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Cacao butter?


nutmegananne

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I Googled it for fun (Google Queen here) and it seems desserty unless you are using it as a lotion. Not that that is bad..it's what White Chocolate is made of, so there really aren't any other uses than smoothies and desserts. Coconut Manna is like that as well, so take that for what it's worth. I did see that it's important to make sure it's raw, organic and non-GMO.

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I wasn't thinking of making a dessert with it...more like maybe sautéing sweet potato slices in it or something similar. It doesn't contain sugar. Just fat. I am not familiar with coconut manna.

Coconut Manna is often called coconut butter. Kind of the same idea. Not sweetened with anything, but comes off as sweet. Hard to describe. You can make it by whirring up coconut flakes for a long time...sort of like making butter from heavy cream.

Might be tasty to use it to cook sweet potato slices in it. I just don't know if it has butter qualities as in a high enough smoke point. Going to go Google that now. :)

It says it doesn't have a high enough flash point to saute with. I am guessing it would be the same for coconut manna. They are used more for flavorings than cooking.

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Oh, thanks for doing all that research on cacao butter!! I could probably just let some melt on a baked sweet potato, but ghee already does a great job of that...I think I'll pass until post-W30 :) But good to know the details! Thanks again!

I seriously love looking things up. :) I think it's a great idea to melt some on a sweet potato. Totally different flavor than Ghee for variety. You could even melt it on sauteed sweet potato slices. Always fun to find more fat sources. Good fat is awesome. Is it in chunks like I saw on Google?

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Hmmm...I don't know, as I just saw the pkg at Whole Foods, but did not pick any up. It wasn't too, too, expensive...maybe I will pick some up next time I'm there. If so I'll be sure to report back...

Please do. I am going tomorrow, so I will look too. :)

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along that line is an 85% cocoa bar permitted (1 square)?

I would say no, because it has added sugar. I think you can only use unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder.

I happened to buy some of the cacao butter today. WF had raw, organic kind...in a small box over near where the ghee is :) I'll report back when i try some!

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Just on the cocoa butter, it is purely a fat and it's called a butter because of the way it is extracted from the plant, same as the difference between coconut oil and coconut butter. Coconut oil has none of the kernal in it where as the butter (if it's true butter) has been centrifugally extracted and incorporates coconut flesh as well as the oil. Neither have added sugar so are okay as far as I can see on the whole 30. Cocoa butter is delish and used best raw with cacao powder and vanilla essence and dessicated coconut and spirulina in a raw ball design (add maple syrup if not on whole30, none if you are - tho personally I'm stopping away from anything 'treat' related whether it is sugar free or not just to help curb my emotional snacking issues :) Hope this helps! L :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the responses. I am going to stick to unsweetened cocoa for now, just to be sure.

Only 4 more days to go and I like how I feel! Is the Paleo food plan the next stop? I lost weight and feel better, no more GERD! I am planning to follow the add back in plan but just wondered what others do next, rather than going back to the old stuff. Can't do it, I am hooked!

Thanks! :)

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  • Moderators

I loosened up a little after 4 to 6 months of Whole30 eating, but continue to eat 100 percent Whole30 in my home. When I go out, I eat the best that I can, but don't worry if there might be sugar in the sauce at a Thai restaurant or yogurt in the sauce at an Indian restaurant. You don't have to reintroduce any of your old foods.

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  • 1 year later...

For anyone who is curious, I tried making a bulletproof coffee with cacao butter, it was okay. I much prefer coconut oil.

I find the smell a bit weird on it's own (it doesn't smell like chocolate), I think it goes best with cocoa/cacao, but together they are not like chocolate as they are not sweet.

 

But it might be an alternative for those allergic to coconut and ghee. I'm not sure it would be good to cook with though, it's much much harder than coconut oil (it's solid). I melted it with boiling water before blending it.

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  • 4 months later...

I just tried some today in my bulletproof coffee and suffice to say I thought I was drinking a little cup of heaven. I used it in place of coconut butter, along with ghee and MCT oil and it was like drinking fine hot chocolate and I didn't miss the sweetness one bit.

 

The health properties attributed to cacao are amazing.
:)

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  • 11 months later...

The health properties attributed to cacao are exaggerated to convince you to buy it. There are no super foods, just aggressive marketing. 

 

 

Should anyone drink a daily hot cocoa drink every day?  

