If you don’t want to give up chocolate but want healthier habits, consider making a few of these best cacao nib and cacao powder recipes that include heart-healthy cacao chocolate. It’s a great way to incorporate health benefits into a delicious treat that will satisfy your cravings, without totally ruining your diet.
What is Cacao?
Cacao is the source in which chocolate is derived. People often refer to them “chocolate beans” when in fact they are more of a seed that comes from the Theobroma Cacao tree.
How Cacao is Used?
Depending on which step of the process they are packaged, cacao seeds can be used for different purposes. The seeds go through the following steps: fermentation, drying, roasting, crushing and grinding. Once the seeds have fermented for a couple days, they are dried. At that point they can be sold to chocolate makers. If they aren’t sold in this raw form, the process of roasting begins. Roasting allows the chocolate flavor to develop, which provides a touch of sweetness. After the seeds are dried, they are crushed. This is the step when cacao nibs are made and are good for cooking and baking. A powder is then created and packaged to sell. This is a common ingredient used in baking.
Health Benefits of Cacao
One health benefit of cacao is the flavonoids that are packed inside. This simply means that the phytonutrients (or a plant chemical) found in cacao are powerful antioxidant agents. Consuming chocolate cacao is delicious and it helps your body function more efficiently while protecting it against everyday toxins and stressors. It’s a win-win! Raw cacao is also a source of iron if you need more iron in your diet.
The Difference Between Cacao and Cocoa
Cacao and cocoa are very similar, but if you want to enjoy the chocolate flavor while avoiding added sugar, then cacao is the way to go. Bean-to-bar chocolatiers—who make chocolate from scratch starting with fermented, dried beans—only use the word cacao for the pod and beans before they are fermented. After fermentation, they refer to them as cocoa beans. Have fun enjoying all the different cacao recipes that are available inside this delicious roundup. There’s everything from salted cacao caramel to cacao hot chocolate, cacao popsicles, delicious no-bake cacao desserts, cacao liqueur and everything in between.
