Homemade Unsweetened Carob Chips (Vegan, GF)
You'll find that in a lot of our recipes, we use carob instead of chocolate. The reason being is that carob is much lower in caffeine, although it does still contain mild stimulating properties (theobromine) in trace amounts, and it delivers that chocolatey flavour in a more mild and gentle way. I also tend to go a little crazy when I consume raw cacao, my heart will start racing and jumping all over the place. So for that reason, I stick to carob, Jenn on the other hand doesn't seem to have these problems. I used roasted carob and coconut oil to make super easy Carob chips! I suppose you could use raw carob, I don't know how that tastes. I think for optimum chocolate flavour though, roasted seems to taste better. There is also no need to add sweetness because carob is naturally sweet, if you are substituting cocoa in this recipe, then I would add a little sweetness to taste. Can't wait to use these in carob chip cookies! :)
1/2 cup roasted carob powder
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
Mix together, simple as that. Spread on a parchment lined flat surface and allow to cool in fridge. Chop into chips, store in a cool place until ready to use.
Here is one of our favourite carob recipes:
Carob-Blueberry Energy Bars
Ways to use the chips:
Raw Frozen Cookie Dough Bites (Vegan, GF)
Chocolate Chip PB Balls (Vegan, GF)
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, GF)
Cocoa-Coco-Nut-Nut Cookies (Vegan, GF)
I've tried to make my own carob chips before and didn't have any success (they just melted too fast!) but I'm going to try yours. Do they keep their shape in another batter, for instance? I just think the oils in the store-bought ones must be so bad for me!
ReplyDelete@ Ricki: Since these chips contain coconut oil, yes they melt pretty fast, if you baked them in cookies I would let the cookies cool completely so the chips can harden up again. If you include them in any raw desserts there should not be a melting problem (hence raw lol). I just had a stroke of genius though: if you're concerned with quick melting, why don't you try adding a nut butter (such as cashew) so it will hold its shape when baked. It's worth a try!
ReplyDeleteMichelle and I are trying to cut back on our raw cacao and start using more carob! We love it and this carob chips look just perfect!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks
~Lori
I saw your comment on Gena's blog and it resonated w/ me..eating less sketchy stuff and eating more REAL foods. And your bit about food allergies, too. Yes my god...getting off processed soy, dairy, gluten, etc can do so many people so much good..I know it did me!
ReplyDeleteAnd i make raw-ish vegan coconut oil chocolate. agave + cocoa powder + coconut oil. Your recipe looks great!
Neat! I love chocolate and it does't bother me either, but I think carob is very underrated and wholesome. I'm saving this post to my files!
ReplyDeleteso, do you heat up the carob powder at all? I've just recently discovered that carob exists as an alternative to Chocolate. I'm just a little confused about how this all works
ReplyDeleteYay! We are huge fans of carob because it doesn't get you hyper like chocolate does. Carob comes in a powder so Just use it in place of cocoa powder. It reacts to other ingredients in the exact same way.
DeleteReally, that looks just as delicious as a high quality chocolate bar chopped up. Previously, the eye-appeal has been a major detriment for me in switching to carob - even though I know carob is much better for us.
ReplyDeleteSeeing these pictures gives me hope. I wish someone would come out with a carob bar that was sweetened with organic raw sugar and put in a fancy wrapper. They'd be instant millionaries.
Thank you for posting about this.
Alot of the chocolate is fermented :( Carob is not. Chocolate is a "mold" and if you type in your search engine how it's processed you'd be turned off. For people that are to stay away from caffeine, molds and fermented foods but love their chocolate, carob is a wonderful alternative without the caffeine. I am also looking into raw cacao and manuka honey
ReplyDeleteallergic to coconut... can i use soybean oil?
ReplyDeleteno unfortunately it needs to be a solid oil, try cacao butter!! :)
DeleteLong time ago as a child the health food stores had these chocolate carob nut clusters w/ either peanuts or almonds in it. They were so fresh and good. No all they have is processed carob coated garbage. I came here today as I was looking online for carob chips that were both organic and w/ out sugar, no luck. I found this recipe and will make those chips.
ReplyDeleteI will also try sometime adding some nuts - maybe virginia or jungle peanuts [reg peanuts are not good for you], almonds, cashews or chopped brazil and spreading it in a thicker layer before cooling and break them into clusters, like those that were around when I was a kid. Yum. and Thanks
Jenn and Jac, where do you buy your roasted carob powder?
ReplyDelete