Superfood Drinking Chocolate Recipe :: A Healthy Cup of Love
Did you know that chocolate is actually good for you? YAY! Pardon me while I do a Happy Dance!
Chocolate comes from the cacao bean and contains an abundance of phytochemicals called flavonoids, which are the same skinfood, superfood antioxidants found in red wine, green tea, and virtually all fruits and veggies.
A good rule of thumb to follow is the darker the chocolate, the higher its nutritional superfood benefits.
Cacao nibs, raw organic cocoa powder, and high-percentage organic dark chocolate have the most healthful antioxidants. Look for chocolate that's at least 70% cacao to optimize the antioxidant power and health benefits, and choose raw cacao for exponentially more magical superfood powers.
The Difference Between Cocoa + Cacao
Both are considered chocolate and they're derived from the same cacao bean, but one is raw, the other is processed. Cacao is raw, derived from the raw cacao bean. Cocoa comes from fermented, roasted cacao beans.
Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume.
Cacao is known to have a higher antioxidant content than cocoa. Both are seriously packed with superfood nutrients, however raw cacao is considerably more potent with vitamins and nutrients.
It's this very abundance of superfood antioxidants in dark chocolate that positively affects the mood by stimulating your endorphins. Endorphins are hormones in your brain and nervous system that help to relieve pain or stress, and boost happiness.
Increased endorphins result in that sensual, euphoric, blissfully happy, fully satiated feeling.
The Amazing Health Benefits of Chocolate
- Reduces stress levels
- Strengthens gut health
- Boosts immunity
- Improves heart health
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves blood flow
- and it's great for your skin!
Additionally chocolate contains a plethora of beneficial micro-nutrients including copper, potassium, iron, fiber, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium. Sounds like a multi-vitamin, but it tastes so darn good.
Here's a rich and sensual recipe for a cup of liquid love to sweeten your day or evening. Drinking chocolate is more like a dessert than a beverage as it's quite thick and rich.
Use the info above to help navigate your cocoa/cacao superfood choices and I put a couple links at the bottom of the post to some chocolate bars that I love for this recipe.
From one chocolate lover to another, you really can't go wrong here unless you burn it, so keep an eye on the heat and be patient with the constant stirring. It will be so worth it!
Superfood Drinking Chocolate Recipe
- 1 pint (16 oz) milk of choice dairy, oat, nut, or coconut. My favorite is this unsweetened almond milk.
- 4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate bar, or ceremonial cacao, chopped. I love the Boundless Belize Organic Ceremonial Cacao by Ora.
- 2 oz milk chocolate bar, chopped. My fav is this sustainable farmed Milk Chocolate from Switzerland - such a treat!
- sweeten to taste with your of choice, stevia, honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar or granulated sugar, or no sweetener at all. I love this low glycemic Organic Coconut Sugar because it adds a natural caramel flavor to the chocolate
- a pinch of mineral rich Himalayan or Redmond Salt
Add a twist to the recipe with these flavor-boosting hacks!
We recommend choosing 1-2 variations unless you're really comfortable combining spices in the kitchen.
- If you like chai you can simmer some spices into the milk such as 1-2 star anise, a couple slices of fresh ginger, 1/8 tsp dried turmeric, a cinnamon stick, and or a few cardamom pods
- substitute some of the milk with strong coffee, or add tsp of instant coffee to make a mocha with a kick of caffeine
- add a dash of cayenne pepper into the mix
- add a splash of liqueur such as rum, Bailey's or Kahlua right at the end
- sprinkle with ground, cardamom, cinnamon and/or nutmeg
SpaGoddess encourages you to carefully select the highest quality ingredients you can find for your recipes to achieve exceptional and even mind-blowing results in the kitchen as well in your skincare products!
Another completely raw, organic cacao we recommend is Divine Organics Sacred Cacao grown in Ecuador. The Divine Organics is unsweetened, so take that into account when adding your sweetener of choice as unsweetened cacao is an acquired taste and can be quite bitter.
