What are cocoa nibs and how can you add them to your daily recipes? Cocoa nibs are chocolate. Perhaps even the healthiest form of chocolate because they are 100% cocoa. Why? Cocoa nibs are small pieces of cocoa beans with their shells removed. The shell removal happens in a step in the chocolate-making process called “winnowing.”

Did you know that chocolate is a “superfood”? It has one of the highest sources of magnesium of all foods, provides calcium, and has higher antioxidants per gram than goji berries, red wine or pomegranates! Check out this article for more health facts about cacao.

When you enjoy cocoa nibs without added sugar, you’re basically enjoying chocolate in its purest form. You can also enjoy cocoa nibs on top of craft chocolate bars.

Check out our list of chocolate bars topped with cocoa nibs and eight ideas for how to use cocoa nibs in your recipes.

1. put cocoa nibs in your smoothie (or on top of your smoothie bowl)

“Banana smoothie bowl topped with coconut flakes, sesame seeds, raw chocolate and peanut butter” by wuestenigel is licensed under CC BY 2.0

2. Add them to your favorite trail mix

round white ceramic bowl — Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

3. use cocoa nibs as a new ice cream topping

“ice-cream-cone” by jessp713 is marked with CC PDM 1.0

4. sprinkle them on top of yogurt

person mixing cereal milk and strawberry jam on white ceramic bowl — Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

5. mix cocoa nibs into granola

photo of nuts on wooden board — Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

6. try a new recipe: make brownies or cookies with them

cup of coffee and sweet dessert on table — Photo by Dima Valkov on Pexels.com

7. Try cocoa nibs in your pasta sauce!

a plate of spaghetti on table — Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

8. enjoy a craft chocolate bar topped with nibs

food love coffee dark — Photo by Rohtopia.com on Pexels.com

Ready to make a new recipe with cocoa nibs?

Perhaps try these cocoa nibs from Marou Chocolate. To learn more about Marou Chocolate, a Vietnam-based chocolate company, check out the video below and/or read our article on Marou.

For a craft chocolate bar topped with nibs, we might suggest one of the bars, below.

We’ve haven’t had a chance to try all of these brands yet, but we do love Dick Taylor’s bars and are excited to try the rest very soon.

{Award-Winning} Fu Wan Taiwan 62% Nibs
{Award-Winning} Hogarth 66% Manuka Honey & Cacao Nibs
Escazu Chocolates Roasted Cocoa 65% Nibs
Raaka Maple & Nibs 75% Unroasted Dark Chocolate
Atypic Heart of Pacific 88% with Nibs
Dick Taylor Brown Butter 73% with Nibs & Sea Salt (yum!)

Lastly, we enjoyed the video below from CraftChocolateTV with Manoa Chocolate. They have even more ideas on how to use cocoa nibs, like making cocoa nib tea!

Be sure to practice food safety with cocoa nibs (and in general), and note that nothing on this post is making any health claims. When you change your daily routine, please consult your doctor or accredited medical professional.

Hope that these ideas provided some recipe inspiration! Let us know how you enjoyed cocoa nibs – post a comment below!

This post contains just a few affiliate links, which means that if you click through and buy something, you may help support an insatiable coffee and chocolate habit 🙂 Any written opinions here are by time cupsoul/our own.

Today, we’re virtually traveling to the chocolate origin of Mexico. Chocolate beans from Mexico are generally known to taste more “earthy” and “savory.”

How can you experience the culture of Mexican chocolate during quarantine at home, today? Try making “Mexican drinking chocolate,” — melted chocolate spiced with cinnamon and/or chile, plus vanilla and some heavy cream or milk (see recipes below). The key with Mexican drinking chocolate is to use melted chocolate that’s 70% or above, and not to use cocoa powder, which would be what we know and love as “hot cocoa.”

First, let’s take a look at some vintage travel posters from Pan American and Braniff Airways and the Mexican tourism office:

Now, here’s a Mexican drinking chocolate recipe to start your culinary journey, and we also suggest this page and viewing the videos below. If you’re more adventurous and like to improvise, simply melt some craft chocolate that you currently have at home (dark and preferably from Mexico and/or stone ground) with some milk or heavy cream, and add cinnamon sticks. Enjoy! Sip and savor the moment.

Below, you can watch either short recipe videos (recipes for Mexican drinking chocolate, “champurrado,”) or a lengthier travel feature about chocolate in Mexico:

If you have 30 minutes, we also found this fun travel video, “Mexican Chocolate.”

Have you tasted chocolate from Mexico? Which brand is your favorite? Comment below!

Wishing you a beautiful “origin journey” today. Stay safe.

Tag: recipe

How to Add Cocoa Nibs to Your Daily Recipes [8 Ideas]