Rapunzel Organic, Free-Trade Cocoa Powder
By Cat, July 11, 2018 (Photo, right, from Amazon (4))
I have been following a keto eating plan, with intermittent fasting (14-16 hours of fasting every night, including sleep time) for several years and can attest to many benefits. and I’m always on the lookout for interesting keto recipes. I found this one on Mercola’s site (1), but it is originally from PaleoHacks blog (2), and just had to give it a try. It is high in good fats including coconut milk and coconut oil, plus avocado; and flavored with cacao powder, cinnamon and stevia. The original recipe calls it a “Milk Shake” but it is not chilled like those made with ice cream, and is fairly bitter, even with a fair amount of stevia added. So I’m working on how to make it better, and will track my testing here.
See also: 1. Beverages Menu
Keto Cacao Shake – Testing to Perfect a recipe
See PaleoHacks (3) for how cacao and cocoa differ.
Version 1 – original recipe
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ½ avocado
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tsp powdered cinnamon
- stevia to taste (I used 30 drops of liquid stevia extract)
I don’t have authentic cacao powder, so used Rapunzel’s Organic unsweetened baking cocoa powder (photo at top of page). Place all ingredients in blender and blend on high until smooth.
Result: This was still fairly bitter after the 30 drops of liquid stevia extract were added. Too much cocoa powder, in my opinion. And next time, I’ll use powdered stevia for beverages (has been cut with dextrose or a fiber such as inulin). And it should be chilled before serving.
Version 2
Not yet tested
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ½ avocado
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 – 2 Tbsp cacao powder (unsweetened baking cocoa powder)
- 1 tsp powdered cinnamon
- ¼ – ½ tsp powdered stevia for beverages
- Place all ingredients in blender; start with 1 Tbsp cacao and ¼ tsp stevia for beverages, blend and taste.
- Add additional cacao, 1 tsp at a time, and stevia for beverages ⅛ tsp at a time, blending and tasting with each addition. Keep track of total amounts for future testing
- Chill in fridge before serving.
For the 3rd test, I will add some ice cubes. This may need more coconut milk because the ice will dilute the mix.
Another thing I can test is using unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, because it is less bitter; unfortunately, it has lost some of the amazing health benefits of the original cacao, due to more processing.
