Chocolate, Chocolate, and Chips!

I've recently made the decisions to ween myself off of non-raw chocolates, and dabble once more in the art of raw chocolate making. I've done it before to great success for some reason stopped trying. I was re-inspired last night when I found a recipe for a raw version of Ferrero Rocher chocolates on Heater's blog cutely renamed 'Ferrero Rawchers'.

But who can stop at just one recipe when you have to go out of your way to melt some cacao butter and coconut oil? Not me! I went along to make raw chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate-covered raspberries, chocolate clusters (the basic chocolate recipe below with dried cranberries, chopped brazil nuts, and dried figs), spirulina chocolate (just added a couple tablespoons of it in the basic recipe), and chipotle chocolate (same deal as spirulina). and mint chocolate (mint extract) topped with coconut shreds. Chocolate extravaganza!

Here's the breakdown of the basic recipe and imagine all the possibilities after that (it may be a little sweet so feel free to amend the sweetener options):

Basic Raw Chocolate Recipe

1/4 C melted coconut oil

1/4 C melted cacao butter

1/2 C cacao powder

1 tbsp carob powder

2 tbsp of maple syrup

2 tbsp agave nectar

pinch of salt

While the chocolate-dipped fruit is pretty straight-forward, all I did with the other chocolates was either place them on parchment paper and set them in the fridge (or freezer if you are in a rush, but I'm skeptical of frozen things still being raw) or in paper muffin liners! Enjoy!

I've also been jonesing for chips recently. So I made a bunch of blue potato, russet potato, and beet chips. It's quick and simple, and super tasty:

Potato/Sweet Potato/Beet Chips

1-2 large tuber or something to turn into chips

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of olive oil (optional)

salt to taste

pepper

(I've also made versions with nutritional yeast, herbs, etc.)

1. Slice the tuber with a mandolin so the slices are nice and thin.

2. Place them all in a bowl, stir olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix until the flavors are evened out (your mix shouldn't be too oily because then the chips turn out greasy).

3. Place slices on dehydrator (use a teflex sheet so your machine is easier to clean!) at 115 overnight. When you unplugged your dehydrator, let them set for a bit so the chips become nice and crispy!

(For those who follow my workouts, I've decided just to have a weekly recap of my workouts on Sundays, since my posting is becoming increasingly sporadic)