Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans

Coffee and Chocolate. Talk about the perfect pair! What is it about the smooth sweetness of chocolate that goes with the dark crunch of a coffee bean? I don’t know. I only know that it’s absolutely delicious and useful, too. Chocolate covered coffee beans not only make a great snack, but they also make a fantastic garnish for cakes and cupcakes. That’s why we’re making them.

Before we get to that, though, let’s talk about ingredients. 

First, coffee. There are mainly four types of coffee beans, but most of the beans you’ll want to buy whole are Arabica. Arabica beans are grown mostly at high altitudes where there’s plenty of rain, typically in tropical regions and at high elevations, from Africa to Latin America to Indonesia to Brazil. When you choose a bean, you want to choose a region that grows a bean you like. Some are fruity, some spicy, some kind of sweet. And then there’s the roasting. After picking and drying, coffee gets shipped to all kinds of places to be roasted. In fact, chances are there’s a custom roaster near you, but in general, the darker a bean is roasted, the more developed and strong is its flavor (until it’s burned, of course). 
​

​​Our beans today come from Urban Dwellers Coffee, a shop located in Seattle who sources their beans from Mexico, South America, China, and Sumatra, then roasts them here in the United States. We like Urban Dwellers not only because their coffees are terrific, but because they’re giving back to the communities where their coffees are grown. And y’all know that our Heavenly Cakes are all about giving back!

Now, on to the chocolate. There are four basic types: white, milk, dark, and bittersweet, and they all have their uses. We’ve used a lot of white chocolate in the Charli Ann kitchen, and with good reason. It’s not pure chocolate because, well, because chocolate isn’t white (yes, yes, we know), but it’s still considered chocolate when it contains cocoa butter, which the good brands do. Milk chocolate has both cocoa butter and cocoa solids and is light brown because it also has milk in it.  Dark chocolate doesn’t. It’s firmer than milk chocolate and, depending on the percentage of cocoa, has more intense chocolate flavor. That’s why dark chocolate is great for baking and why we’re using it today. Bittersweet, or extra-dark chocolate, has at least 66% cacao. A lot of people think bittersweet chocolate isn’t sweet enough for eating, but when you need a chocolatey flavor in baking, well, it’s perfect.

No matter what kinds of chocolate you use, it’s important to buy a good brand for melting and baking. You want something with a good percentage of chocolate solids and few additives. Some additives are helpful, like lecithin, which helps chocolate hold its shape but, especially with white chocolate, be sure you’re using the real thing. If you don’t, your melting experience might end up with a grainy concrete mess rather than a smooth, sweet stream. Believe me, ingredients matter. 

Ok, now here we go:
​​

​Recipe

Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
​

1-½ c whole coffee beans
1 bag 10-12 oz. chocolate chips

First, melt the chocolate. Like always, the video shows melting it in a heat proof bowl above a simmering pot of water, which is always the safest. That way, the chocolate will melt smoothly and won’t burn. 
​

Then, off the heat, remove the bowl from the pan and pour your coffee beans into the bowl. Stir to coat. Add only enough beans to coat them all generously. Now, drop the beans one by one onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the chocolate dry and you’re done! ​

Now, close your eyes and pop one in your mouth, (or somebody else’s if you know them well enough and love them enough to share)! I’m going to use mine for my Tiramisu Cake. Oh boy!
​