Coffee and chocolate are two favorite things for many people, so it was only to be expected that someone tried to combine them into one mouth-watering dessert. Many brands are offering this delicious snack on the market, but some people prefer to make their own. Not only is it cheaper, but you can tailor the recipe to your exact preference.
Making homemade chocolate covered coffee beans isn’t one of those culinary wonders that require you to have Gordon Ramsey on speed dial. Chocolate covered coffee beans is quite simple, and anyone can do it. What is astonishing is that there are so many kinds to choose from, but all use just two basic ingredients. Fortunately, there are so many different types of chocolate and coffee that you don’t have to make the same combo twice unless you want to. Before diving in, here are a few things you need to know about chocolate-covered coffee beans.
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Coffee Beans
Any roasted coffee bean can be used for this treat. Which one you choose depends entirely on your taste. You may want to experiment with a few types to get familiar with the flavors each type of beans has. Lighter roasts usually have more acidity and more flavor, while darker ones are more bitter and have almost no acidity. Medium roasts offer a balance between acidity and flavor and as such, may the best choice for your first try in making chocolate covered coffee beans.
Some recipes require espresso beans to be used. This is just another name for dark roasted beans, prepared solely for espresso. They are usually larger and are easier to handle than lightly roasted beans. As more water is extracted, beans become dryer, and the fibers in them expand, increasing the size of a bean.
Another popular option is to use flavored coffee beans, like hazelnut or vanilla. These can add interesting layers of flavor to you treat, making it even more delicious.
Take a look also at this guide for our tips and tricks to “How to Roast Coffee Beans at Home“.
Chocolate
For the other half of chocolate covered coffee beans, you can use almost any chocolate bar you can find, even white chocolate, although it isn’t chocolate at all. Most recipes require dark
chocolate, but the general rule of a thumb is that the darker the roast, the lighter the chocolate. Chocolate sweetness covers the bitterness of roasted beans, and dark roasts are more bitter, requiring sweeter chocolate for the recipe to work. Vice versa, dark chocolate, which is usually bitter, goes well with the acidity of light roasts.
Energy and Caffeine
One of the reasons people love chocolate covered coffee beans, besides the obvious fantastic taste, is that they feel energized after eating only a handful. The sugar in chocolate and caffeine in beans provides an energy boost we sometimes sorely need. Some would say that the caffeine content in this treat is negligible, and if you only eat one or two beans, that may be correct. One bean of espresso roast usually has about 6 – 7 milligrams of caffeine, which is minuscule. However, who only eats just a few of these amazing beans? If you calculate the average portion at 25 beans, which about a handful, you get 150 – 175 milligrams of caffeine per serving. That is more than enough to keep you awake, even in the most tedious circumstances. This makes chocolate covered coffee beans an ideal snack for hiking. You can put the bag filled with them in your pocket and reach in whenever the trail gets too hard.
Take a look at our guide “How Much Caffeine Is In: Tea, Soda, Coffee & More” to see exactly how these drinks interact with the caffeine in them.
Health Benefits of Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
The health benefits of both coffee and chocolate were proven a long time ago. Any treat that contains both of these ingredients will have a positive effect on your body, provided you consume it with moderation. Both chocolate and coffee contain various antioxidants, which are beneficial for many things, ranging from blood pressure to circulation. Coffee can reduce the risks of heart diseases and even some forms of cancer. Dark chocolate is also known to be good for your heart. The form in which you ingest them isn’t important, so you might as well enjoy them like this and have some fun in the process.
How to Make Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
For starters, you will need a double boiler bowl. If you don’t have one, place a metal bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. Break a chocolate bar in smaller chunks and place them inside a bowl and stir it until you get smooth chocolate. Remove the bowl from heat and put in coffee beans. Continue stirring until all bean are equally covered in chocolate.
For the next step, you will need a tray covered with parchment paper. With a fork, remove each bean from the bowl and place it on a tray. This will require the most of your time and is the most boring part of the recipe, but there is no way around it. Once all the beans are on the tray, place it in a fridge for about an hour, so that chocolate can solidify. Congratulations, you have made your first chocolate-covered coffee beans.
Most people stop here, but for an extra
step, you can repeat the process, adding more chocolate over the beans. If you
want, you can even use a different type of chocolate and repeat the process as
many times as you like, slowly building layers of various chocolates over the
beans.
Thank you for reading with us on how to make chocolate covered coffee beans! Let us know in the comments below how your home experiment when to getting your chocolate covered beans. Be sure to also check out similar articles to keep your knowledge to the right brew level like “Everything You Need to Know About Coffee Fruit (Cascara)” or “Sweet Coffee: Can Coffee be Naturally Sweet?“.
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