If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I LOVE a good piece (or a few pieces, let's be real) of chocolate! Honestly, I think I have some every single day. Fortunately, in the past couple of years my chocolate palate has been refined as I have had the opportunity to try more and more of the best chocolates on the market. To think, my bar of choice used to be Hershey's Cookies n' Cream!! (No shame though, I think I would probably still inhale one of those if not for the gluten.)
With that said, when I first started cleaning up my diet years ago, I made the simple switch from highly commercialized milk chocolate (Hershey's, Dove, etc) to dark chocolate from slightly nicer brands such as Ghiaradelli, Green and Blacks, and so forth. After working through several elimination diets in efforts to heal my gut, I became acutely aware of the prevalence of soy lecithin in chocolate, and it was a while before I found some bars that used sunflower lecithin instead. Taking that one step further, I was happy to discover that there are some options out there that have no emulsifiers at all! While the small amount of lecithin doesn't bother me, I am happy to be able to recommend these brands to clients who are highly sensitive.
There are a few that I have come across (I am THAT girl who is always reading the labels on everything, simply out of curiosity), but the one I want to highlight today is PASCHA!
PASCHA Chocolate is a family owned company that is dedicated to creating the most delicious and purest chocolate on the market that is safe for people with all kinds of allergies. All PASCHA Chocolate products are free from the top 8 major allergens (gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, wheat, sesame) and are certified organic, non-GMO, vegan, paleo, fair trade, and the list goes on! Talk about credibility!
The company reached out to me to see if I would like to review some of their products, and I eagerly said yes. I had heard of PASCHA Chocolate before (they make sugar free 100% cacao chocolate chips!), but had never tried it. They generously sent me two bags of chocolate chips and two of their dark chocolate bars, and I eagerly dug in!
I know, tough work, right? Well, I'm happy to report that the chocolate lived up to the hype! It amazes me that some of the best chocolate on the market is also the purest. I tried the 85% bar first, and was impressed with how rich the flavor was. It was perfectly sweet for my preference with a clean taste and a smooth finish. The 85% chocolate chips tasted exactly like the bar, which is dangerous, because I can throw down a handful of chocolate chips in a hurry! The 70% bar was sweeter, but not too much, and is a perfect treat when I feel like something a little more playful than the 85%. Last but not least, the 55% dark chocolate chips were noticeably sweeter, and would be a perfect addition to your favorite baked good of choice! (I can also envision them making a top-notch fudge mixed with some of my favorite coconut butter...if I hadn't already used and washed every dish in my kitchen twice already in the past two days, I probably would already be whipping up a batch!)
If you'd like to try some out for yourself, you can pick up a bar at your local grocery (Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, Stop n Shop, and Jewel all carry them), or you can order online on their website or on Amazon. And be sure to head over to their Instagram page to follow some drool-worthy photos, as well as Pinterest for plenty of chocoholic inspiration!
Last but not least, don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY on my Instagram page, which will be up and running through Sunday July 2nd! There will be two winners, and each will receive coupons for three full sized bars of PASCHA Chocolate!
Thanks PASCHA Chocolate, for making such an incredible top quality product and making fine chocolate available to all of us with food sensitivities and allergies!