I’ve been getting excited about chaga recently. Chaga is a very nutrient dense wild ‘mushroom’ known for it’s exceptional medicinal benefits. As a recipe developer I’ve been working on creating the most delicious chaga hot chocolate drink.
I think I’ve nailed it!!!
Chaga mushroom powder makes a good substitute for coffee, tea and has a tonne of health benefits. I’ve decide to go to town and make a super healthy, superfood chaga chocolate drink. You’ll notice from the recipe that I have included other superfoods like maca powder, lucuma, shelled hemp seeds, and cacao powder. Maca and lucuma are actually optional, but I’ve mentioned why I am using these (below) and highly recommend them for the ultimate, decadent super food chaga hot chocolate drink.
I’ve also sweetened this chaga drink purely with dates.
Let’s take a quick peek at what is going on here to make this!
How to sweeten your chaga chocolate drink with dates?
Using dates in your chaga chocolate drink is easy! All you need to do is the put your dates (along with all of the other ingredients) into a blender.
Basically, the dates are pureed into the chaga drink.
Dates are a whole food, full of fibre. This means that you get a more gradual release of blood sugar than if you are having refined sugars or syrups. Dates are also full of nutritional goodness with a rich vitamin and mineral content. They are my first choice when it comes to using a sweetener.
What is Chaga?
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is a highly nuturitious, adaptogenic fungus-like compound (let’s call it a mushroom tho’, because everyone else does!). It grows on birch trees in freezing regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
For culinary use, we tend to use chaga mushrooms it in powder form. In fact, chaga mushroom powder is perfect for making a chaga chocolate drink.
One of the best ways I’ve found to use chaga is to make a drink with it, as you’ll see below.
What are the benefits of chaga mushrooms?
Chaga is said to have the following noteworthy health benefits…
High melanin content
Chaga is thought to be a food with one of the highest contents of melanin on our planet.
Melanin gives us the pigment in our skin and creates the colour of our eyes and hair. It also protects us from harmful UV rays.
Melanin is concentrated in the black outer layer of chaga, serving to protect the mushroom from extreme hot and cold temperatures. It passes on these adaptogenic properties to us.
Melanin is said to be excellent for hair, skin, eye health and over all radiance.
Chaga has exeptional antioxidant levels
It seems that chaga has an exceptional antioxidant capacity.
One of these antioxidants is known as triterpene, which is known for its ability to kill cancer cells.
Chaga may lower cholesterol levels
Studies show that chaga might actually reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. This is an exciting possibility if it can potentially help (in conjunction with other health lifestyle habits) against cardiovascular disease.
I’d love to see more studies on this.
Other benefits of chaga mushrooms include…
- Immune stimulant
- Anti cancer effect
- Powerful anti-viral
- Anti inflammatory
- Helps to improve physical endurance
If you’d like to find out more, there are some good scientific study links on this website here:
Chaga Mushroom Scientific Study Benefits References
Other ingredients in my chaga chocolate drink and why?
I have other superfoods in this drink as follows. Some are optional but recommended.
- Maca Powder for it’s adaptogenic benefits and hormone balancing ability. This is optional but recommended.
- Lucuma Powder for it’s extra nutrients, gentle caramel sweetness. Also optional but recommended.
- Hemp seeds (shelled) for their balanced healthy essential fats and plant-based protein.
- Cashews for a luxurious creaminess and healthy plant fat.
- Cacao Powder to make it chocolatey and bring in some of those extra superfood nutrients.
- Dates to sweeten in a super wholesome way, with their hint of caramel flavour.
Chaga Chocolate Superfood Drink with hemp seeds
A delicious chaga mushroom hot chocolate drink, using other highly nutritious ingredients to create the ultimate drink.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Chaga powder
- 1 tablespoon shelled hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoons cashew nuts
- 2 teaspoons cacao powder
- 2 teaspoons lucuma powder (optional but recommended)
- 1 teaspoon maca powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 3 pitted dates
- 350ml water
Instructions
- Put everything into a blender. A bullet blend is optimal for this if you have one.
- Blend for upto 60 seconds until everything is creamy smooth. This should be enough time to puree the cashews, hemp seeds and dates. Please note: if you do not have a powerful blender then I would recommend soaking the dates, cashews and hemp seeds for atleast an hour ahead of time to soften them.
- Pour your chaga blend into a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Stir frequently during this process to prevent lumps forming as it heats.
- Once it comes to the boil and starts to bubble, your chaga chocolate drink is ready.
- Enjoy!
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