14 May, 2015
Chocolate Coconut Spread (Made with a Surprising Ingredient)
I love finding inspiration from products I find in the grocery store. When you can find an awesome tasting product and can recreate it yourself at home with slightly better ingredients and for a fraction of the cost! What a win for everyone. My taste buds and wallet both can agree that this recipe is a WINNER! My budget friendly copycat recipe for today is a version of Hope Foods Dark Chocolate Coconut Spread. If I hadn’t read the ingredient label then I would have never guessed that this chocolaty spread was made out of…wait for it…garbanzo beans. If this spread tasted like hazelnuts I would have thought it was Nutella I swear. It completely tasted like dessert. I dipped strawberries into it and when I ran out I started eating it with a spoon, it was that good. A bit dangerous.
This small container of heaven cost around $5 in the store but I knew that with just a few real food ingredients I could make a version for myself at home for much much cheaper. Let me tell you it was super easy to do and just as tasty. My taste tester husband agreed it was good and he had no idea that it was made out of beans.
The nutritional profile of this spread is really an added bonus to how good it tastes. Garbanzo beans provide plant protein and fiber. Coconut oil is an amazing source of healthy fat that is burned quickly for energy. Cacao powder is a top source of antioxidants and contains an abundant amount of magnesium and iron.
This chocolate coconut spread has so many uses|
♦Spread it on fresh fruit (strawberries and apples are particularly yummy!)
♦Melt it over warm toast with sliced bananas and sprinkled with cocoa nibs or coconut flakes
♦Add a scoop to your smoothies or real food shakes for a chocolaty kick
♦Double or triple the batch, pour it in a pie crust, and let it set up in the fridge (I thought it reminded me of cheesecake). **You could easily replace the mixture instead of the sweet potato in this recipe**
♦Eat it over homemade graham crackers topped with fruit
♦While still soft right after making it spread it over a cake or cupcakes for a delicious healthy frosting
Give a try and let me know your favorite ways to eat this chocolate coconut spread in the comments…
Chocolate Coconut Spread
Ingredients
- 1 can 15 ounces garbanzo beans, drained
- 4 tablespoons raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or powder
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil or coconut butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup coconut sugar, or raw honey
- 2 tablespoons prepared coffee optional
- pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
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Add all of the ingredients to a food processer except water and pulse a few times to chop the beans and start mixing.
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Run the processer and drizzle in the water and blend until smooth and really creamy (this may take a good 5 minutes).
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This will be creamy like hummus after processing and will get firm in the fridge like a spread.
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Good either way.
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Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
*choose organic ingredients when possible.
Haha, love it! So perfect like a dessert hummus! There are so so so many uses for this!