Join Me for Merienda: V and GF Homemade Dark Chocolate

Hello everybody!

So, I've been busy freezing in my region, but trying to keep warm by keeping busy by testing out recipes etc.This is a quick post and is originally derived from a post that I shared for the 21 Day- Dairy Free Challenge, group on facebook that was sponsored by So Delicious. If you follow my blog; you know already that I am Vegan; so joining the group was for fun and also a way to show support to others who are trying to change their lifestyles. It's been fun so far and helping one another in whatever capacity that we are able to do so, has always been my way of life =) 

I love dark chocolate and I do believe that dark chocolate loves me back, too! =)

I will have to keep on refining the recipe, but for now, here is a a decent one that yields a yummy and dark chocolatey bar of goodness. You can play around with the ingredient add-in's as you go along.

This one was embedded with more toasted sunflower seeds and toasted coconut

You can see the original batch has a grittier texture due to the coconut sugar, as well as the add in's of coconut and sunflower seeds.

This is the 'plain,' batch made with the 'powdered,' organic coconut sugar

This 'plain,' batch with the 'powdered,' organic coconut sugar, yielded a smoother texture

It's really easy and quick to put together as long as you have all the ingredients.

Ingredients:

Roughly a little more than 1/4C of organic coconut oil, melted

4-5Tb Cacao Powder

A Handful of organic coconut sugar (you can grind this with a mixer into a powdered sugar consistency; if you want a smoother bar, otherwise mixing it in as is, will just give you a crunchier texture)

A pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt

A tiny splash of pure vanilla

*A pinch of powdered Moringa

Toasted unsweetened coconut

Toasted unsalted sunflower seeds

*This can easily be omitted, as it may be difficult to procure in the U.S.

Method:

Melt the coconut until liquid, add in the sweetener of your choosing and dissolve to combine as much as possible. Then add in cacao combining well until fully incorporated. Next add in the Himalayan pink sea salt, pure vanilla, optional powdered Moringa and lastly a handful of the toasted coconut and sunflower seeds.

Pour the mixture into the mold of your choosing and tap it to remove excess air bubbles. Top with additional sunflower and coconut; if desired.

Place into the fridge or freezer to harden uncovered for at least 15 minutes.

I usually wrap my bars in parchment paper and then keep them in a container with a cover in the fridge. I'm sure you could freeze them, but would they really need to last that long? ;p

I love being able to make these bars from scratch because it's really economical and a fun way to satiate your creative pleasure and craving, while still being healthy.

As I mentioned earlier, you can play around with flavors and add-in's.

I tried one batch adding in some organic orange oil and it reminded me of some fruit truffles that I had enjoyed in the past. I had another batch that had some organic lavender and ground vanilla bean sugar mixed with it and it tasted lovely =)

I did try to do a batch with carob powder and it didn't taste bad, but the texture is much different than cacao based bars (as anybody who has eaten carob confections vs. chocolate confections in the past, knows!) So, I will be working on that version for the future. 

This original recipe was thrown together in a span of less than 15 minutes; so I'm sure I'll be updating it again in the future. Until then, please feel free to follow this blog and leave me comments or questions in the section below!

Wishing you all much success!!!!

Love,

Jessica <3

*P.S. : The formatting for this post was weird, but as long as you can read it, I'll be glad.
I'll come back later and change it up ;)