The Complete Guide to Homemade Coconut Oil Chocolate

 Valentine's day is around the corner, but who needs an excuse to make chocolate...or eat it? Especially if that chocolate is not only delicious, but good for you.  Yep, it's true.  This is a chocolate this is really good for you. It is so filled with many health benefits, you can eat a piece everyday!  AND you can easily make it in your own kitchen using only 5 ingredients!  Yes,it is that easy.  Let's get started with what you will need.

HOMEMADE COCONUT OIL CHOCOLATE
Ingredients
1/2 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1/2 cup coconut oil (liquid state)
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey*
pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla or other flavor extract

Combine cocoa powder and salt.  Mix coconut oil, vanilla & maple syrup in a glass measuring cup with a pouring spout.  Whisk the ingredients until well combined.   Add the cocoa powder to the oil mixture and stir until a consistent texture is achieved.  Next, pour your liquid chocolate into flexible silicon molds.  NO MOLDS? NO PROBLEM.  You have several options.  
Substitutes for silicon molds. 
* Muffin tins.  (If using regular sized muffin pans, fill to 1/4.  Mini muffins fill to 2/3)
* Ice cube trays
* Parchment lined glass 8x8 baking dish (you will cut the chocolate with a knife)
    

Line muffin tins with parchment rounds for ease of removal

Once your molds are poured, place them in the fridge to harden.  About 20 minutes. Remove chocolate from the mold and enjoy.  If you are not using flexible silicon molds, you may need to dip the bottom of your muffin tins or ice-cube trays in warm water to loosen the chocolate.  This will make it easier for removal.
  

Organic Cocoa Powder

Mmm chocolate.

Cocoa Powder, pinch of salt, coconut oil, maple syrup &vanilla.

Poured chocolate into silicon molds

Removal is quick and easy

The chocolates should be stored in an air-tight container, in temperatures below 70 degrees or they will melt.  

Once you have made the basic recipe you can branch out.  Here are other variations to the recipe:
* peppermint or orange oil (3-5 drops)
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
* 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper  
* 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts or dried fruit

* USING RAW HONEY INSTEAD OF MAPLE SYRUP

Coconut oil liquefies at temperatures above 76 degrees. When the coconut oil is liquid, it is difficult to get the honey to combine.  ( I won't bore you with the chemistry behind this) As a result, the honey settles to the bottom and when you pour your mixture into your chocolate molds, the first few chocolates will be bitter and the last few will be very sweet.   BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT CAN'T BE DONE.  
TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS:
1.  Add the honey and the liquid coconut oil into a suitable container and blend with an immersion blender.  Blend until completely combined. Continue with the next step of the recipe.

OR
2.  Pour your coconut oil into a glass measuring cup.  Place the cup into the fridge or freezer to partially solidify.   You want it to thicken not completely harden.  Add the honey to the thickened oil.  Mix until well combined.  (It should be the consistency of cake frosting or peanut butter.)  Once it is mixed, add the cocoa powder and salt.  The texture will be too thick to pour, but the honey will be well combined.  Now you can place the mixture in the oven, under very low heat until it begins to melt enough so it is pour-able. Stir in your flavor of choice and pour into your molds.

Cool coconut oil in fridge to thicken

Stir to test thickness

Mix honey and coconut oil

Mixing honey and coconut oil with immersion blender

This may sound a bit complicated, but it is really quite simple.  Many have tried making coconut oil chocolate, with various outcomes.  These extra steps allow you to trouble-shoot any problems.  This chocolate tastes so good and has so many health benefits I want it to be easy for you to make a batch under any conditions.     

What makes this chocolate SO good for you?
COCOA POWDER
Especially organic, and not dutch processed contains a high amount of antioxidants. 
Antioxidants are compounds plants make to prevent their cells from premature destruction from heat, light, air, moisture and time.  Consuming antioxidants also has the same protective effect on our own cells. Thus cocoa can prevent premature aging and protect against disease.   Cocoa contains 40x more antioxidants than the super-fruit blueberries.
The polyphenols in cocoa are cardio-protective. They help reduce our blood cells from clumping and help reduce arteriosclerosis. (hardening of the arteries.)No heart drug has the benefits cocoa does.

