I’ve been working on this recipe for a long time, so I’m so pumped that I’ve finally got those ratios and measurements all figured out! Funny fact about me. I hated chocolate until I was pregnant with my first kiddo. I was always that vanilla girl. Vanilla shakes, vanilla ice cream, and all the vanilla I could get my hands on. Then I got pregnant. And oh my, chocolate became a thing. I remember I was on my candida diet, just having gotten off of five years of antibiotics (just a little bit of time) and sugar was a “no fly zone”. I decided to keep myself sane that I would let myself have one tiny chocolate at the end of every day. It worked, and I was able to keep those sugar cravings at bay with those two bites every evening!
Well, I’m now at over 10 years of loving chocolate and trying to get my hands on it every so often! Finding good chocolate and the RIGHT kind of chocolate is tricky. We’re going to dive into the difference between cOcOa and cAcAo for a hot second. Because there is a big difference and there is usually equal access to both, so you just need to know which one to grab!
COCOA VS CACAO
The right kind of chocolate can provide our bodies with much needed minerals if we choose the good stuff. One of those minerals is magnesium. While magnesium is among the most abundant minerals inside the human body, you would be surprised to know that most people simply do not get enough of it. It’s the type of mineral that depletes easily.
This fact alone could be the reason behind your chocolate cravings. From lowering blood pressure to soothing the nerves and preventing muscle spasms, the benefits of magnesium are plenty.
On the downside, regular chocolate as you know it has a lot of sugar and other man-made chemicals – being far from a nutritional food. BUT, what if I told you that you could enjoy chocolate each day AND fuel your body at the same time as providing nutritional energy? YES PLEASE!
Making the switch to raw cacao is the game changer. What’s the difference? Well raw cacao is the cacao bean grinded in its pure raw nutritional form. Cocoa powder is usually heated, processed and mixed with additives such as sugar. Cacao contains no fat, sugar or cholesterol plus it comes loaded with antioxidants.
Ok glad we got that out of the way! So now you know to look for cacao powder instead of cocoa powder! It is usually pretty easy to find with powders, but the company below is the only company I know so far to use cacao in their bars instead of the unhealthy, processed cocoa.
My favorite brand of actual bars is Eating Evolved’s primal chocolate bars. Great for baking and sweetened with just a hint of coconut sugar instead of cane sugar and made with the good cacao instead of cocoa!!
And a quick note on collagen peptides! As you may have seen from my gut health quiz, an estimated 80% or more of our country has a “leaky gut”. What that means is that our digestive systems are seriously struggling and often times are even leading to autoimmune disease, compromised immunity and overall body inflammation!
Collagen is known to help seal the gut and help build that protective barrier of our digestive system back up. We put it in as much as we possibly can and we love the Further Food brand for their quality and amazing small company feel!
Without further delay, here is the fudge!
GUT HEALING PRIMAL FUDGE (dairy free, refined sugar free, made with real cacao)
Ingredients
- ⅓ Cup Nutiva shortening
- 1 2.5 oz Signature Dark Chocolate Bar from Eating Evolved
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup coconut butter
- ⅓ cup raw honey
- 2 scoops Further Food Collagen Peptides
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Optional stevia to sweeten if needed
Instructions
- Melt the shortening and coconut sugar together in a sauce pan on low heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally (around 10 minutes)
- Line a 8×8 pyrex with parchment paper while you wait
- Break chocolate bar into chunks and add to the mixture until smooth
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the collagen until smooth
- Add the collagen peptides at the end until dissolved and smooth
- Optional step – you can add the ingredients to a food processor or high speed blender for a super smooth consistency. But you’ll have to clean another thing so there’s that 😉
- Pour the fudge into the parchment lined pyrex and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- When completely firm, remove the fudge onto the cutting board and chop into 1-2 inch pieces. Will keep well for weeks in the fridge or up to 6 months in the freezer!
Given you love delicious meals let’s find out how your gut is doing. Take the gut health quiz here to learn more.