making your own sugar free chocolate

Now,
I DO LIKE chocolate.
A few squares of dark chocolate after my lunch, seems to be part of my daily routine at this stage.
I don't need a lot of it, but just that little strong taste to finish of the main meal of my day, is a 'must'.

I wondered how difficult it would be make my own - and in that case, sugar free chocolate.
As you might know I have experimented with  energy chocolate balls  a few weeks ago, which I liked very much.

Last week I experimented with making 'just' chocolate.
And oh my goodness, it turned out lovely, (not just my words), and was SO easy.

homemade sugar free dark chocolate
on a small plate made by Elke Buhl

Sugar free dark chocolate

• soak about 4 dates in a tiny bit of water to soften them up.
• blend this into a paste 
• I used the nutribullet- it will stick to the sides, and  not all of it will turn into a smooth paste, as it is such a small amount (you can use larger quantity and refrigerate for use in other recipes)

Then:

• melt 1/4 cup of (organic) coconut oil
• I put this in a small glass bowl, which I put into a pan of boiled water. (not on the stove) It slowly melted and did not get hot.
• make sure it is slightly cooled

Then:

• Put 1/2 cup of cacao powder in a small bowl
• I used organic cacao powder (from True natural goodness)
• mix in a generous tablespoon of the date paste
• leave out any lumpy bits
• Add spoon fulls of the melted, and slightly cooled coconut oil to the powder & paste
• Add 1/4 teaspoon of (organic) vanilla extract
• pinch of ground seasalt

Mix it all gently together until you have a smooth looking chocolate mix.

Poor onto a shallow dish and refrigerate for half hour or so.

Cut into pieces.

I am sure it would be lovely to use chocolate moulds to make nice looking chocolates, but I did not have that. 

Taste all the same!!

I know it is sugarfree, but don't eat the lot of it as it is still chocolate, and fatty...

... I poored a tiny bit of boiled water in the bowl to not waste any of this glorious goodness. Swirrled it around, to get all the chocolate off the sides of the bowl. Poored it into a cup, added (goats) milk and heated it all up to make the most delicous hot chocolate. (add more cocao if needed)

Links and further reading:

• My other sugar free, and mostly dairy free, gluten free recipes