenated vegetable oils, hydrolysed milk protein, emulsifiers, none of which have any real nutritional benefit and in fact, might be doing you damage.

How to spot -good' chocolate from -bad' chocolate
1. Read the ingredients rather than the nutritional panel
2. If the ingredient list reads like a chemical laboratory or is extensively long - it's not healthy – in this case, step away from the chocolate.
3. Milk and white chocolate use flavours and milk protein concentrates therefore can be dismissed immediately from being a healthy chocolate
4. In the ingredient list, if the world flavour is present - put it back.
5. Soy lecithin is an emulsifier that is not required by a good chocolatier – it's an added ingredient that is not necessary and is a red flag as to the quality.
6. Vegetable oil of any sort has no place in a great chocolate.
7. Look for cacao liquor or paste, cacao butter and cacao powder, these are nutritious ingredients that make up a great chocolate.
8. The amount of sugar is also important. A good quality chocolate will have one type of sugar and it will be listed toward the end of the ingredient list.
9. The type of sugar is also important. Rapadura, organic cane juice, or unrefined sugars are three excellent and nutritious sugars.
10. If the chocolate has ingredients other then the cacao and the sugar make sure they are real such as; coconut oil, sea salt, nuts, seeds, dried fruit (sulfur and oil free), chilli, lime oil, peppermint oil, goji berries, coconut, orange and any other real food.

Finding these -good' chocolates is harder than you might think. Most of the more popular chocolate brands on the shelves have been refined and processed to the point that anything remotely healthy has been removed. Still, they do exist or, if you have the time, preparing your own chocolate treats can ensure that you know exactly what you're eating.

Make your own using Changing Habits Cacoa Wafers, Rapadura Sugar, Seaweed Salt and Coconut Oil. Here is the link to help you make your own chocolate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ5W2QVpHQw