When you hear the word “superfood,” what is the first thing that pops into your head? Chia seeds? Gogi berries? Flax seeds?
Well, this frosting doesn’t have any of those exotic, trendy superfoods in it, but it is chock-full of some simple, good old-fashioned foods that qualify as superfoods in my opinion anyways!
Simple Superfoods
Every ingredient in this chocolate “superfood” frosting recipe is a simple, ordinary ingredient that you probably already have in your pantry, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be superfoods too! Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of the ingredients in this decadent recipe:
Cocoa Powder
Chocolate is famous for it’s antioxidant content and for being a source of magnesium. Even though it’s debatable whether or not chocolate is really a good source of magnesium, chocolate is still a superfood in my opinion because it’s my favorite flavor and eating it makes me happy. End of story! Anything that makes you happy and reduces stress definitely qualifies as a superfood 🙂
Coconut Oil or Butter
Both coconut oil and butter are good old-fashioned fats that are nutrient-dense to support a healthy body. Coconut oil is well-known in the real food community for its antibacterial and antiviral properties and for being one of the best metabolism-boosters there is. Butter from grass-fed cows is a good source of vitamins A, D, K2 as well as congugated-lineoleic acid. Not to mention that it just makes everything taste better too! 🙂
Pure Maple Syrup or Raw Honey
Pure maple syrup (especially the darker Grade B syrup) is full of trace minerals that have been stripped out of the more refined sweetners like the powdered confectioner’s sugar typically used to make frosting sweet.
Raw honey, in addition to containing minerals and beneficial enzymes, also has antibacterial and antiviral properties that make it an excellent choice for a natural healthy sweetener.
Pure Vanilla Extract
The scent of vanilla is incredibly relaxing, and with all of the busy-ness and stress that most of us encounter every day, we can use all the relaxation and stress-reduction we can get!
Sea Salt
Salt has a calming, anti-inflammatory effect on the body, and having enough salt is essential for a healthy metabolism.
Chocolate “Superfood” Frosting Recipe:
* As always, quality counts, so ingredients that are organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised, etc. are always best if you can afford them! *
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (Find good-quality cocoa powder here)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or softened butter) (Find my favorite kind here
)
- 1 Tbs pure maple syrup (or raw honey) (Find pure Grade B maple syrup here)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract (Find pure organic vanilla here
)
- pinch sea salt (Find real salt here)
* Note: Coconut oil starts to melt once the temperature gets above 70 degrees. Depending on how warm your house is, you might have to add a bit more cocoa powder if your coconut oil has melted or you might have to use a bit less if it’s wintertime and your coconut oil is rock solid. If it’s summer time and you’re planning to use this to frost a cake rather than just eating it straight as a dessert, you’ll need to make sure you have enough cocoa powder to keep the frosting stiff enough, or use butter instead of coconut oil.
Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and enjoy! 🙂
I like to mix and match this recipe depending on what I’m in the mood for and what ingredients I have on hand. I might use coconut oil and raw honey one night and butter and maple syrup on another. All variations are delicious!
This recipe makes about 1/2 cup worth of frosting. I usually just have a spoonful now and then as a dessert, but you could easily double or triple the recipe if you wanted to use it to frost a cake or cupcakes, like my favorite Depression-Era dark chocolate cake.
Because this frosting is so rich, though, just a spoonful or two is enough to be completely satisfying even without the cake. (And I love my cake, so I don’t make that statement lightly! 😉 )
If you’re a dark chocolate lover like me, this decadent frosting is the perfect “superfood” for times when you want an indulgent dessert.
[socialpug_share]
If you love chocolate, here are some other great recipes to try:
Sea Salted Coconut Oil Chocolates by Frisky Lemon
Homemade Coconut Oil Chocolate Sauce by The Rising Spoon
18 Chocolate Coconut Oil Recipes by Good Girl Gone Green
Amazing Coconut Oil Fudge by The Sweet Plantain
Frosting for Breakfast? What a Therapeutic Dose of Coconut Oil Can Do for You by Thrive Style
Chocolate Superfood Smoothie Recipe by Real Nutritious Living
This post is shared with: Real Food Fridays at It’s Your Life.
Worked like a charm for frosting (generously) 12 cupcakes. We found the honey taste a little strange so added about 1/2 powdered sugar and a hefty pinch of instant espresso. The coffee flavor really took brought out the chocolatey notes and took it to the next level without making it a coffee flavored frosting.
That’s a great idea to add a little coffee flavor! It always complements the chocolate nicely.
