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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free ~
I have to just giggle and scratch my head whenever I look at the commercially made chocolate chips. I shop in the health food department at our local grocery store, and they have at least six different types of chocolate chips on the shelf.
One bag is gluten-free but has dairy, the bag next to it is dairy-free vegan but is soy-based, besides that bag is organic with dairy, and below that bag is fair-trade but contains cane sugar. Why can’t I find an organic, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, that is made fair-trade… all rolled into one chip?!
Well, now I can… in the midst of my very own kitchen, and you too can make your own chocolate chips! Yes, you! With the simple task of making your own chocolate, the cost of a piping bag, and a tiny tip… well, you my friend can now spend countless minutes creating your own nuggets of chocolate bliss!
But wait there is more!! Not only can you make them…you can EAT them!! Oh but wait, there is even more…for free I will throw in antioxidant flavonoids, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, and manganese! Yes, you too can enjoy these wonderful health benefits for free! Respond today, and all this can be yours!
Ok, I am being fairly silly here. It’s all about enjoying life and really… look at this photo… don’t they just make you smile?
Piping your own chocolate chips is indeed a labor of love, but well worth it if you ask me. In reality, it really doesn’t take long once you start. My suggestion is to make a party out of it. Call over some friends, have some snacks, drinks, music… set each person up with a tray, piping equipment, and some raw chocolate. Pipe, giggle, share stories and have fun with it. If you have kids… rope them in… create memories. I have a feeling they will enjoy the process too. They may grow bored after the first ten but then that ten less that you have to do. hehe
If you have no patience for making chocolate chips or perhaps time is the issue… no problem… Just pour the mixture into an 8×8 baking pan, and place in fridge or freezer until solid. Once done, flip the chocolate slab out onto a cutting board and chop to the desired size.
Ingredients:Ensure all utensils, and the bowl is dry before the ingredients are added as water can cause the mix to separate.
This is why it is important to sift the cacao and mesquite powder.
If these made their way into the bowl, the chocolate would be grainy.
Prepare the piping bag, put a piece of tape over the tip so the
chocolate doesn’t ooze out as you pour the chocolate in the bag.
Slide the bag into the jar and fold the edges over the jar.
With the supplies ready, now it’s time to keep an eye on the
chocolate. I am not sure if you can see it but this is still too thin
to use. Keep whisking it till it starts to thicken.
Can you see how it looks thicker? Now is the time to get it
into the piping bag. If it gets too thick, it won’t pipe so take note
that this is the “sweet post” and you can start piping!
Pour it into the bag, burp as air bubbles from the bag and have at it.
Hold the bag and tip straight up and down. With very gently
pressure, squeeze as you pull up.
Remember when I said “gentle” …. lol
Once you start, you really can’t stop. You don’t want to risk
the chocolate from cooling too much and make it hard to pipe.
Place in the freezer for 10 minutes, transfer to a jar and store in
the fridge or freezer until you are ready to use. Enjoy!
Oops, almost forgot, here a picture of chocolate “chips” were I
just poured the chocolate into a plate, froze it, and chopped it up.
Options: Add chocolate chips to your cookies such as in Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Hooters, Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream, and many other recipes! They make a great late night snack while everyone else is sleeping. Quietly tiptoe to the freezer, crack the door open slightly, so you don’t allow too much of the light to spill out, grab the container of chocolate chips and nibble away. Unlike M & Ms these will melt in your hand so make sure to lick your fingers clean to hide all the evidence. :)
I don’t have mesquite powder. Can I make the chips without it?
Yes Lili,
It might change the flavor just a tad from what I made but it should be just fine.
i was wondering if there would be a huge difference or even if the taste would be way off base if i tried making the choc chips using coconut oil?
Well, they won’t be as rich in deep chocolate flavor and not to sure that they stay as firm as the cacao butter….worth a try though. IF they didn’t work out just right, you can always throw them in a granola mixture, a cookie dough, in a chia pudding…all sorts of things, so they won’t go to waste!
