Hot Carob :: Nourishing & Delicious!

Hot carob is a delicious and nourishing drink if you’re looking for a caffein-free hot cocoa substitute! It’s full of vitamins and minerals and totally delicious!

Nostalgic comfort.

After a quick look through my blog, it might surprise you to know that I didn’t grow up on chocolate. Not even chocolate chips in cookies. My mom was super conscious of my sugar intake growing up, and so things like candies and chocolate chips were no-nos.

What did she use for treats instead? Carob. Instead of regular brownies, we had carob nut brownies. Our milkshakes were carob, and instead of chocolate chips, my mom used carob chips from the health food coop. 

After leaving home I discovered that chocolate was pretty necessary for my life, but carob continues to be a comforting treat that I’ve now passed on to my family.

Health benefits of carob.

Hailing originally from the Middle East, carob is an evergreen flowering shrub in the same family as peas. Just like the cocoa tree, carob is harvested for its beans.

While you’re comparing it to cocoa powder, carob has some interesting features that any health foodie will love. Unlike cocoa, carob is caffein-free, so there’s no worries giving it to your kids (not that I worry about giving my kids homemade hot cocoa anyway). It’s also quite a bit sweeter on its own when compared with cocoa, which is quite bitter plain. So you don’t need as much sweetener when using carob (or any, if your like me).

The tannins in carob contain gallic acid, which is and antibacterial antioxidant, as well as being antiviral and antiseptic. Carob also contains vitamin E and, as a drink, is helpful in treating cough, flu, anemia and osteoclasis. It’s is also high in omega-6 fatty acids, folate, magnesium, and phosphorus, and has whopping amounts of calcium and potassium!

What kind of carob powder?

For this nourishing hot carob drink, I love using both raw and roasted carob powder. Raw carob is noticeably sweeter than roasted carob, but roasted is a little nuttier. For raw carob, I love The Australian Carob Co.’s product and for roasted I prefer Azure Organics. Here are some places you can get it:

• raw carob powder from Azure Standard
• raw carob powder from Amazon
• roasted carob from Azure Standard
• roasted carob powder from Amazon

More carob deliciousness.

If you’re interested in trying even more delicious recipes with carob in them, here are a few of my favorites. Generally speaking, you can just substitute carob powder for the cocoa powder in any chocolate recipe, 1:1. I find that you don’t need as much sweetener in the carob version, though.

• Banana Walnut Carob Brownies
• Homemade Carob Chips
• Carob Zucchini Milkshake
• Buttermilk Carob Zucchini Cake

In the recipe card I’ve linked to some of the products from my affiliate partners that I like to use. Purchasing through these links won’t cost you anything extra. Thanks!