Low-Carb Chocolate Chips

If you know me, it will be no surprise to you when I say that I love chocolate.  I say it everyday, and I mean it.  These little cuties actually came about because I ran out of the sugar-free chocolate chips that I usually have in my pantry.  I was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome of my DIY chocolate chips.  I actually prefer the flavor of mine over the Hershey's brand.  They have almost 1/2 the calories and even slightly less carbs than their brand-name counterpart.  The bonus of these (for me, at least) is that they don't contain any malitol, because my body absolutely will not tolerate malitol.  To get these adorable little hexagon shapes, I actually used two silicone trivets  as candy molds (see photos below).


Ingredients:

• 1 ounce unsweetened baker's chocolate
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 packets Truvia
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Place chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe container and heat for 30 seconds.
   
2. Remove from microwave, add Truvia, stir well, and microwave another 30 seconds.
3. Remove from microwave, add salt, stir well, and microwave a final 30 seconds.
4. Add vanilla extract and stir until blended.
5. Add cream and stir just until mixed.
6. Immediately spread melted chocolate mixture into chocolate chip mold and spread around with a spatula.  I used these two honey-comb silicone trivets as my chocolate chip mold.  (Alternately, you could also spread your melted chocolate over a cookie sheet and break into chocolate "chunks" when the chocolate has set).
   
7. Place candy molds (or cookie sheet) in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
   
8. Remove chips from mold, working quickly* (or break into tiny "chunks" if frozen solid on a cookie sheet) and store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.  

*NOTE:  For fastest chip removal, I grazed a fork's tines along the folded silicone mold, working in batches.  When about 1/3 of trivet #1 was done, I returned it to the freezer and pulled out trivet #2 to work on.  I worked in batches like this until all the chips had been removed.  It was a time-consuming process (about 30-45 minutes or so), but totally worth it if you want those cute little chips.  If you are short on time (or patience, lol), I recommend the cookie sheet method.  :)


Yields: 14 tablespoons (serving size = 1 tablespoon)

*Nutritional Information (per Tbsp):

*Nutritional information has been calculated using the MyFitnessPal app.