I never really understood the chocolate covered bacon thing. I mean the sweet and salty combo is pretty amazing in most applications, but greasy slabs of fatty bacon slathered in chocolate just doesn’t sound appealing to me. And while I’m on the subject of bacon, I realize that flaked coconut and pig bellies don’t have much in common, but stay with me here. Coconut bacon is really, really good and when you pair it with a totally awesome homemade raw chocolate, guh.
I wish I could say that this coconut bacon thing was my very own brilliant creation, but alas this delicious idea originates from some other creative genius. Whoever you are, thank you—we bow to your brilliance!
Below is my simple version. Just 5 ingredients, minimal effort (and a little patience) and you’ll have your very own delicious stash. Once cooled the result is crispy, smoky, salty-sweet deliciousness. If you want to get fancy, you can even flare it out will all sorts of spicy additions like chipotle, smoked paprika or black pepper.
By the way, this recipe makes a big batch of coconut bacon. You will have a lot left over to use as you see fit, but you could easily cut the recipe in half. This stuff is pretty awesome in an avo sandwich, sprinkled on salads, or just straight from the jar as a salty sweet snack.
It just so happened that I was making a batch of totally luscious, healthy, raw chocolate for a special birthday treat (homemade nut butter cups!) when inspiration struck and I sprinkled some of this delicious coconut bacon on top of the leftover chocolate. Man, was it good…maybe there is something to this chocolate covered bacon thing after all…well I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll stick with this nourishing, high-vibe coconut version instead.
Using solely cocoa butter as the base makes this chocolate extra rich and silky, and a bit firmer at room temp than using a combination of coconut oil and cocoa butter. That being said, you could sub coconut oil for some or all of the cocoa butter if that’s all you can source. Either way homemade chocolate will be softer at room temp than store-bought, so it’s best to keep these tasty treats in the fridge and eat them soon after removing them (this shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish).
What the Heck is Liquid Smoke?
A little bit of liquid smokes lends a rich smokey bacon-y flavor to this recipe. Liquid smoke is made from collecting the smoke from smoldering woodchips in a condenser that cools the smoke and causes it to liquefy. The water-soluble flavors are contained in this liquid while the non-soluble carcinogenic tars and resins are filtered out. Just be careful to read the ingredient label – there shouldn’t be anything other than smoke and water. And steal clear of any oil based products (and smoked meats for that matter) as the carcinogens concentrate in the fats.
This stuff is pretty strong and a little goes a long way. There are also flavor differences depending on the type of wood used. I used hickory, but go with whatever you like best. If you’re still freaked out about using liquid smoke or can’t find any you could probably use smoked paprika or even chipotle powder if you don’t mind the spicy kick. I haven’t tested this variation, so if you try it, let me know how it turns out.
Ingredients
- 6 cups unsweetened flaked (NOT shredded) coconut
- 3 Tbsp. tamari
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp. liquid smoke
- 5.5 oz of cocoa butter and/or coconut oil*
- 1/4-1/3 cup raw honey or maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like your chocolate)
- 3/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp. maca powder (optional)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine. Toss every few minutes while the oven heats so that the coconut soaks up most of the liquid.
- Spread in an even layer on a large parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes or until fragrant, deeply golden and crispy. Be careful not to over bake, the bacon will crisp up as it cools.
- In a double boiler or in a bowl placed over a pot of simmering water (the bowl should fit in the pan without touching the water), melt the cocoa butter (and/or coconut oil if using) and honey, gently heating until completely melted.
- Add the remaining ingredients and wish to combine.
- Pour evenly into silicone molds, mini cupcake liners or a small rimmed pan lined with parchment paper*. Sprinkle with coconut bacon and transfer to the fridge or freezer to firm.
- Remove the firmed chocolate from the molds and store in the fridge or freezer until ready to eat. Enjoy!
Notes
*Using cocoa butter for the chocolate will result in a smoother, silkier flavor and more firm chocolate. If you can't source cocoa butter you can use coconut oil or even a combination of the 2 (2 oz of coconut to 2.5 oz cocoa butter is a nice combo).
*Use whatever you have on hand as a chocolate mold. Silicone molds if you have them or muffin liners work best. A cake pan lined with parchment will work in a pinch.
Normally I wouldn’t bother commenting on things like this but since it seems no one else has, here is my 2 cents. I made half the recipe since it was my first time but still have about a cup and a half of left over coconut bacon, which is an okay flavor but nothing I would crow about. You could get away with less than a third of the coconut portion. I prefer the plain coconut flavor personally. I also didn’t use Maca powder in the chocolate as I didn’t know what it tasted like and didn’t want to waste my money if the rest of the recipe wasn’t to my taste.
The combination was not to my liking and normally I love chocolate and coconut. I gave away most of the chocolates and did not get any comments or requests for the recipe so I’m not the only one that thinks they are a strange flavor.