This chocolate spread is something I came up with as a delicious alternative to the super high sugar in traditional nutella, and as a creative way to get collagen into your intake!
Turns out this makes an amazing accompaniment to your meals at any time of the day. There’s no added sugar, it contains some healthy fat AND chocolate (my favorite food group), plus collagen.
I included my Full Body Collagen Peptides to help hold this recipe together perfectly, and because of their health-boosting benefits to our body tissues – particularly our skin, bones and joints.
Collagen is made up of the amino acids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline primarily (don’t worry I’m not going to quiz you on that!).
These 3 amino acids can be found in other protein sources, but not in as high of concentrations – which is why collagen peptides are a great supplement to add to a healthy balanced diet.
Collagen used to make its way into our diets through foods like bone broths, slow-cooked organ meats, kidney pies, baked beef hearts, whole crustaceans, and whole-fish soups and stews. But if you’re not regularly eating these types of foods, you may not be getting much or any of this goodness into your body.
I regularly add collagen peptides into my rotation to boost those amino acids that support my skin, bones and joints.
Get Full Body Collagen from Whole Betty right here!
I used raw cacao powder in this recipe. It’s basically the purest form of unprocessed chocolate, all powdered up. Plain cocoa powder is also beneficial – it’s just processed at a higher heat and can lose some of the purity of the nutritional value.
Just a few of the benefits of pure dark chocolate include:
- natural mood elevation and anti-depressant
- highest plant-based source of iron (pair your dark chocolate with a vitamin-C rich fruit like the strawberries pictured for maximum absorption)
- more calcium than cow’s milk
- more antioxidants than blueberries, tea, wine and goji berries
- rich in magnesium, for heart and brain health
In the pictures in this post, I had toasted some home made buckwheat bread (gluten free, btw) and spread the healthy nutella on the mini toast pieces with a little sliced strawberry on top.
Let me know what you serve it with in comments below, and keep reading for a little more backstory on my latest healthy creation!
Dark Chocolate Spread
Ingredients:
Key: big T=tablespoon tsp=teaspoon
- 1-2 T cacao powder (dark chocolate powder) get organic, I use this one
- 2 servings (26 grams) Full Body Collagen
- 2 T nut butter of your choice (can also use Sunbutter for nut-free) I usually rotate between cashew butter, almond butter and walnut butter – if you can find hazelnut butter you’ll have a real Nutella experience 🙂
- 1-2 T water
Instructions:
1: In a small bowl, stir together cacao powder and collagen. If you take any powdered supplements, like a glutamine powder, you can also mix that in.
2: Add your nut butter. It’s best if it’s slightly soft. I usually buy nut butter packets that I keep for this exact purpose, as one packet is the perfect amount for your mixture – but you can also just scoop it right out of the jar.
3: Drizzle in about 1-2 T water. Then stir. You’ll be able to tell if you need to add a little more water. Too much water and it will be runny (but still delicious). Too little water and it won’t combine completely.
Nutrition Facts
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References:
- Proksch, E, et al. “Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Has Beneficial Effects on Human Skin Physiology: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.” Skin Pharmacology and Physiology. Web. Aug 2013. https://www.essentialnutrition.com.br/media/artigos/redberrywhey/13.pdf
- König, Daniel et al. “Specific Collagen Peptides Improve Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in Postmenopausal Women-A Randomized Controlled Study.” Nutrients. Jan. 16 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29337906
- Zdzieblik, Denise et al. “Improvement of activity-related knee joint discomfort following supplementation of specific collagen peptides.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. Jan 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28177710
- Balzer, Jan, et al. “Sustained Benefits in Vascular Function Through Flavanol-Containing Cocoa in Medicated Diabetic Patients: A Double-Masked, Randomized, Controlled Trial.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology. June 2008. Web. http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/51/22/2141
- David L. Katz, Kim Doughty, and Ather Ali. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. October 2011, 15(10): 2779-2811.https://doi.org/10.1089/ars.2010.3697
- Ellinger, Sabine, et al. “Epicatechin ingested via cocoa products reduces blood pressure in humans: a nonlinear regression model with a Bayesian approach.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. March 16, 2012. Web. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/95/6/1365.abstract
- Francis, S. T. Phd, et al. “The Effect of Flavanol-rich Cocoa on the fMRI Response to a Cognitive Task in Healthy Young People.” Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. June 2006. Web. http://journals.lww.com/cardiovascularpharm/Abstract/2006/06001/The_Effect_of_Flavanol_rich_Cocoa_on_the_fMRI.18.aspx
- Harvard Women’s Health Watch. “Chocolate: Pros and Cons of This Sweet Treat.” Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School. February 2014. Web. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/chocolate-pros-and-cons-of-this-sweet-treat
- Matsui, Naoko, et al. “Ingested cocoa can prevent high-fat diet-induced obesity by regulating the expression of genes for fatty acid metabolism.” Nutrition Journal. May 2005. Web. http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(05)00058-4/fulltext
- R.M. Lamuela-Raventos, A., et al. “Review: Health Effects of Cocoa Flavonoids.” SAGE Journals. June 1, 2015. Web. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1082013205054498
- Steinberg, FM, et al. “Cocoa and chocolate flavonoids: implications for cardiovascular health.” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. February 2003. Web.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12589329
