Sweet Tooth Tamer
Do you suffer from an insatiable sweet tooth like me? To say that I have a seriously dysfunctional relationship with sugar would be a gross understatement. Addiction - more likely.
I have tried to quit the white stuff more times than I can count. Vowing to consume smaller amounts never lasted longer than a few days. The importance of maintaining a stable blood sugar level, that doesn’t yo-yo from sky-high to rock-bottom all day long has been well established. So important for our physiological as well as psychological well being. Since the word “moderation” and my taste buds don’t like each other, I have now finally found a good tapering off method that works (for me). SUGAR FREE CHOCOLATE that actually tastes good and is packed with super healthy nutrients. I’m not a big fan of artificial sweeteners, since they can come with a whole accolade of other potentially detrimental health effects, so the safest way is to always enjoy in moderation. The sweeteners used in this recipe are Monkfruit and/or Erythriol which are both sugar alcohols, which do not affect blood sugar as many other sugar alcohols do. It has been said that Erythriol consumption interferes with the breakdown of fructose, so I tend to keep fruit out of the loop when consuming these sweeteners. Please know that I’m no nutritionist. Just sharing this recipe, because A) It tastes good and B) It’s a good short term solution for when your sweet tooth is running riot.
I’ve discovered the recipe on Sugarfree Londoner, check out Katrin’s food blog, there are many more mouth watering recipes you can try.
The chocolate is super easy and quick to make. All you need are 4 ingredients.
6 Tbsp Unsweetened high quality cacao powder (NOT cocoa)
1 Cup Cacao Butter
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Essence
All you need to do is melt the cocoa butter in a small pan over low heat, once melted stir in all the ingredients. Tip onto parchment paper or silicone mat on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 20 min or so, then break it into bite sized pieces. Et voilà!
For a fancier looking product, pour your mixture into any kind of chocolate mould. Silicone works best (though I have my eye on a very cute vintage mold for Easter time). Find an example similar to what I’ve used here: Silicone Chocolate Mold
You can experiment with different flavours and textures too. So far I have tried nuts, almond essence, cinnamon and cacao nibs (one at the time, not all together :-) You could also try peppermint, orange essence or shredded unsweetened coconut. The possibilities are endless!
Enjoy!
