Low-Carb White Chocolate Butter Pecan Candies (aka Fat Bombs) are deep and rich-flavored, and show that cacao butter can be used for much more than just sugar-laden white chocolate candy bars.
To be completely honest, I’ve never been a fan of white chocolate. I was always of the mind that it isn’t really chocolate (which is isn’t, as there are no chocolate solids), but rather a cheap substitute that in no way is satisfying the way actual chocolate is.
White chocolate was always way too sweet for me and a little too bland, other than the flavor of straight-up sugar. Even as a kid, I’d prefer to have no dessert at all than resort to eating white chocolate. (Harsh, right?)
But I may have been a bit too hasty and even unfair in my assessment. While it’s true that white chocolate isn’t technically chocolate (rather, it’s a chocolate derivative), cacao butter, which is one of the main components in white chocolate, is delicious in its own right.
Now, of course I’m not talking about the commercially available ultra-sweetened white chocolate bars (which always have been and always will be just plain gross to me!). I mean cacao butter-based treats, like these butter pecan candies and my Red Velvet Freezer Fudge. The fabulous thing about cacao butter is that it smells like deep, rich chocolate; interestingly enough, it has quite a mild flavor though, which makes it a lovely blank canvas.
I have always been a sucker for butter pecan goodies, so that’s the combo I went with here. With cacao butter as the base ingredient, these are incredibly aromatic little candies.
- 3 oz (85 g) cacao butter
- 1 oz (30 g) unsalted butter
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 15 to 20 drops liquid stevia (more or less to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (85 g) pecans (or walnuts), toasted and chopped
- Melt the cacao butter and unsalted butter together; stir in the salt, and then the stevia, vanilla, and pecans.
- Spoon the mixture into 8 silicone muffin wells or 8 small (peanut butter cup-style) candy wrappers.
- Transfer the candy to the fridge to set, about 1 hour, before serving.
- Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge (to prevent the candy from melting) for up to 3 weeks.
kylie harbin
Help ! Can i use cocoa powder ? I cant find cocoa butter anywhere !
faith
Kylie, Cacao butter is the pure, cold-pressed oil from cacao beans (like extra-virgin olive oil from olives). Cacao butter is a creamy white color, and solid at room temperature but melts at body temperature. In the process of separating out the cacao butter, powder is formed. (Cacao butter and powder come from the same plant, but they're two very different ingredients.) If you're having trouble finding cacao butter, you could try this recipe using coconut butter instead (please let me know how it goes if you give it a try!), or cacao butter is available on Amazon.
Margaret
I found cacao butter in the health/vitamin section of our Fresh Thyme store. If you don't have one of these stores where you live, go to whatever store that caters to organic/healthier foods and ask somebody.
Barb
Faith, You can order cacao butter from Amazon or try your health food store. It really gives it a nice taste. It is like a creamy white chocolate treat.
Tonya
New to your site. Do you always list nutritional info? Specifically low carb meals.
faith
Tonya, Yes, I list all nutritional info for all my recipes on this site. Hope you enjoy looking around!
Brittany
I found fair trade, organic 100% cocoa butter from theobroma cocao in the body section of the nugget. Made by inesscents. It wasn't cheap but it's also 16oz of the stuff. It was a hard piece so I used a knife to break it into smaller pieces then I used my food processor.
Amanda
Can I use a powdered sweetener in this?
faith
Amanda, I preferred this recipe with liquid stevia to avoid the gritty factor that granulated sweeteners can sometimes have. That being said, you could try a sweetener that's completely powdered, which should mix in well without a gritty texture. I haven't experimented with this recipe using another product though, so you may want to play around with the amount of powdered sweetener until it reaches the right level of sweetness.
Jana
Hi there! This may be a silly question, but do you need to use a double boiler when melting the cacao butter? I can’t wait to make these!! (and the Red Velvet Fudge!)
faith
Jana, I've also had success melting cacao butter in the microwave. If you go this route, be sure to check it and stir frequently because it scorches somewhat easily. Hope you enjoy!
Ca
Hello,
can you use only cacao butter instead of the butter? I can´t tolerate dairy.
Thank you.
faith
Ca, Yes, you can use cacao butter only, the texture will just be a little different. Another option is coconut oil instead of the butter. Or if you can tolerate ghee, you could use that instead of the butter. I hope you enjoy this recipe if you give it a try!