I used Dutch cocoa powder and found this WAY too bitter. Am experimenting with adding extra of the other ingredients, and hope to be able to save it as it’s for a chocolate cake icing. Luckily my bf is rather forgiving….
You could try adding a bit of extra honey to make it a little sweeter, or, if you don’t mind using refined sugar, you could always substitute confectioner’s sugar for some of the cocoa powder. I love dark chocolate, personally, but this frosting might not seem sweet enough if you’re more of a milk chocolate lover.
looks great but how much would I need of each ingredient to make enough for a chocolate cake?
Good question 🙂 I’ve never actually tried frosting a full-sized cake with this recipe, but for an average cake, I’m guessing you would probably need about 3 cups cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups coconut oil, 6 Tbs maple syrup, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. You might not need quite so much of each ingredient if you were doing a sheet cake or cupcakes instead of a layer cake.
Thanks! I really liked this. I’ve made a muesli bar and I’ve added this chocolate topping on it, and it was awesome 🙂 (I’ve used honey instead of maple syrup and I didn’t had at hand any vanilla or salt, still it was very delicious)!
That sounds like a great idea to use it as a topping for a muesli bar! I’m glad it worked well for you! 🙂
I love this recipe. So excited to have a healthy chocolate options. Been vegan for a few months now and thought I had to leave deserts behind. I Put this on a pinto bean cake and black bean chocolate cupcakes.
I modified it a bit to put on top of some Protein-Chocolate Brownies.
I used about 3/8 of a cup of Chocolate Protein Powder and 1/8 of a cup of Cocoa Powder. The icing and the brownies turned out delicious!
Awesome! Glad they turned out well!
is there anything i could use to substitute for coconut oil? i don’t have any in the house at the moment and have no time to get some :\ x thanks xx
I’ve used butter before instead, and it tastes amazing that way too!
Thank you, thank you so much for posting this healthy recipe.. I am saving it to make for the christmas season !
Easy ingredients and actually on hand after learning so much through facebook this year. Next I will look up your chocolate cake recipe that is healthy. Beautiful design on your page ! Keep it up! Natalie
Thanks, Natalie! I just made myself another batch of this today because I love it so much 🙂 I’m so glad you stopped by!
Sounds yummy! How long does it last in the fridge if you aren’t going to use it all in one go?
Hi Lisa,
I’ve never actually had any left over because I usually eat it all in a day or two! It should last for at least a week in the fridge, though, I would think. Possibly even longer.
This sounds wonderful! Does it need to be refrigerated, or is it safe to leave it in the pantry?
Hi Monika,
It should be safe to leave in the pantry, especially since coconut has such strong antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, but if it were summertime (or if your house is warm where you live) I would probably put it in the fridge since the coconut oil would melt and turn it into a soupy mess 🙂
That’s sort of what I figured. Thank you! 🙂
I have been making this for ages, but I never measure – just eye ball – I don’t frost a cake with it though I eat it straight from the bowl when I need a chocolate fix (he-he) beats running to the store for a candy bar; less expensive, more healthy and I create the portion size I like; just a couple of bites and I’m satisfied. That being said I do dip walnuts or coat sliced banana’s and freeze then serve, all my friends love it too! Thank you for sharing this recipe/idea on a grand scale. It’s exciting to see healthy eating, simple eating shared with the masses. There are delicious options; we’re not slaves to corporate America for yummy goodness!
Thank you. I have tried a lot of dairy free recipes and hated them. We have a relative that is extremely allergic to dairy, so this looks promising and easily convertible to dairy when it’s just my immediate family.
Just wondering if you could freeze small mounds of this as chocolates for in the warmer weather?
I don’t see why not. Sounds like a great idea!
Thank you so much for this. I’ve been trying to make it on my own for a while now but it’s hard to work out the proportions. Can I suggest the use of coconut nectar in place of the maple or honey. It’s lower in fructose, GI and even higher in minerals with a good amount of amino acids too. It’s also a much more sustainable crop. Thanks again :o)
i MADE this tonight for a gluten free chocolate cake for a work event tomorrow and its AWESOME and SO easy!! i did triple the amount of maple syrup. i dont think i’ll ever go back to the icing sugar/butter icing again. yay!!
Awesome! So glad it worked well for you!
Yummy! We use a lot of coconut oil around here! I will pin this to keep on hand. Thanks for sharing with us at the HomeAcre Hop ~ we look forward to having you back again tomorrow.