When I began making better food choices and transitioned into following the Alkaline Diet principles, candy became a distant memory. That is until my love of dark chocolate could no longer be suppressed. I was more miserable without it than I was with it.
It is not the cacao bean that is bad, it’s what we have done to it that is not so good.
Instead of giving in to cravings for sugar sweetened candy, I upped my creativity in the kitchen experimenting with almonds. My first alkaline diet treat was delicious homemade almond butter.
Truth be told, I’m not sure that I would have succeeded overcoming sugar cravings as well as I did had it not been for almond butter, raw cacao powder, coconut oil, and dried stevia leaf powder. Those four ingredients have saved me so many times and I ate them daily for close to six months of my initial diet shift.
If you love Nutella brand spread, but would like to swap for a healthier homemade nut butter version, you’ll love this recipe!
SUGAR FREE WITH STEVIA
If you are eating a sugar free diet; chocolate and stevia taste very well together. Raw cacao powder is probably one of the easiest ingredients to pair with stevia without having that strong stevia taste that can be off-putting.
If you have tried stevia before and didn’t like it, I’ve been there too. The first brand that I purchased I tossed in the trash it was so strange flavored. My experience is that it is not stevia that tastes ick, it’s the fillers that have been added to the product making it taste ick. Read the ingredients. The stevia that I tried first was mainly made up of a sugar alcohol called erythritol. I have discovered by process of elimination that sugar alcohols have a tendency to give me a headache.
Stevia is a natural plant with green leaves and reminiscent of a tall mint plant. It has a very sweet flavor that is pleasant when you bite into a fresh leaf. The best way to use stevia is in it’s natural form. You can use fresh leaves or dried ground leaves in most any recipe you choose.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Almonds
- 1 Tbsp Raw Cacao Powder
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1/4 tsp Dried Ground Stevia Leaf Powder (taste and add to your preferred flavor)
- Optional Sugar Ingredients
- 1 tsp Molasses
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Sugar or Raw Honey
Instructions
- Begin by blending the almonds until they are powdery and clump together.
- Next add all remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.
- Start with a small amount of stevia and increase to your preferred sweetness. If making this with sugar, swap out for the molasses and coconut sugar/honey.
- If the mixture is not smooth enough, you can add a little more coconut oil to make it spreadable.
- The longer you blend, the more buttery the almonds become.
RAW CACAO POWDER
Raw cacao powder is made from the fermented cacao bean, dried, then ground into a powder. This keeps the nutrients available for you to absorb. Did you know that cacao is fermented?
Cocoa powder is the cooked version of raw cacao powder, it has a more bitter flavor and does not contain as many bioavailable nutrients as the raw version because of processing.
Using raw cacao powder isn’t necessary for this recipe, it will still have a chocolate taste with the cooked version (cocoa powder). However, I think raw cacao powder tastes the best and would suggest using it if possible.
If you can’t tolerate cacao, there is also the option of carob powder. This has a chocolate-like flavor, but doesn’t completely taste like chocolate. I like the taste of carob powder and it is naturally sweet, so you may not need as much stevia when you use it. Carob also contains vitamins and minerals comparable to cacao.
Both the cacao bean and carob bean have a rich history as food and in trade. Cacao was once traded as money, understandable. The carob, sometimes referred to as locust, may have been what John ate instead of insects “locusts and wild honey,” found in the Bible at Matthew 3:4.
RECIPES TO USE CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER
Once you’re done eating the chocolate almond butter with nothing but a spoon 😉 , I have a collection of recipes for you to try it with.
Try the almond butter as a topping for banana slices for a mid-day snack. They’re both popular finger foods for toddlers and adults!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have. Chocolate almond butter has been a key to my success for breaking the sugar habit, hopefully it’ll help you break the sugar-bug habit too.
Much Love,
Jessie
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