Allergy-friendly recipe: Decadent dairy-free chocolate

This decadent chocolate ticks so many boxes for me:

It's a Satisfying Trim Healthy Mama recipe that is dairy-free, sugar-free and nut-free;
It's deliciously chocolatey, and feels so naughty, yet it's actually full of superfoods that mean your body will thank you for eating it;
And it tastes really good.

I can't get enough of this stuff.

What I like about it more than other coconut-oil based chocolate recipes is that it doesn't disappear in my mouth the way they do. The addition of creamed coconut, with all its fibre, means this chocolate has a satisfying weight to it. It also means the chocolate stays hard in the fridge and for quite a while at room temperature too.

If you're not a fan of recipes sweetened by stevia, you might not like this recipe. L and Paul don't like anything I make with stevia. They think it has a weird aftertaste so won't touch this chocolate, but S and I love it a lot.

I've added two optional extra superfoods to this recipe (in addition to the coconut). These are mesquite powder and cacao nibs. Both are antioxidant rich, but quite pricy so I only use them some of the time. I think this recipe is great, with or without them.

A big thank you to my allergy-friendly sponsors, The Coconut Oil Shop and Natvia, who provided ingredients for my test kitchen.

Ingredients

• 3T coconut butter (Rich Gold Creamed Coconut - just use the fibrous part, not the coconut oil that rises to the top as that's accounted for in the next ingredient)
• 3T coconut oil
• 1t vanilla essence or pinch of vanilla paste
• 3T Natvia (stevia and erythritol blend)
• 2T dark cocoa
• Pinch salt
• 1T mesquite powder, optional
• 1-2T cacao nibs, optional

Method
1. Melt 3 Tablespoons creamed coconut and 3 Tablespoons coconut oil together on a medium-low heat, using a spoon to break up the lumps of coconut butter.

2. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 3 Tablespoons Natvia, 2 Tablespoons of dark cocoa, pinch salt and 1 Tablespoon mesquite powder (if using) and whisk or stir for a minute or two over a medium-low heat to thicken.

3. Take saucepan off the heat and continue to whisk or stir for another minute to release heat and thicken.

4. Pour into a plastic container, sprinkle with cacao nibs if using and place in the fridge to set.

5. Slice into squares once cold.

Enjoy!



*Variations:

1. If you want the chocolate to be more milky, you can add 100mls of stirred coconut milk to the saucepan with the other ingredients and boil it in for a few minutes to thicken. This will result in a richer, more fudge-like taste and texture. I found this version too rich, but S loved it.
2. You can make a dark peppermint chocolate version simply by adding a dash of natural peppermint essence to the main recipe and stirring through before setting it in the fridge. 

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