So, what’s your opinion about Agave? I have been staying away from recipes that call for it, due to some things I have read. Do you have a specific brand of Agave that you use and do you have brands that you stay away from? Thanks!
Hello Kerri,
Ah yes agave… this is an ingredient that comes up in question by many. I don’t have any strong opinions to stand on regarding to be honest. I have done tons of research and reading and you can find resources that say it’s good for you and bad for you. It gets confusing. So, I go to my standard way of approaching these matters. I ask myself, “How do I feel about using this product? Does it agree with my body? Do I feel any ill effects?” I then source out the best product that I can find. What are they processing standards? Are they organic? Raw? Fair-trade? Sustainable? etc. They don’t have to be all of these but I look at their core. Then finally, my final approach is… use it in moderation. I may have many recipes that use agave but that doesn’t mean that I eat them or agave everyday. Moderation is the key. There are so many other products that you can use to sub out agave so if you have issues with it, change it out. Each sweetener will lend different flavors so keep that in mind. I do have a post written up about that if interested.
I do however have a favorite brand of agave that I have been using for some time now. It’s called Xagave. I order it through Amazon. http://astore.amazon.com/nouraw-20/detail/B002W09PX4. I haven’t found it in stores yet though I heard Sams Wholesale Club was carrying it but I am sure that differs from store to store.
I hope this helps. If you have more questions… you know how to find me. :) amie sue
Hi Amie, i am having a hard time finding the mesquite powder. I just saw mesquite flour by Shillow Farms but I’m not sure that’s the one or not. It doesnt say its raw… Should inkeep searching or this one would do? Thanks as usual! Have a great day :-)
Hello Pilar… good to hear from you, it has been a while. :)
I looked up the mesquite flour by Shillow Farms. It is organic and gluten-free but not raw. They heat the pods at about 130F for 4 hours to remove the water so the high sugar content pods can be ground to a fine flour. If you can’t find the raw version locally and don’t want to order the raw kind, then this is the next bet. If you are aiming to be 100% raw then you will have to decide for yourself as to what your priorities are. I tend to order mine through Amazon http://astore.amazon.com/nouraw-20/detail/B001NHCGSS
Good luck and have a great day. amie sue
Dear Amie-Sue,
Thank you so much for your response and your research, you are amazing! I finally found raw mesquite powder locally so I’m very happy! Although now I see that I need a pipping bag :D
I’ll keep you posted when I finally make them.
And I have been checking this site all the time, but just for the same recipes… I would say is still my main raw encyclopaedia, and your attention is really unique.
I’ll write back soon!
Hi Pilar, you can use a Zip-lock bag for a piping bag if in a pinch. :) Many blessings. amie sue
Oh, thanks for the suggestion. However, do I still need something for the tip?
Pilar, you can just snip the bottom tip of the baggie… the smaller the cut the finer the line.
Great, then I’m all set for my first attempt! I really appreciate your answers, how lucky we are with you! :-)
Well, lets hope you always feel that way. hehe
Hello Amie-Sue,
I finally tried this!
The thing is 99% of the times I take a recipe, there’s this sweet little evil force that keeps me from sticking to it! Of course, always hoping that it is going to turn out as I like. But unfortunately, I most of the times regret not having been a good girl and done what it was written!
So in this case, I thought that if I added more agave and a pinch of vanilla, chances were the chocolate chips would make my taste buds happier. And they did get really happy, but once the chocolate chips cookies were in the dehydrator, a good part of the chips melted away and leaked down to the dehydrator floor (thanks god there was nothing underneath ;-)
Still, there’s still chocolate chips in the cookies and they taste good! But next time I won’t risk again…
lol You sound a bit like me Pilar. I am sorry that you ended up with a mess! You sure made me giggle though. The trials and errors of the kitchen…aah the stories. Better luck next time..blessings, amie sue
You can also use a dehydrator to melt the cacao butter.
I like to dehydrate at 95 degrees- close to human body temperature. That’s the temperature the food gets digested in my body, anyway, I think.
