We've all done it. Baking away and you see that the recipe calls for cacao. You frantically look through the pantry and all you see is cocoa powder. It's the same thing though, right?
While they are similar, there is a big difference between cocoa and cacao. And, since we specifically use cacao for good reason, we decided to clear up any confusion on one of the main ingredients of this bar.
Cacao powder is one of the purest forms of chocolate you can consume, because it is raw and not processed like cocoa powder. Raw cacao powder is made by cold-pressing raw cocoa beans, and cocoa powder is made by roasting the powder at high temperatures. Still with me?
When it comes down to it, you are better off digging through the pantry (or adding it to your next curbside order) to find that cacao powder so you can reap the benefits of this high antioxidant ingredient. Whenever you hear about those studies referring to the benefits of chocolate, they are most likely referring to the benefits of cacao. Cacao is rich in the antioxidant flavonoid (has 4x that of green tea), and is also one of the world's oldest food sources.
We love the Chocolate Variety Pack for our daily dose of cacao:
