How To Make Carob Chips?

How To Make Carob Chips?

by Hilary
(Michigan)

How can I make carob chips using carob powder at home?

I love carob chips, but I don't want sugar in them. I buy some at the bulk food store which are maltitol sweetened. How can I do the same thing in my own kitchen? I have no prior chocolate-making experience.

Hi Hilary,

Sorry to say I don't have the answer to this myself. I've never 'made my own' carob chips. My friend, Joanna, is very much into natural cooking and eating. She uses carob all the time, so I feel sure she'll have the answer for you.

I'll send this question along to her, so WATCH THIS SPACE for her reply. :-)

Angie

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How To Make Carob Chips?

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Carob Chips
by: Joanna

Here's a carob chip recipe from the "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook . . .

3/4 cup carob powder
1/4 cup Rapadura*
1 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract

Place all ingredients in a glass container and set in simmering water until melted. Mix together well. Spread mixture on a piece of buttered parchment paper and allow to cool in the refrigerator. When hardened, remove parchment paper and cut into chips. Store chips in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

***If you are not familiar with Rapadura, it is dehydrated sugarcane juice that still has it's natural minerals and nutrients intact, particularly silica. It is like brown sugar, and has a great flavour. Use in recipes just as you would sugar, but be careful not to overdo, as it can upset the body chemistry if you have too much, just like sugar can. Buy at health food shops or co-ops.

Great Recipe for Making Carob Chips!
by: Angie

Hey Joanna,

Thanks for that recipe for making homemade carob chips. Hopefully that will be just what Hilary was looking for.

Now don't forget to come back and contribute more of your yummy recipes! I know there will be plenty of interested visitors.

Thank You For The Carob Chip Recipe
by: lusi

We are new converts to carob since starting a low salicylate diet, and I've been Googling how to convert the organic carob powder I've just purchased into carob buttons.

I'm off to try this recipe and will be substituting some of the ingredients to make it *safe* for our kids but thanks for the starting point!

chocolate allergy
by: Jessica

Thank you for the recipe, Joanna! A couple of questions; my children and I have a variety of severe food allergies, so I desperately needed this recipe, since the commercially available carob chips we had been using contain soy lecithin and my second child is allergic to soy.(The brand is Sunspire, and by the way, their vegan carob chips are barley sweetened, so no cane derivatives whatsoever, but not suitable for someone who needs gluten free). I'm allergic to chocolate (thus, my children have never had it, at our allergist's suggestion), so the chocolate extract is out. Is there a substitute, or is it possible to do the recipe simply omitting the chocolate extract?

My second question is, can agave, barely malt or brown rice syrup be substituted for the rapadura? Sunspire uses the barley malt, which helps layer the flavor, by the way, and make it more chocolate-like.

Also, when using carob powder in place of cocoa, I like to use a little instant coffee (if you tolerate it or caffeine well) and a little cinnamon, along with the vanilla that you have included, to add layers to the flavor. I think the frequent complaint about carob from people who don't like it is that the flavor does not have as many dimensions as chocolate. But the malt, coffee, vanilla and cinnamon help to add dimensions to the flavor. I do it by feel, so readers can experiment and use their judgement as to the proportions, but I will say that I use them in pretty small amounts.

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Submitted by: Jessica

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Thank you for the recipe, Joanna! A couple of questions; my children and I have a variety of severe food allergies, so I desperately needed this recipe, since the commercially available carob chips we had been using contain soy lecithin and my second child is allergic to soy.(The brand is Sunspire, and by the way, their vegan carob chips are barley sweetened, so no cane derivatives whatsoever, but not suitable for someone who needs gluten free). I'm allergic to chocolate (thus, my children have never had it, at our allergist's suggestion), so the chocolate extract is out. Is there a substitute, or is it possible to do the recipe simply omitting the chocolate extract? My second question is, can agave, barely malt or brown rice syrup be substituted for the rapadura? Sunspire uses the barley malt, which helps layer the flavor, by the way, and make it more chocolate-like. Also, when using carob powder in place of cocoa, I like to use a little instant coffee (if you tolerate it or caffeine well) and a little cinnamon, along with the vanilla that you have included, to add layers to the flavor. I think the frequent complaint about carob from people who don't like it is that the flavor does not have as many dimensions as chocolate. But the malt, coffee, vanilla and cinnamon help to add dimensions to the flavor. I do it by feel, so readers can experiment and use their judgement as to the proportions, but I will say that I use them in pretty small amounts.

