Hiya. Been away a long time.

Are there any half-decent low-carb no-maltitol chocolates bars out there? At decent prices? What's the status of low-carb chocolate nowadays? I haven't kept up with that.

I tried to make some of my own, recently, using baking chocolate (Ghirardelli), Equal, and a little cream. I got the typical results: blech, very bitter, grainy, inconsistent. Has anybody worked out a way to do this at home and get anything like a serious chocolate bar? Something is absolutely needed to dilute the bitterness of the 100% cocoa.

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"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

I like the ChocoPerfection bars. You can buy them from Netrition. I prefer the dark chocolate, but the milk chocolate are good, too. They're sweetened with oligofructose, a sweetener made from chicory, and erithritol. I've also used Sweet Perfection, a powdered sweetener made from the same thing, and it's pretty good, too. A box of 12 bars is around $28 to $32, and the bars are 1.8 oz, 50 gms. 16 gms carbs, but 14 of those are fiber.

Here's the blurb on the wrapper: These sweeteners have a glycemic index of zero. Oligofructose is a probiotic fiber which may help cure yeast infections, i.e. candida.

It's a nice size bar made of 5 chunks, so you can eat a little, or eat the whole thing.

I could never get good homemade chocolate at home using artificial sweeteners. I haven't tried the Sweet Perfection or erythritol, though.

The only problem with buying from Netrition is that they want to charge more during the hotter months for cold wrapping so the bars don't melt.

Hope this helps you. And it's good to see you back.

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Nita

Hey, Dr. I. Nice to see ya.

I'm not back in the chocolate hunt yet. When Hershey's d/c'd the 1 carb bar - my favorite and BGL friendly bars - I bought a large number of boxes off ebay and tossed them in the deep freeze downstairs. Still working on those.

So, can't help. Just wanted to say "hi."

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Hi there Dr. I!

Here's a recipe that I still need to try (have all the ingredients, but need to take a moment to make it!):

Chocolate Bark

1/4 c. Virgin Coconut Oil
1 - 1 1/2 T. cocoa powder
1/4 t. low carb sweetener (such as stevia or xylitol)
2 oz. nuts (optional)

Put a metal lasagna or cake pan in the freezer to chill.

Melt the coconut oil to a liquid and stir in cocoa powder and sweetener, blending well. Add nuts if desired.

Remove pan from freezer, line with wax paper, pour in mixture and spread to desired thickness. Pop back into freezer or refrigerator for about 10 min. to harden. Will break easily.

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This makes a small batch, but can be doubled. Also, SF syrups can be substituted for the sweetener, as well as, I'm sure, liquid splenda. The thread this recipe is linked to has a ton of ideas, and some pictures.

I liked this recipe because it doesn't have anything I have to order online. Let me know what you think if you try it.

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Mada
221.6/193.8 <--- ONEderland! /sz 8

Here's another one I just found...

CHOCOLATE COCONUT BARK
20 grams Lindt 85% cocoa chocolate, 2 squares
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda

Break the chocolate up into small pieces and put in a microwaveable bowl along with the coconut oil. Microwave on 50% power about 1 minute or until the chocolate has melted. Add the Splenda and stir to blend well. Pour into a small container lined with nonstick foil. Freeze until firm then break or chop into pieces. Store in the freezer for best results. It melts very quickly at room temperature.

Makes 2-4 servings

With granular Splenda:
1/4 Recipe: 145 Calories; 16g Fat; 1g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 1g Net Carb
1/2 Recipe: 290 Calories; 32g Fat; 1g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
1/4 Recipe: 144 Calories; 16g Fat; 1g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; trace Net Carbs
1/2 Recipe: 287 Calories; 32g Fat; 1g Protein; 1.5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; .5g Net Carbs

This recipe is from Linda Sue, but I didn't see it anywhere on her website...

ETA: I found the recipe on her site so I added the link.

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Mada
221.6/193.8 <--- ONEderland! /sz 8

Ah, okay. Thanks Mada. That first recipe, to be truthful, sounded really awful, but the second one is more like what I was thinking of. Instead of Lindt 85%, which has sugar in it, I was looking for some way to work with 100% cocoa (Ghirardelli baking chocolate) by diluting the cocoa and extending it with some other substance.

VCO sounds like a good candidate for that. Sadly, Trader Joe's has stopped carrying it, so I'll have to try a health-food store. Other possibilities I was thinking of, before reading this, was using clarified unsalted butter. I have also seen chocolate bars that listed wax as an ingredient. (For the shine?) I wonder if a little beeswax would mix with the oil in the cocoa, or the VCO, and help extend it. Without adding calories, either, heh.

I used to love chewing on beeswax when I was a kid. Those little orange wax harmonicas they sold.

I have erythritol. I tried making some chocolate with it. It didn't work too well -- for one, despite my best efforts to dissolve and melt the erythritol in a little cream and water in the microwave, it turned granular and gritty, either because some didn't dissolve or because it just wants to re-granulate when you mix it with the chocolate. I saw Alton Brown's episode on making chocolate some time back, and just making plain normal chocolate is a really hairy procedure involving correct temperatures and timing.

(Which reminds me, I can probably download that episode from Isohunt.)

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"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

We used to make buckeyes, balls of butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar dipped in melted chocolate and wax. The wax helps the coating keep its shape. It doesn't melt as fast, either.

I've made the coconut oil chocolate bark. It's not too bad. I use liquid Splenda. I also make it without the cocoa, and put in coconut flour and chopped nuts. Makes a really good candy.

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Nita

Hey, Dr I! Nice to see you back.

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BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

OK, I wanted to make the chocolate bark, but instead of using chopped nuts I was just going to pour the mixture on top of walnut halves. I use a Dixie plate for this because it works really well. Anyway, the walnuts came right out of the freezer, so the coconut oil hardened on them. As I stirred the nuts got nicely coated, and there was enough mix to add more nuts to coat. I just stuck the nut clusters in the fridge, and when we need a snack we break off a few pieces. It's really, really good, too. Now I'm going to try it without the cocoa, and use unsweetened coconut, perhaps a bit of coconut flavoring and/or vanilla.

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Nita