Whipping Up Some Low-GI Chocolate From the Bean!

 Whether you call it 'low-GI chocolate', 'Paleo-Friendly Chocolate' or 'Cane sugar-free chocolate', it is still delicious!

As an owner of a chocolate business, I regularly need to find ways to reduce my intake of cane sugar in all areas of my diet. So I often try alternate forms of sugar. Lately, I've been using Organic Coconut Palm Sugar for cooking, baking and chocolate-making. There is an abundance of information online about how it is low-glycemic or 'low GI', which means it does not spike our blood sugar in the same way as cane sugar. But more importantly, experience has shown me that it does not cause the same wild high in my children that they get from cane sugar.  And for me, it seems to reduce that emotional roller coaster that can happen with regular sugar intake.


So when I was craving chocolate yesterday, but NOT cane sugar, I decided to quickly whip up some chocolate from the bean (well, nib technically) to satisfy my craving.  Who knew that chocolate could be made in just 5 to 10 minutes, and enjoyed much more thanks to the satisfaction of making it myself?

Here is how:

1.  Grab your single blade coffee grinder or your blender.

2. Toss in 2 ounces of cacao nibs and one ounce of coconut sugar. 

3. Grind together until the beans get fairly fine and start to melt.  Stop and stir. 

4. Continue grinding until you have a liquid. 

5. If you have some on hand, throw in a little cocoa butter (i.e. up to 1 tsp) to help move along the process (it is best if it is melted first).

6. Once you have a liquid, pour it out onto waxed paper and spread around.  As it is setting, cut whatever sized pieces you want. 

7. Chill in the fridge for a few minutes in order to set and harden the chocolate.  Then remove it from the wax paper and enjoy!  It is a little bit crunchy, but well worth the crunch. What's more, it is guilt-free!

If you want your chocolate to be pretty and shiny, then after it sets be sure to temper the chocolate. Go to this article for a how-to on tempering chocolate: http://www.ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2014/04/there-is-more-than-one-method-to-temper.html

For other ways to make chocolate from the bean at home, check out these articles:

Using Cacao Nibs to Make Chocolate at Home:
http://www.ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2013/04/using-cacao-nibs-to-make-chocolate-at.html

Making Chocolate from the Bean Using Madre Chocolate's Bean-to-Bar Kit:
http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2012/04/making-chocolate-from-bean-to-bar-at.html

A month of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Making:
http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2013/02/from-bean-to-bar-month-of-do-it-myself.html