Jean in Newcastle Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 It's starting to look more and more like my body is reacting to chocolate. So tell me about carob. Are carob chips nice to just eat like chocolate chips? Are there any good carob premade treats out there? I know that you can get carob chips and powder. Does it come any other way? Anything else I need to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 (edited) I love carob. I also love chocolate, and have at least one square of 70% dark every day... They are not the same thing, but IMHO they are both yummy. My favorite 'chocolate' cake is always made with carob instead. The recipe I got called for either, and I've tried it with both, and I actually like it better with carob. This came in handy the other day when the dog finished a piece and dd panicked that he'd had chocolate... nope, just carob. :) This particular recipe does taste just about like chocolate. No one every asks what it is (they just assume it is chocolate), and I had one guest who was allergic to chocolate do a double-take and asked me to make double sure it wasn't chocolate by accident. I also always have some Sunspire unsweetened carob chips on hand. Carob, unlike chocolate, is naturally sweet, so you can actually have unsweetened chips that are usable. I usually don't eat them alone (but I have), but my kids have for years. I love to toss them into yogurt with some nuts. You can also get sweetened carob chips (they are more common), but I actually like the unsweetened ones. I buy them from Vitacost - Whole Foods hasn't been stocking them lately... :glare: Edited June 19, 2016 by Matryoshka 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Don't like carob. Hopefully you do! :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I love carob! It has a malty flavor to me, if you like malted milk balls you probably will like it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 I like carob chips with raisins. :) It's a childhood taste memory. Carob is a lot less bitter than cocoa, so it takes less sweetener. I prefer the unsweetened carob chips. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Carob is fun. I used it for a bit when I was sorting out food issues. I have munched on carob chips before. I find them good in cookies, but they aren't my munchie of choice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) Not the chocolate!!! :( Carob isn't bad. Carob chips are also a childhood memory. "Healthy" carob covered raisins and carob chips in trail mix. Amazon has carob powder and chips, but I'm guessing you can find it locally in Seattle pretty easily. :) Lots of recipes for it too, even hot cocoa. Rise Bars have a carob option. Edited June 20, 2016 by zoobie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 It is ok, not exactly like it but when you can't have chocolate it will work. It does not work as a direct sub as it is sweeter and not as bitter as cocoa. I don't generally do a lot of baking as my chocolate free diet also cuts out most things you bake with but use it in smoothies and treats like homemade Lara ish bars. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I always order mine from bulkfoods.com. They are available in sweetened or unsweetened. They will not ship when the weather is hot, so wait for a cooler stretch. They also have fabulous yogurt covered pretzels which are responsible for about five pounds of extra weight on my thighs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I ate carob chips once. It was bitter and gross and not reminiscent of chocolate at all IMO. Hopefully you will like it more than I do. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I ....don't mind carob. But, it's not chocolate. It isn't chocolate like how a tofu pup isn't a hot dog. I actually really like tofu pups, but I wouldn't serve it to people who wanted a hot dog. It's not chocolate like how vegan 'cheese' isn't really cheese. As someone who has had to play the substitution game, I suggest you go off chocolate for a while. Just get it out of your life. Get used to a chocolate free life. Then, when that battle has been fought and won, and chocolate is more of a memory, try introducing some carob. Just don't expect it to be chocolate. And if you stop chocolate today and go out and get some carob thinking it will 'scratch the itch' well, you will NOT like carob. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 It's starting to look more and more like my body is reacting to chocolate. So tell me about carob. Are carob chips nice to just eat like chocolate chips? Are there any good carob premade treats out there? I know that you can get carob chips and powder. Does it come any other way? Anything else I need to know? Yes, no one should have EVER said carob was like chocolate. Is it fine on it's own? Sure. But once the correlation has been made, it's ruined forever because you can't eat anything with it and not think, "Horrid liars, this is NOT chocolate." Sorry, obviously I still carry some deeply buried resentment. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 This is bringing back a memory from over 10 years ago. DS1 was maybe 3? We went out to a little soft serve ice cream place on a hot summer night and got cones. I saw another family there, I vaguely knew the mom, our kids were born around the same time and we had used the same midwife. We had got ds1 a tiny chocolate baby cone...still didn't know not to give the baby chocolate b/c it stains everything, lol. Well, that mom came up to me, looked at my chocolate ice cream covered toddler and says "(hippie named kid) doesn't like chocolate. He likes carob" and then she smugly flounced away! And, trust me, it was a smug flounce. I wanted to say "Well, good for f'ing him. My kid has parents who love him too much to give him carob" but I bit my tongue. Sometimes this town is nuts, lol. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibiche Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 In a panic ("Chocolate allergy! Oh god no, could this happen to me?!"), I did some quick research and it looks like chocolate allergy is really rare (phew!). So me? I would be at the allergist getting needles stuck in me or whatever else necessary before I ever let carob enter my mouth. I guess that reveals my opinion of carob... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) They say carob has the same consistency and color of chocolate. So does mud. I am not really a fan but I have friends who like it. I suppose if could not have chocolate ever again due to an allergy I might try carob treats. I would probably just stop eating chocolate. Edited June 20, 2016 by kewb 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Rice Dream makes a carob chip frozen dessert that I really like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 This is cracking me up. It is like GF bread it is general advised not to eat any bread for a long time so the GF bread tastes good (as you've forgotten what real bread tastes like). Carob is similar. It works in a pinch but it isn't good enough you want it all the time, going off chocolate for so long broke me of my addiction, carob did not fill that spot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 In a panic ("Chocolate allergy! Oh god no, could this happen to me?!"), I did some quick research and it looks like chocolate allergy is really rare (phew!). So me? I would be at the allergist getting needles stuck in me or whatever else necessary before I ever let carob enter my mouth. I guess that reveals my opinion of carob... I already stick needles in me weekly for allergies. However, this is probably not a true allergy. It's probably more of an intolerance. I have lots of those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Since the serotonin kick is most of the reason we eat chocolate, have some dates instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I love carob but for some weird reason, I don't have access to it at present. I used to use carob drops, sweetened or unsweetened in baking, as well as carob powder. Carob drops in granola and nut and dried fruit mixes are good too. Generally, I don't consider it a replacement for chocolate, but chocolate does tend to give me sleepless nights, so I'd prefer carob in the evening. When I was a young, married or not, childless, natural freak I ate a lot of carob goodies and had not acquired the need for chocolate. :smilielol5: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Used to babysit for a woman in the early 80s who had the carob flavored Haagen Dazs. Even that was not good to me. Haven't tried anything since then, but as all of the faux-meat and non-dairy milks and such have improved so much, I hope carob has as well. :) Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I like carob. Where I used to live, there were carob trees, and you can just take the pods and eat them and it's awesome. But I agree - eat it for it's own sake, not to try to replace chocolate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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