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chocolate allergy
by: Joanna

Hi Jessica - sorry I took so long to answer!

About the chocolate extract - I never use it - actually, I've never even seen any before - maybe it's an American thing (I'm in Australia). It tastes fine without it.

I think barley malt would be nice in this recipe - I know they use malt to sweeten healthy chocolate chips, so why not carob! I use barley malt and agave nectar sometimes instead of Rapadura - agave is sweeter (and more expensive!) - just use same amount as you would Rapadura.

Your idea for adding layers to flavours is great - I'll have to try it! Thanks for that!

Joanna.

incidentally...other carob idea!
by: Anonymous

There's a woman I watch sometimes on a channel here in the US (BBC America). She's a wholistic nutritionist and has a lot of great recipe ideas. I pull them off her website from time to time and they always come out well. Sometimes I just guess from what I see her doing on her show (she's working with clients in their homes, so they rush through the recipes and never give amounts, but I use my judgement)--they still turn out well, so I trust her.

She makes a REALLY healthy chocolalte dessert substitute, using carob and no simple-carb sweeteners at all. She puts dates, carob powder, and the juice and a bit of the rind from a lime into a food processor (one of my children is allergic to citrus so I tend to substitute apple cider vinegar or vitamin C powder), blends them into a paste, and rolls them into a ball. They look rather like these cocoa-rum balls my ex-sister-in-law makes (she's a pastry chef). I know the dates will make them as sweet as they need to be.

Again, no specific amounts so you'll have to experiment. I'm going to try them as Valentine's Day approaches (my kids aren't allergic to dates!!!)--but maybe some of you will try it too. I'd love to hear how anyone else's turns out!

Jessica

Carob Balls
by: Joanna

I like to make carob balls too - I just throw a couple of handfuls of dates and a couple of almonds into the food processor (I use a Thermomix), with some carob powder or carob chips - if using carob powder, add some coconut oil. You can also add dried apricots/shredded coconut/raw cashews/peppermint oil... (not all at once of course!) Joanna.

help!
by: Jessica

Ok, I tried it and it didn't work out (the carob chips, I mean). I had to make a substitute for the coconut oil (the ayurveda practitioner who is treating my daughter's asthma said she shouldn't have coconut or coconut oil during the winter months--I know that sounds weird, especially if you are not familiar with ayurveda, but she's been symptom-free for 3 months, so I'm following his advice).

I used a palm oil (non-hydrogenated) shortening instead because it is also solid at room temperature, like the coconut oil.

In any case, I could not get the oil to integrate with the other ingredients for anything (and I tried EVERYTHING!). Ultimately, I decided to pour off the excess oil, and then it had the consistency of modeling chocolate. I rolled it out onto the wax paper with a rolling pin. Only time will tell if it will solidify as it should, but it does definitely taste the way a carob bar or chip should.

Could it be that the barley malt is a poor substitute for the rapadura because it's a moist ingredient rather than dry?

Please help--Valentine's day is the day after tomorrow!

Carob Chips & Carob Spread/Frosting
by: Joanna

Eeek! Sorry Jessica, I dont' know - maybe it is because of the barley malt. Maybe the carob that you made could be still used in recipes. I thought it might still work in the following one, which you could use to make truffles. I'm not sure - in it's original form it's a frosting recipe, but when it cools in fridge, it's quite thick and can be used as a spread for toast. I think if you make it with less milk, it could be cooled then made into balls, then rolled in crushed nuts or carob like a truffle - would that do for Valentine's day?

Carob Frosting

3 Tablespoons soy margerine or butter
1/2 cup carob chips or your homemade 'carob stuff' :)
1/4 cup honey (or barley malt syrup)
1/4 cup almond milk (or rice or soy milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine the ingredients and warm over med-low heat while stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. Pour into glass bowl and store in fridge.

