Coconut oil is super hot right now, but let me introduce you to an equally exciting but lesser known fat, cocoa butter. And I’ll show you how versatile it is.
Cocoa Butter is derived from the fat of the cocoa bean, the magical pod responsible for bringing chocolate to the world.
Most people use it to make chocolate by mixing it with cocoa powder and a natural sweetener like honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar. To bring out the chocolate flavor you can also add salt and vanilla or spice it up with cinnamon, cardamom or cayenne pepper.
If you mix melted cocoa butter with dairy and sugar you get white chocolate.
While cocoa powder has the bitter flavor we associate with dark chocolate, cocoa butter’s is responsible for the mellow, rich flavor of white chocolate (without the sweetener).
After buying a pound of cocoa butter here I couldn’t wait to experiment with it. Making homemade chocolate was easy but I decide to go outside the bar (get it…the chocolate bar…)
My first experiment was chocolate chip cookies. I replaced regular butter with cocoa butter for a deeper chocolate taste.
The results were pretty spectacular, with the rich flavors of dark and white chocolate in one cookie.
If you want a fun and delicious twist on chocolate chip cookies substitute cocoa butter in your favorite cookie recipe or try my recipe below. And if you want to play with making your own white or dark chocolate I’ll have some recipes coming up for you.
Once you see how easy and fun it is to make your own chocolate (with no sketchy additives or soy) you’ll be hooked.
Ingredients
yields 12 cookies
1/2 cup of melted cocoa butter
2 1/2 cups of almond or cashew flour or a mix of the two
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of chocolate chips
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of almond milk
optional mix ins: a handful of pistachios
How to
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Melt coconut butter
Mix eggs, vanilla extract, almond milk, maple syrup and melted coconut butter in a bowl.
Mix in the nut flour, salt and chocolate chips and optional pistachio. Mix with a fork or spatula until well incorporated.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease with coconut oil or oil of choice
Divide dough into 12 section and form each section by hand into a cookie shape.
Spread the cookies evenly on the cookie sheet with an inch or two of space between the cookies.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies begin to brown on the edges.
Take out of the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 20 minutes.
Enjoy with a cold glass of almond milk or cup of hot tea.
- ½ cup of melted cocoa butter
- 2½ cups of almond or cashew flour or a mix of the two
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ cup of salt
- ¼ cup of chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of almond milk
- optional mix ins: a handful of pistachios
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Melt coconut butter
- Mix eggs, vanilla extract, almond milk, maple syrup and melted coconut butter in a bowl.
- Mix in the nut flour, salt and chocolate chips and optional pistachio. Mix with a fork or spatula until well incorporated.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease with coconut oil or oil of choice
- Divide dough into 12 section and form each section by hand into a cookie shape.
- Spread the cookies evenly on the cookie sheet with an inch or two of space between the cookies.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies begin to brown on the edges.
- Take out of the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 20 minutes.
- Enjoy with a cold glass of almond milk or cup of hot tea.
