Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is delicious, organic cacao powder. It has a terrific, deep, chocolatey flavor. I have included a recipe I recently developed for vegan, gluten-free brownies made with this cacao powder. They are moist and chewy, as all good brownies should be. I have also included my recipe for no-bake chocolate, coconut cookies. This is a type of cookie I adored in my childhood, and I recently adjusted it to make it vegan and gluten-free. FUDGY, VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE, CHOCOLATE BROWNIES 1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut, ground to powder 1/2 cup rolled oats, ground to powder OR 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (if you don't care about gluten) 30 gm pitted dates 30 gm dried cherries (optional, but cherries make chocolate flavor more intense as well as adding natural sweetness) 1/2 cup canned pineapple with juice 1 apple, peeled and cored 1 Tbsp. stevia powder (if you don't like stevia, omit it and add more honey or raw sugar, sweetening to taste) 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (I make my own) 1 Tbsp. cherry extract (I make my own) OR 1 tsp. almond extract (optional, but either cherry or almond extract amplifies the flavor of chocolate and increases the sensation of sweetness) 10 Tbsp. coconut oil 1/4 cup honey OR 1/4 cup raw sugar 3/4 cup cacao powder Instructions 1. Grind oats (if using oats vs flour) and coconut in food processor. 2. Add dates, cherries, pineapple, apple, stevia and extracts to dry mixture in food processor and puree. 3. Heat coconut oil and honey on medium heat on stove, stirring with whisk. 4. When oil mixture is hot, close to boiling, gradually add into it the cacao powder and the pureed mixture while stirring well with whisk until this becomes a smooth, lump-free paste. 5. Grease a 6-1/2 x 8-1/2 (OR 7 x 9 OR 8 x 8) glass baking dish and pour the batter into it. 6. Bake for 30 minutes in an oven or toaster oven which is set at 325. Brownies are NOT like cake. You bake until the center is still soft and slightly wet and the brownies have begun to pull away from the sides of the baking dish. Brownies should NOT be overcooked. 7. Allow brownies to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving them so they hold together well. NO BAKE, VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE, CHOCOLATE-COCONUT COOKIES 1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut 1/2 cup canned pineapple with juice 60 gm pitted dates 60 gm dried cherries 1 apple, peeled and cored OR 1/2 cup applesauce 1 Tbsp. stevia powder OR 1/2 cup raw sugar (if you don’t like stevia) 2 Tbsp. vanilla (OR less if you prefer) 1 Tbsp. cherry extract OR 1 tsp. almond extract (optional, but it increases the richness of the chocolate flavor) 3/4 cup coconut oil 1/4 cup maple syrup OR 1/4 cup honey 1 cup cacao powder 2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut 4 rice cakes, crumbled 1 cup vegan chocolate chips Instructions 1. Grind 1 cup of shredded coconut in food processor until it becomes a coarse powder (this grinding will not be complete until step 2, and it does not have to be a perfect flour-like-consistency of powder, just coarsely ground up). 2. Add pineapple to coconut and continue to grind until coconut is mostly powder. 2. Add dates, cherries, apple, stevia and extracts to mixture in food processor and puree to a smooth paste. 3. Heat coconut oil and maple syrup (OR honey) on medium heat on stove, stirring with whisk. 4. When oil mixture is hot, close to boiling, gradually add into it the cacao powder and the pureed mixture while stirring well with a whisk until the hot mixture becomes a smooth, lump-free paste. Do NOT skip this step! I learned the hard way that if you don’t heat the oil and honey and stir the puree into the hot oil-and-honey mixture, these cookies simply are not the right texture and taste. 5. Stir into the hot mixture the remaining 2 cups of shredded coconut which was not ground up in the food processor. Let the mixture cool. 6. Stir into the cooled chocolate mixture the crumbled rice cakes and the chocolate chips. NOTE: If you stir the chocolate chips into the mixture when it is very hot, they will melt, and you won’t get the wonderful, crunchy taste of unmelted chips in the final form of the cookies. 7. Dip with 1-tablespoon, melon-ball dipper into a container which can easily be stored in the freezer. I have a silicone container with a pop-seal lid that works great. This makes 72 balls, so I use several containers, with wax paper separating layers of cookie balls. These cookies keep well for weeks in the freezer (if they last that long).