Homemade Chocolate Chunks (chips)

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When I first started eating clean, without meaning to, I actually was eating a vegetarian diet.  I’ve always loved vegetables and salad has long since been my favorite meal so it wasn’t a big stretch to go so long without animal meat.  So when my family and I recently switched to a plant based lifestyle I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal to do away with animal based foods.  WOW!  Was I wrong.  I was floored by the amount of things I ate that were made of eggs, milk, cheese and meats.  Every single meal I (and my husband and kids) ate contained one and usually more of those 4 things. Eating only plant based foods turned out to be a bit more work than I realized.  Never one to shy away from a challenge I went to work recreating our favorite things that would now fit our new lifestyle.  As it turns out I like these chocolate flakes better than the chocolate chips we had been using.  They tasted great in our Vanilla Ice Cream and I can’t wait to make some chocolate chunk cookies!

~Sarah

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup raw coconut crystals
• 2 cans (13.5 ounces) coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Place the cans of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.  This helps to separate the coconut cream from the coconut water.
2. Once the cans have been chilled carefully separate the top layer of coconut cream from the water below.  You should yield about 1 cup coconut cream from 2 cans.
3. Place the cocoa, coconut crystals and coconut cream into a quart sized mason jar.
   

   Heat on medium high heat to melt the cream

4. Fill a small saucepan with two or three inches of water.  Place the jar into the saucepan and heat on medium high to begin melting the cream. (This creates a water bath to keep the chocolate from burning.)
5. Once the mixture has completely melted, pull it out of the water (careful it will be hot) and add the vanilla.  Stir well.
   

   Pour the mixture into a 9×13 inch pan covered with parchment paper

6. Pour the mixture into a 9×13 inch pan covered with parchment paper.  Spread it as evenly as you can. (Try not to let the mixture pool in the middle or you’ll have thicker chunks.)
7. Place your pan into the refrigerator for 1-2 hours so that the chocolate can harden.  Remove it from the parchment paper and break it into chunks.
8. Add chocolate chunks to ice cream, cookies or pop a few in your mouth when you need a chocolate fix!

Notes:

Store leftover chocolate chunks in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.