Homemade Hazelnut Chocolate Bar
Well guys IT’S HERE ... the time has come. You’ve earned it. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow hopefully you have someone to make this for you otherwise if you’re alone you’ll have to make this chocolate slab for yourself... but that also means no sharing and you get to eat it all so who is the real winner? We both know the answer. But if it’s dire straights and you have a full family of troops hide it in the freezer behind some frozen raw liver they’ll eventually stop searching once they see that or just lie and say you put liver in it. White lies are good for your health if you are protecting chocolate.
You could totally turn this bar into a rum n raisin situation and it would be a really bloody ACE idea. You could get as creative as you want really… use figs, coconut to make coconut rough, roughly chopped mixed roasted nuts, dried fruits or seeds. Honestly you do whatever you want but whatever you do don’t hold back.
Chocolate like this is the glue that holds us together, snickers bars and Mc Donalds’s choc fudge sundaes are the glue that clog our arteries.
Raw cacao vs sweetened cocoa...
Raw cacao is bitter and less processed when farmed and isn’t heat treated resulting in a more nutritional option rich in magnesium and iron compared to highly processed sweetened cocoa that usually has sweeteners added so I recommend you read the ingredients list. Unsweetened Dutch Cocoa is usually a good choice also.
Cocoa Butter:
it’s the fat extracted from the cocoa bean they look like white chocolate buttons (certainly do not taste like them) or you can buy cocoa butter in a block form it’s solid at room temp. You could also use coconut oil but cocoa butter is creamier and thicker when making your own choc - but you do what is best for you never let perfect get in the way of good
Recipe is super bloody simple just the way I like it and here it is and as always you are so very welcome.
FREEZE DRIED RASPBERRY & HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE BAR
ingredients:
- 1 cup cacao butter (approx 150g)
- 3/4 cup nut butter (almond, peanut, cashew)
- 1/3-1/2 cup raw honey or pure maple (depending on your taste buds)
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon (helps regulate blood sugar)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Filling: I chose freeze dried raspberries & roasted hazelnuts and it was a bloody good choice - 1/3 cup of each crushed up
instructions:
- Melt all the top ingredients on the stove on a low heat, continuously stirring to prevent the bottom from burning. Once melted and combined take off the stove.
- Pour half of the mixture into a tray/container (I use those silicon loaf baking thingys), add the filling ingredients on top and place in the freezer to set for 15 mins then pour the rest on top and let it sit in the freezer for an hour or so before eating or store in the fridge.
NOTES:
If you couldn’t care less whether the filling ingredients were on top or in the middle just pour it all in and bobs your uncle... or maybe he’s not he ain’t mine.