Have you ever wondered if there was a replacement for chocolate? I will give the short version of what carob is and how it can be used?
I have always been a connoisseur of quality dark chocolate. However, I eventually noticed that the days I was not consuming the chocolate I had a massive headache. This piqued my interest.
I further noticed that as long as I ate chocolate every day, I did not have a headache. Once that pattern was broken a pounding headache was upon me. Not wanting to have pounding headaches nor wanting to be a slave to chocolate, I knew I had to do something.
That is when I began experimenting with carob.
What the Heck is Carob?
Carob comes from the carob tree grown in the Mediterranean. Its pods are dried and the pulp is roasted and ground into powder. While carob powder and carob chips look visually similar to cocoa powder and chocolate chips, its taste is distinctly different.
Carob has a roasted flavor that is not as bitter as cocoa. Carob makes a wonderful chocolate substitute as it does not contain any caffeine.
How to Use This Chocolate Substitute
Carob powder such as this, or carob chips can be used in the same proportions as cocoa powder and chocolate chips in your recipes.
Please consult the ingredient labels so that you can make an informed decision on what you are buying. Some products have the additional ingredient of milk which increases the sugar in your recipe. And others have sweeteners added.
Something to note, pure unsweetened carob chips will not melt like the chocolate chips you might be used to. Depending on the recipe used, this might not be a concern.
However, when making carob chip cookies looking for that gooey melted chip, I would suggest combining two different types of carob chips together.
For example, I will either mix two kinds of carob chips (unsweetened carob chips and carob chips containing milk or unsweetened carob chips plus a few Enjoy dark chocolate chips).
I find that when only a few dark chocolate chips are used it falls below the threshold of giving me a headache. This might just work the same for you. That way you can reap the benefits of both carob and chocolate.
If you would like recipes that use only high quality ingredients such as carob and are really good for you check out my cookbook, A Collection of Low Carb Treats that Won’t Break the Scale.