(from the Fit for Life Cookbook, Marilyn Diamond)

Try adding crushed nuts (hazelnuts are nice) to make into a toast spread.

Good luck! Jo.

retrying your recipe and trying the new one
by: Jessica

BTW, I was the anonymous a few comments back!

Joanna, I am definitely going to try that other recipe. I will certainly find uses for it!

In the meantime, the stuff I made cooled/hardened to about the consistency of a Tootsie Roll (do you have those in Australia--it's a chocolate similar in consistency to salt water taffy--I live in New Jersey, salt water taffy capitol of the world--but not as sticky or stretchy). So, I decided to make them look like Tootsie's Rolls. I rolled them into little oblongs and wrapped them in little wax paper twists like Tootsie Rolls. I put those in the children's lunches and they were very happy to have those for their school Valentine's Day parties (along with my homemade cupcakes their teachers keep in the class freezer for parties).

I'm going to try your recipe again, only without the oil substitution (I spoke to the Ayurveda guy and he said it's not a hard and fast rule like for an allergy--a little for a holiday will do no harm). I'll use the coconut oil, and a dry sweet ingredient. If I don't see the Rapadura I will use raw sugar crystals (we call that turbinado here--maybe it's what you call rapadura?).

I'll let you know how it turns out! I'm determined to make nice "chocolates" out of carob for my children for Valentine's, Halloween and Easter just like other kids have, so I'm going to keep at it with my experiments!

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Submitted by: Jessica

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BTW, I was the anonymous a few comments back! Joanna, I am definitely going to try that other recipe. I will certainly find uses for it! In the meantime, the stuff I made cooled/hardened to about the consistency of a Tootsie Roll (do you have those in Australia--it's a chocolate similar in consistency to salt water taffy--I live in New Jersey, salt water taffy capitol of the world--but not as sticky or stretchy). So, I decided to make them look like Tootsie's Rolls. I rolled them into little oblongs and wrapped them in little wax paper twists like Tootsie Rolls. I put those in the children's lunches and they were very happy to have those for their school Valentine's Day parties (along with my homemade cupcakes their teachers keep in the class freezer for parties). I'm going to try your recipe again, only without the oil substitution (I spoke to the Ayurveda guy and he said it's not a hard and fast rule like for an allergy--a little for a holiday will do no harm). I'll use the coconut oil, and a dry sweet ingredient. If I don't see the Rapadura I will use raw sugar crystals (we call that turbinado here--maybe it's what you call rapadura?). I'll let you know how it turns out! I'm determined to make nice "chocolates" out of carob for my children for Valentine's, Halloween and Easter just like other kids have, so I'm going to keep at it with my experiments!

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CAROB CHIPS
by: Anonymous

I make carob candy and I use stevia powder. It is very sweet so only a little is needed and it taste GREAT. It is nu-stevia and it is not bitter. Blessings, Claudette

carob candy
by: Anonymous

Can I have your recipe for carob candy using stevia?

Got the Tootsie Rolls
by: Marni

I tried the Carob Chip recipe, but I too ended up with tootsie roll type glup. It was going fine until the 'mix well' step. When I started to mis it started to glup together and I ended up with gluppy carob stuff and 1/2 cup of brown coconut oil left over. I used agave nectar in place of the Rapadura; one - because we don't have that in the small Ontario town where I live, and two- because we are on a candida diet right now which does not allow sugar. I didn't get as far as adding the vanilla because as I was about to add it the mixture started to look grainy so I just mixed. Would that have wrecked it? I have the glup in the fridge now and hope that I can still salvage some of it into chips for cookies. I so miss my carob chip cookies but I am also allergic to soy so I can't even buy carob chips any more.

My chocolate/carob block recipe
by: Joanna

Hi all - sorry the recipe isn't working for you! :( On my blog I have a photo of what my chocolate or carob turns out like, and how I do it. The link is: http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-your-own-chocolate.html
There are some comments there that may be of help too. Jo :)

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How To Make Carob Chips?

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