Cocoa also enhances the production of various feel-good chemicals in the brain, notably serotonin and dopamine. So yes, it is a natural anti-depressant and will elevate your mood.  

The consumption of cocoa has been shown to be effective in improving insulin resistance and glucose metabolism. 

Cocoa has demonstrated beneficial effects in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells without effecting the growth of normal healthy cells. 

Cocoa  is one of the highest plant based sources of magnesium, which is a mineral that many are lacking.  Magnesium plays an important role in muscle relaxation, which is why it helps with constipation and leg cramps.  Magnesium also helps convert glucose into energy enabling your brain to work with laser-sharp clarity and focus.

Dutch processed cocoa has been treated to be less bitter but this process also decreases many of the antioxidants in the cocoa.  So be sure to avoid dutch processed.  Also organic cocoa has many more health benefits as it too contains more of the above mentioned antioxidants and minerals but also does not contain any pesticides or harmful chemicals. Also many non-organic cocoa contains GMOs.  

COCONUT OIL

Is a great metabolism booster. It also is antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial so it will help your immune system fight off infections of these kind.  Coconut oil is very good for those with candida overgrowth.  

Although coconut oil is high in saturated fat, most are medium chain fatty acids (MCFA)which are digested differently than long chain fatty acids.  MCFA go straight to the liver from the digestive tract, where they are used as a quick source of energy or turned into a ketones which can have therapeutic effects on brain disorders like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s.

MCFAs also increase our energy and do not get stored as fat. 

Coconut oil is also the only food on the planet other than mother's breast milk that contains lauric acid- a potent pathogen fighting substance.  

The way coconut oil is digested it can also curb hunger and sugar cravings. 

Coconut oil has also been found to improve your cholesterol numbers by raising HDL cholesterol.   

HONEY & MAPLE SYRUP

Both are sweeteners that have a low impact on your blood sugar levels.  

Raw honey has many medicinal properties. For example is it one of the world's best cough suppressants and if the honey is harvested local to your area, it  may decrease seasonal allergies. 
Honey has many antibacterial properties and may destroy the oral bacteria that leads to bad breath. 
Maple syrup contains many beneficial minerals like manganese, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc. It is also rich in antioxidants and helps boost immunity. 

NEED I SAY MORE?

This homemade coconut oil chocolate CAN  be eaten daily!  EnJoy!

 

Getting Back to our Roots

Happy New Year!
The holiday season has kept me very busy in the kitchen.  Many, many cookies were baked for our Organic Cookie and Cider week.  I also baked many loaves of sweet bread for gifts and hosted Christmas dinners, so there was not much time for blogging.  I did however, take many pictures and jotted down plenty of notes about the food I made, that I think will interest you. I will share that, as the year progresses.

I would like to start the year with a focus on getting back to our roots.  So much emphasis is made about diets and things we shouldn't eat. I want to get back to making real food, using real ingredients. The foods we should eat.  For years, families gathered around kitchen tables, enjoying food made from scratch, by family members, from recipes that had been passed down for generations.  Sure, today you can look up a recipe online, but there is something different about the food made with a pinch of this and a pinch of that; and mixed until it looks like "this".  One would only know what "this" was, until someone showed you.

Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of learning how to make pierogies from our receptionist Zofia's mother-in-law.  Teresa is here visiting from Poland.
Many nationalities have traditional holiday foods that they prepare.  For the Polish, pierogies are made in abundance, at Christmas time. So, I was honored to be able to learn from someone who is an expert.

The Pierogie expert: Teresa

Traditionally, these pillowy dumplings are stuffed with a mixture of potato and farmers cheese. This variety is also called a Ruskie (Russian). Other varieties include mushroom/ sauerkraut (my personal favorite) and sweet varieties like fresh strawberry or wild blueberry.  The sweet pierogies, are usually made in the summer, when the fruit is in season. Teresa taught both Zofia and I, how to make both the mushroom/sauerkraut and the cheese and potato.

To begin we made the filling. We used a specific type of Polish farmers cheese for the cheese/potato variety.

This was mixed with mashed potatoes that were previously, peeled and boiled in salted water. 

 A half of onion is minced and added to the cheese and potatoes.  Then all the ingredients are mashed together with some melted butter. Enough butter is added to make all the ingredients blend well. My guess is about 1 stick. The filing was then ready for use.