@ Pilar: Too much agave can make chocolate soft so you have to be careful, I think.
Another great recipe, Amie-Sue! :)
Thanks Yuna. Appreciate you sharing! amie sue
So excited to stumble upon your site! I have been looking for proportions to make a chocolate that will set up using a liquid sweetener (our family is doing GAPS) and cocoa butter. I have done chocolate work for several years but it has always been with purchased couverture so the liquid sweetener has had me frustrated. It looks like this will work perfectly. I was curious about your photo with the piping bag. I noticed you are not using a coupler. Is there a particular reason why? Is it easier or easier for clean up? Thanks!
Hello Gay… I am so happy to have you here! I hope that you find some inspiration through out the site that fits into the GAPS diet for you and your family. :) As far as to why I didn’t have a coupler on my bag… no reason, I was traveling a lot at that time and probably didn’t have one atm. I was making due with what I had. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. Blessings, amie sue
Hi Amie Sue!
Is there an automatic chocolate chip maker that you know of? I made raw chocolate chips once, and although they were great and fun to eat, it killed my arms, hands and back (just kvetching). I swore I’d never make them again, but I really would love to if I could find something to help automate the process….hello, Nestle’s! Hmmmmm…maybe hire some kids? Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Maureen
Oh my Maureen… I wish that there was. If there is one out there, I am not aware of it… not on a personal kitchen level anyway. :) I’d say to gather up some girlfriends and make a party of it. Have some light snacks, cold drinks or warm (if cold outside), turn on some music and have everyone armed with a dehydrator tray (lined with teflex) and a piping bag of chocolate. If I lived near you, I would come help! :) Have a great week my friend, amie sue
You’re BRILLIANT!!! That’s exactly what I’ll do! Inviting friends to make a party of it will certainly make it go faster! Thank you for that suggestion!!
Well not sure I would go as far as brilliant. lol But thank you Maureen. hehe hugs, amie sue
Dear Amie-Sue,
It was frustrating but also fun making the chocolate chips. It was frustrating because it took me several times before I got the right temperature before the chocolate had the right consistency to make the chips.
It was also fun though because I love making everything from scratch and it was fun making little dots =). My daughter enjoyed when I made smilies with the chocolate hehe
It took probably 15 min before the chocolate even got thicker did I do something wrong or does it always take that long?
The chocolate chips taste really really good!
Warm greetings,
Melanie
Hello Melanie,
Well I am proud of you for taking on this fun task. There is a sweet spot for sure and you found it. You did just fine. :) So happy to hear that you had your daughter help…. creating memories! Blessings and thank you so much for sharing your experience. amie sue
Hi Amie-Sue, hope you are doing well special lady. About the cacao butter, should it equal 1 cup after it has been melted?
Thanks! Have a blessed day.
Good morning Idgie,
I am doing a-o-k and keeping busy. I hope you too are doing well. :) Always a pleasure to hear from you.
I used 1 cup of grated cacao butter, then melted it.
As the ingredient list reads : 1 cup grated raw cacao butter, melted
If I had stated, “1 cup melted raw cacao butter” then it would be 1 cup of cacao liquid. Does that make sense? It all depends on where that word “melted” gets put within the sentence. :)
Let me know if this was helpful? I am working on also adding gram weights to the recipes but that means I have to do redo each one to get the weights. :) Shew! hehe
Thanks, your explanation makes perfect sense. I was overthinking lol!
Oh gosh Idgie, I have been there too. hehe No worries, just glad I could help. :) Enjoy and have a blessed day, amie sue
Hi Amie Sue. I love all of your posts. Your introductory point about not being able to find the “perfect” product in grocery stores is so relatable, I laughed. I feel this way about everything…. e.g. “this one’s organic but has cane sugar; this one isn’t organic but has no sugar added; this one would be perfect but it comes in plastic” etc etc etc etc etc!!!!
You felt my pain, didn’t you Minerva! Still to this day, Bob and I joke and laugh about it whenever we go grocery shopping. :) Thanks for popping in! blessings, amie sue