 

"While 100% cocoa sure isn’t sweet in flavor, it’s chocolate-y enough that many will see it, use it and abuse it as a pseudo-chocolate crutch.  You know who you are –  the carb-addicted sugar-a-holics,  missing your beloved chocolate while on the Whole30.  And while you are here to change your habits, change your cravings and change your relationship with food… you are also desperate enough to get your fix by rationalizing the addition of “Whole30-approved” cocoa powder to your coffee, coconut milk and anything else that could act as a Pseudo-Chocolate Delivery Mechanism.

And that goes against everything the Whole30 stands for."

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Melissa’s Position:

It’s true that 100% cocoa is not the same as commercially processed chocolate.  It’s natural, unsweetened, may have some negligible health benefits (which plays no part in my thought process, but I’m sure Dallas will mention it below) and technically meets all the criteria of a Whole30-approved food.  But making a technically perfect food choice isn’t the whole story of a Whole30, and we’re not about to let something with potentially significant mental and emotional down sides slide in on a technicality.  

And certainly not something that misses the bus as much as a CHOCOLATE substitute.

 

While 100% cocoa sure isn’t sweet in flavor, it’s chocolate-y enough that many will see it, use it and abuse it as a pseudo-chocolate crutch.  You know who you are –  the carb-addicted sugar-a-holics,  missing your beloved chocolate while on the Whole30.  And while you are here to change your habits, change your cravings and change your relationship with food… you are also desperate enough to get your fix by rationalizing the addition of “Whole30-approved” cocoa powder to your coffee, coconut milk and anything else that could act as a Pseudo-Chocolate Delivery Mechanism.

And that goes against everything the Whole30 stands for.

 

So while I have no issues with the technical properties of the food itself, I’m not okay with allowing a functioning chocolate substitute like 100% pure cocoa into our Whole30 program.  It’s not just about the food choices, it’s about breaking patterns, habits and cravings, and 100% pure cocoa is simply not contributing to that particular cause.

 

Dallas’ Position:

While I’m certainly not a proponent of including foods in our Whole30 program that are “iffy”, I believe that our rationale for including or excluding foods for our Whole30 program should be consistent and rational. In my opinion, 100% unsweetened cocoa (which, by the way, isn’t all that much fun to eat all by itself) is much like, say, cinnamon. It can be used to provide flavor to many delicious dishes, many of which are clearly not Good Food, but in and of itself is a innocent enough plant product.

 

We talk a lot about being aware of why we make the food choices we do, and that exorcising your Sugar Demon is a major goal of the Whole30.  As one example, we caution people not to overeat fruit during the Whole30, since fruit does contain sugar (and is often very sweet-tasting).  We make the point that substituting fruit for a handful of candy is not achieving the goal of freeing yourself (and your brain!) from the powerful bonds of sugar addiction. But just because fruit contains sugar doesn’t mean we categorically exclude it – only that we encourage you to be careful and thoughtful about your fruit consumption.

 

Melissa says the rich, intense chocolate-y flavor of 100% cocoa could be reminiscent of your (old) favorite chocolate bar.  But using cinnamon in my PWO sweet potato could remind me of the glorious taste of a Cinnabon roll… and yet cinnamon gets two thumbs up from the Whole9! It’s not just about whether cocoa can be made into something that doesn’t even remotely resemble health food – it’s about carefully considering why you are choosing to eat it. If you’re still in the midst of your Whole9 Chocoholic Rehab Program, then steer clear (just like I’d tell those of you who are still in serious sugar withdrawal to pass on dried fruit initially). If, like me, you are in complete control of your Sugar Demons, then cocoa is nothing more than a spice, added to improve the flavour of your dishes.  Let’s not scapegoat the Theobroma cacao, people.  There are no direct down sides of 100% pure cocoa, and therefore it should be allowable by Whole30 standards.

 

Your Turn:

- See more at: http://whole30.com/2013/12/great-cocoa-debate/#sthash.EQb2rFuH.dpuf

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I find the smell a bit weird on it's own (it doesn't smell like chocolate), I think it goes best with cocoa/cacao, but together they are not like chocolate as they are not sweet.

 

I wonder if it might be good in the cocoa toasted cauliflower recipe...? Use cacao butter in place of the coconut oil?

 

 

How heat stable is cacao butter, anyway?

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  • 2 years later...

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