I’ve been promising a lot of people to share my favorite raw chocolate recipe in a blog. I thought this might make a great Christmas gift for everyone who reads – especially those too far away to receive a warm hug.  One of my challenges in writing this blog and sharing this recipe, is that I don’t always measure precisely and I don’t always make the chocolate the same way every time!  So, to insure that I give you a good rendition, I made the best chocolate ever – then I wrote down what I did (more or less), then I made it again, following the recipe I had written down.  There really is no need to measure, you can just eyeball the quantities.  I hate to waste any ingredients in a measuring cup, and you can’t really go wrong with these ingredients!  This truly is the best chocolate ever!

There are two options:  make the chocolate base and put it into molds (pictured on left) or a dish and eat it just like that.  For an amazing addition, add a layer of  raw chocolate icing courtesy of rawtarian.com to the bottom layer in the glass dish (pictured on right).  I’ve included a simple version of the raw chocolate icing below.

I’ve made chocolate in my Vitamix and I’ve made it by combining the ingredients in a bowl.  Use whatever you have.  You can’t really go wrong when you mix this combination of ingredients! For truly raw chocolate, the ingredients should only be heated enough to melt in order to best preserver the antioxidant benefits.

Best Ever Raw Chocolate

• 2/3 C melted coconut oil
• 1/3 C melted cocoa butter
• 1/3 C melted honey (can use a bit less)
• 1/2 C raw cacao powder (adding slightly more will make it darker)
• 1/2 C or so whole dates (finely chopped if not using a blender)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Dash salt

Blend in Vitamix or bowl until very smooth. Once blended, add nuts.  If added to blender, just blend to desired consistency.  If mixing in a bowl, chop them first.

• 1 cup pecans

Pour some into chocolate molds if you have them and pour the rest into the bottom of glass dish(es) about 1/2 inch thick. Put into the freezer to harden. After hard, the chocolate molds can be popped out and kept in a container in the refrigerator.

For the mixture in the glass dish, to make it even more incredibly delicious, top it with raw chocolate icing made by combining in a blender or food processor:

• 1 C dates
• 1/4 C raw cacao powder
• 1/4 C coconut oil
• 3/4 C water

Let the contents sit for 10+ minutes or so to soften the dates. Blend on high. Stop and scrape down the sides and blend on high again.

This is now awesome deliciousness. Pour or spread on top of the chocolate base. Put in the refrigerator, or freezer if you need it to harden faster.  Store raw chocolate in the refrigerator.  You can cut it into any size pieces you desire!

Share with those you love A LOT!

Please let me know how this recipe works for you!