Hemp hearts and raw chocolate, is there any better combination on the planet? Not likely. Especially when you combine the nutritional profiles of these two superfoods, shazam! Super energy filled nutrient dense healthy fat fuel.
Where there’s chocolate, there are smiles, there is love and joy and sharing (sometimes) so why not make the healthiest chocolate possible?
Hemp hearts are a nutritional powerhouse, they’re the meat inside the seed and have basically no phytates which is the main enzyme inhibitor inherent in nuts and seeds. They have a balanced ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 and are high in protein. These easy to digest little seeds pack a mega nutritional punch. I love sprinkling them all over salads and making hemp butter with them but their addition to chocolate is reminiscent of those crunchy bars that snap crackle and pop when you eat them.
I know in certain states hemp is akin to cocaine and completely illegal. Funny enough as my super medical cannabis advocate man would say ” we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for hemp” which to a certain extent is true. The boats that European explorers sailed to America with the oakum (caulking) made from hemp. A lot of things used to be made from hemp, including the worlds longest standing bridge in France. New technologies are utilizing the strength of hemp to make sustainable eco-friendly building materials that could change the way we build from petroleum based to hemp based.
If you can’t get hemp hearts, you could certainly substitute them for bee pollen, chopped nuts or seeds or sesame seeds. If you can get hemp hearts, eat up, they are one of the most nutritious foods out there.
Raw chocolate has many advantages to conventional heat processed chocolate. As with all raw foods, the enzymes and vitamins are left intact. Raw cacao is high in antioxidants and its main alkaloid theobromine has been used medicinally to treat heart problems as a vasodilator. Why are antioxidants so incredibly important? Because they fight against cell scavenging evil free radicals on a mission to give us cancer and cause inflammation. In a world riddled with nasty pollutants, we’re exposed to free radicals constantly, in various forms. The more high antioxidant foods we consume, the more protection we’ll have against those evil bastards. Raw cacao is one of the richest food sources of antioxidants on the planet. Not too mention raw chocolate is basically the sexiest food ever. Cacao has phenylethylamine (PEA) the same hormone that is released in the brain when we fall in loooooove. Highest concentrations of PEA are present in raw chocolate, along with tryptophan the precursor to serotonin in the brain. Last but not lease, raw cacao is particularly rich in magnesium, a mineral that most of us are lacking (over 80% of people are deficient). Magnesium helps relax the muscles and nervous system, unlike its constrictive calcium counterpart. The two need to be in balance to be effective, yet most of us are consuming far too much elemental calcium and far too little magnesium.
So have I convinced you yet to try this addictively delicious raw black and white hemp chocolate? Here’s the recipe, and don’t worry it makes enough to share! Oh and you can be haphazard like me and make a bark style chocolate or you can use proper moulds but both yield the same amazing taste.
- ½ C coconut butter
- 3 Tbs raw honey or maple syrup
- ¼ tsp himalayan salt
- ½ C raw cacao butter
- 3 Tbs raw cacao powder
- 4 Tbs raw hemp hearts
- In a double boiler melt coconut butter and transfer to a bowl. Seperately melt cacao butter.
- Mix coconut butter, honey,salt + 4 Tbs of cacao butter and cacao powder in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
- In your preferred tray or chocolate mould sprinkle half the hemp seeds and pour the chocolate mixture over them, transfer to the freezer to set for about 20 mins.
- Remove from freezer and top with the rest of the cacao butter and hemp seeds, put back in the freezer to set again and enjoy!
- This recipe is equivalent to about 4 chocolate bars
