(no subject)

[camwyn]

"Cacao nibs are like nature's chocolate chips! Sprinkle them on your food for a burst of dark chocolate flavor!"

Yes, except for the part where dark chocolate is good. I'm sorry, I've been adding cacao nibs to my overnight oats, experimental yogurt, etc. for a while now and without a dose of sugar and a great deal of soaking time the nibs are basically like being thumped upside the head with cocoa powder, while also worrying about whether I did something bad to my teeth. The texture puts up a level of resistance that gives the impression one has bit down upon something that is not supposed to be bitten, unless the nibs were in the jar all night with the overnight oats. Nature's chocolate chips my ass.

Still using them but at this point it's more as a coffee component. If I replace about 1/5th by weight of my ground coffee with ground cacao nibs I get a mocha flavor that suits my tastes. I still use milk and sugar, though.

(Speaking of which: cashew milk advocates are right in that if one blends the cashews and water adequately, the nuts disappear into the liquid without a need for straining. Shaking the refrigerated nut milk vigorously gets a nice creamy addition to the coffee the next day. However, you then have the somewhat startling experience of textured milk, and if you are drinking your coffee and happen to look down, it looks as if your coffee has suddenly curdled because of the visible albeit tiny bits of cashew. This is a first impression only. I have not yet attempted to make cashew milk and strain out the cashews. I'm not sure what I'd do with the solids and I do not want to waste that much nutmeat, so that experiment may not happen.)

Comments

[eor]

Thank you for the information. I was thinking of getting nibs for multi-day hiking (pack as many calories into as little weight/space as possible). I think I'll stick to a dark chocolate bar for desert. Breaking a tooth on a hike just doesn't fit the plan.

[camwyn]

It's possible that other brands are a little less distressingly crunchy but there's definitely a CRONCH factor there with the Navitas nibs I've had, and with the whatever-it-was brand I first bought years ago when my father gave me the Mast Brothers chocolate cookbook for Christmas, I forget what brand that was.

[derien]

I would try putting the cashew meat in muffins, if it were me.

[camwyn]

Might try that next time. I've been using the pulp left over after making oat milk in my whole wheat rolls. (There are vegan types who would have you believe that oats virtually disappear into the blended milk. These are vegan types who own better blenders than I do. And who also use their milk in smoothies more than coffee and therefore don't mind a little texture action.)

(I have no inclination towards veganism. I just find that I get pretty much every single non-dairy milk recipe that works for me from the vegan community.)