Zofia's husband Ralf helped with the mashing.  Pierogie making is a family affair.

For the mushroom/sauerkraut filling, the mushrooms we used were a specific, dried mushroom from Poland. They are called Borowik and they looked like portabellos.  The mushrooms were re-hydrated overnight in a pot of water.  The water was then drained and then the pot was re-filled with water and half of a sliced onion for flavor.  The mushrooms were then boiled until softened.

 The water again was drained and the mushrooms and boiled onion were then minced finely. I brought my emulsion blender, which our Polish pierogie maker had never used.  She did approve of the texture of the mushrooms that the blender achieved for the filling. It was a bit of an old world, meets new world experience. 

Drained mushroom and onions.

Meanwhile the sauerkraut was drained, not rinsed and placed in a skillet with some butter.

German Sauerkraut did the trick.

The finely minced mushrooms were added to the sauerkraut and the mixture was reduced down until it was no longer wet.  Once the filing cooled, it was ready to be used.

Drained sauerkraut

Mushroom and Sauerkraut filing

 Now for the dough. The secret is in the ratio.  
1 part liquid: 3 parts flour and a pinch of salt. 

For the liquid we used 1/2 cup of boiling water and 1/2 cup of milk mixed together with a tablespoon of butter.  ( yes, butter is used a lot in the making of pierogies!) Stir until the butter melts.  Make a well in the center of the flour and add one egg. Then, gently pour the liquid over your mound of flour and egg. Our Polish pierogie expert used a butter knife to cut in the liquid. Mix it in, as you pour.  Stop the addition of the liquid once you have a run-off.  Mix and continue.  Once the flour mixture resembles a loose dough ball, begin to kneed with your hands.

Make a well in the center of the flour.

Adding the warm liquid.

Cutting in the liquid to the flour.

   Knead until dough has a spring back texture to it and all ingredients are combined.  Cut off a section of the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface.

  The dough should be thick enough to hold the filing but not too thick or the pierogie will be too heavy.  No recipe can teach you this, you have to learn from experience.  If I was to guess, the dough should be rolled out to about 1/8" in thickness. - Get out your rulers. :)
Once the dough was rolled out, we used the "correct sized glass" as our cookie cutter to press out circles for the pierogies.

When ready to fill, pick up your dough circle and place the filling of your choice in the middle. Fold circle over to match the edges up and crimp dough together to seal it shut.Careful not to get any of the filling in the seam, or it will open when boiled.

The pierogie makers.

As you work through all your dough. Leave the finished pierogies on a covered tray to prevent then from drying out. You can place a clean tea towel over the pierogies until they are ready to boil.
 
When ready to cook them, place the pierogies in a pot of boiling water and cook until the pierogies float to the top. Do not add too many at once or they will stick to each other.  Once floating, remove with a slotted spoon.

Perfectly cooked pierogies.

Minced onions cooking in butter.

Just add onions cooked in butter and eat!

 From here you can eat as is.  Top with onions sauteed in butter and/or a dollop of sour-cream.  Some people also like to fry them, to crisp the pierogies on the outside.  The choice is yours.

Being taught to make pierogies, a traditional polish dish, by a polish grandmother, whom had learned to make pierogies from her mother, whom had learned from her mother before her, made me revisit a few things.

1.  You don't need fancy gadgets and cook wear to make good food.   We used a drinking glass for our measuring device and that same glass was our cookie cutter. Sure there are certain kitchen tools that make things faster and easier but at times they also complicate things.
2.  Making food is an experience.  Yes making real food takes some time and effort and it will mess up your kitchen.  But it is not hard.  Aside from the health differences between homemade food compared to take-out, preparing a meal, especially one for a holiday, is an act of love.  You do it because you want to share that love with others. 
3.  Food is the glue that bonds.  Whether it be Christmas, a birthday or some other holiday, food allows you to share an experience with friends and family.  Food is at the core of every celebration.  You can choose to break bread by opening a package, however the experience is much more profound when that bread is made with love, from those you love.

After many years apart, they make pierogies together!

This year, I encourage you to get back to your roots.  What special dishes did your grandmother make?   What foods became a part of your family traditions?   In this fast paced world, why not slow it down a little.  Let's get back to enjoying Sunday dinner together again.