Thats what I thought. Its probably more properly called a butter, since its solid at room temp. Although you can get coconut oil that melts at a couple of different temps.

Interesting, I've been experimenting with LC chocolate this week. One thing I've been trying to do is to not use cream, because I've been reading that milk reduces the healthy stuff in chocolate (and tea. Darnit. I like milk in both!).

Erythritol (the "best" of the sugar alcohols) makes it a LOT LOT LOT better than Splenda alone! And I finally settled on peanut butter for creaminess. So the basic "recipe" is

Unsweetened chocolate (I've been using one rectangle of Sharfenberger (sp), which is probably 1.5 oz. or so), with about an equal amount of smooth peanut butter or a little more, 2 T powdered erythritol, a few drops of liquid Splenda, a little salt and a splash of vanilla. To make a more truffle effect, I stir in hazelnut meal (I get it at Trader Joes. I'm sure almond meal would be just as good), and then roll them in balls and roll the balls in more hazelnut meal. Yum!

My husband wants me to add rum, but I told him to wait until Christmas!

A topping is fairly easy - just make a loose ganache (truffle). Milk is easy too, just a looser ganache with lecithin to help it emulsify.

But bar chocolate, chocolate with a nice crisp snap and shine at room temperature, that's complicated business. For that you will need:

a. Food grade cocoa butter (to compensate for the lack of cocoa butter in unsweetened chocolate)
b. Dried cream (or dried milk which is more carby)
c. A powdered sweetener that dissolves easily (cross off granular erythritol).
d. A good knowledge of tempering.

Depending on the temperature chocolate is melted/cooled it, the cocoa butter can form any off about 5 different crystals. Only one of these crystals gives you the right snap, texture, sheen of bar chocolate. Tempering, by control these melting/cooling temps to within a few degrees, creates exactly the right crystal formulation for bar chocolate. Without tempering you won't have snap/sheen. Some people freeze ganache to make something snappable, but I think that's a poor excuse for eating chocolate.

Bar/eating chocolate also has to be liquid free. The less liquid you add to melted chocolate the more likely it will seize. In other words, if you melt 2 oz. of chocolate and add 1 oz. of water, you should be okay. But a drop of water and your chocolate will be a disgusting mess.

The best place I've found for coconut oil and coconut products is www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com they have a wonderful virgin oil, and they have an unsweetened dried coconut that tastes just like candy. It's nothing like the dried tastless stuff you can get at the stores.

Update on my chcolate makiing trials.

First, I made a batch and it flopped, I'm not positive why. Might have been too little cream (almost out), or it might have been the pinch of salt I added (never used it before). In any case, the stuff never came together, and the oil separated from the rest to a large degree.

Also tried a batch with some cocoa butter, I only used maybe 10% and it didn't make as much difference as I'd hoped. Not going to keep using it since it is expensive.

What did help, was I squirted in a caplet's worth of lecithin into a batch. I had the lecithin because I was taking it as a supplement at one point. Anyway, it is an emulsifier (helps oil and water mix together better) and it made the chocolate more creamy. Might have been a touch more melty, but it was worth it. Anyway, I don't think the lecithin caplets were real expensive, so I'd recommend this additive in your chocolate if you have any problems getting it to blend.

Made a batch with walnuts, and another with almonds. Both were excellent. Read where coconut oil has some beneficial properties, that is super because I do love this chocolate. My wife and I both like the taste much better than the sugar-free chocolate.

I wonder how tough it be to turn this in to a mounds bar... man I miss them! Assuming I can succesffly make a batch of this cholate, could mix the cocountu shavings in.... wonder if that be close enough...

You might try to make little balls of coconut with some sweetener and a little oil to make it stick together, and then pour this chocolate over them and freeze. Just throwing in coconut would be good though.

for.. mounds/almond joy
egg white, Splenda, and coconut flakes, mix with hands,, bake in oven... add a toasted almond if you can have nuts,
350 degrees for 10 minutes,, they burn fast when they are done.. so watch.... i mix the whites (dont makes frothy or stiff, just mix).. 3 egg whites, 12 oz coconut, 3/4 C. Splenda.. I dont know what chocolate to melt on.. i was using regular milk chocolate chips when i made this before

I have "unsweetened" chololate from Nestle I could use, or I could try the LC choloate from above if I can ever get that recipe right.

Di dyou melt the chocolate and then pout it over teh coconut mess, or... ?

OK, I made a significant breakthrough in my chocolate recipe last night. First, I added somewhat less chocolate than I've been using (I eyeball everything so I cannot speak about exact amounts), which made the product come out less bitter.

Second and more important, my wife had purchased some peanut butter flavoring from a shop that sells candy making supplies. The stuff smells exactly like peanut butter. Well, I added maybe 1/4 tsp to a large batch of chocolate, and although I really didn't detect the flavor of peanuts, the chocolate was the best I've ever made. My wife said she could just detect some peanut. It really seemed to take the edge off the bitter chocolate.

I made a bar that was 5"x5" and nearly an inch thick. I have some in my lunch box, can't wait for it to be noon.

i used a baggie.. and cut a small tip out of one of the corners.. and zig-zagged over the top of the "bars"... i find i can taste the coconut better.. and it doesnt need ALL that totally covered chocolate..
by the way.. i dont think i wrote in there.. before baking.. make them in to little 'mounds' or candy pieces before baking.. then use the chocolate after baking...
sorry
dianna9234

p.s. i was going to try and use the LC chocolate bars from the store this year.. and see if they melt to a 'pouring' stage.
dianna