Organic Cacao Nibs, 2 Pounds — Non-GMO, Kosher, Raw, Vegan — by Food to Live

I knew, before I ordered an 8 pound bag, everything about cacao nibs. They are like the plant version of gravel. I'm not kidding. One either has to buy a MELANGER, which is made for grinding cacao beans into chocolate that can be poured, or, if one can find a quality high speed blender that makes nut butters, that is a less much expensive option. If you don't plan on making more than two ice trays full of the resulting chocolate cacao nib – based treat. Even with this kind of blender one has to know what they're doing. Because when the cacao nibs are ground to a find powder one has to work quickly before the cacao nibs become like concrete, and almost impossible to remove from the blender. So immediately after I grind the cacao beans into a fine powder, I add a bit of almond milk, a handful of Goji beans, a handful of dates, a handful of shredded coconut and 3 tablespoons of organic unsalted cashew butter and 1/3 cup organic honey, and immediately begin to mix them together at high speed. What happens after about five minutes of the mixing process the ingredients meld together and start to generate heat. It's at this point that one has to stop the blending process. It means that the cacao nibs and the other ingredients have finally become smooth as silk and pourable. Then one has to use special MOLDS made for confections, or, as I do, pour the blended ingredients into ice cube trays. I make enough to fill 2 ice cube trays. I then put them in the refrigerator for several hours. After that time, I remove the ice cube trays and at that point the very nutritious chocolate concoction is ready to eat and I must say it's difficult to stop eating them. However, if you can afford a MELANGER, which is $300 plus at the cheapest, then I would say, go ahead and buy the machine. Walmart carries the machine, but if I can make enough of this great tasting and very nutritious chocolate-based treat every two or three days I don't need a machine other than my blender to do it. Two or 3 “cubes” are so nutritious that they can be a great substitute for what one may usually eat for breakfast. 28 g of cacao nibs contain 13 g of fat, seven of which is saturated, no cholesterol, 15 g of sodium, 6 g of fiber, no sugar and 4 g of protein. It also contains 26 mg of calcium and 1 mg of iron. Add to that the phytonutrients and antioxidants not only present in the cacao nibs, but also present in the Goji beans, the dates, the cashew butter and the honey . This chocolate “treat“ is more healthy than any nutrition bar I've ever bought. Just don't eat more than 3 “ice cube sized” treats in a day. They give an almost immediate energy boost. But because they are high in fat (although it is good fat) and high in medium chain triglycerides, resist the urge to consume more. You may ask yourself “is it worth the effort” and I say yes, it definitely is.