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kojodesigns

how to make cocoa powder (from cacao beans)

March 25, 2015

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how to make cocoa powder from cacao beans

There are all sorts of things that I never really thought I’d make from scratch. Like cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder). Or a daily batch of coconut milk. Or our own coconut flour. And here I am, making all of those things. Oh, Saipan.

how to make cocoa powderI had an inkling that chocolate making was in our future when we stumbled upon cacao pods at the public market. Add in a visit from my parents and a ton of very precise research (aka- hours of watching chocolate making on YouTube) and my back porch was transformed into a small batch chocolaterie. And by chocolaterie, I mostly mean we made cocoa powder and chocolates to eat and share with friends.

Just in case you find a pile of cacao pods and want to make cocoa powder, I took pictures along the way (also because I want to remember how to do this if we attempt it again). Also, you can totally skip the first few steps and use cacao beans- just pick up after the first couple of steps. Let’s make some chocolate, shall we?

how to make cocoa powder from cacao beansFirst, you open all of the cacao pods and remove the cacao beans. Place in a bucket lined with banana leaves and cover. Leave for three days to ferment.

how to make cocoa powder from cacao beansThen, dry the fermented beans in the sun for a few days (are you following this timeline by the way? Yep, we’re a week in at this point).

how to make cocoa powder from cacao beansNext, spread the cacao beans on a cookie sheet and oven roast at 250 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool.

how to make cocoa powder from cacao beansSeparate the cacao nibs from the shells (we tried several different methods- shelling with our fingers, twisting the bean and then shelling, pressing a rolling pin on the beans to crack the shells first- all of those worked).

how to make cocoa powder from cacao beanshow to make cocoa powder from cacao beansGrind the cacao beans. We did a round in the food processor and then small batches in the coffee grinder (we actually ran it through the coffee grinder twice to ensure a find grind).

how to make cocoa powderhow to make cocoa powderCocoa powder (or raw cacao powder, more accurately) = finished! Use this yumminess to mix up a batch of your very own chocolates or  skinny chocolate coconut bites or even homemade hot cocoa (if you don’t live on a tropical island). Seriously, friends- so good. SO much work, but so good!

sweet recipe 43 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alison says

    March 25, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    Awesome! I want to be your friend! What a process. I was super surprised the first time I saw cacao pods. So not what think of when you think of chocolate. So yummy though.

    Reply
    • Alison says

      March 25, 2015 at 7:04 pm

      Oh and now I want to know how to make coconut flour!

      Reply
    • Kirstin says

      March 26, 2015 at 5:46 am

      Cacao pods are totally not what you think of, right??? And yes SO yummy!
      ps- Coconut flour = SO easy (especially if you make a lot of coconut milk since you use the leftover from that!)

      Reply
  2. KimIKo says

    March 26, 2015 at 12:05 am

    I am loving hearing about your culinary adventures so very much! I feel sort of guilty saying that because it sounds like it’s amidst an incredible amount of effort and inconvenience (to say the least). But…amazing, my friend!! And your kiddos: what an amazing shaping experience they are having. Making their own locally-sourced (ha) cocoa powder?! Incredible.

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      March 26, 2015 at 5:50 am

      I love seeing your name on here friend!
      And do you know what’s so funny? We are used to the effort and inconvenience. Isn’t that weird? The first few months were a crazy adjustment for me, and then all of the scratch cooking and substituting and general lack of efficiency just felt like normal life again- hahaha. I liken it to the adjustment that happened when we started the dental school budget- WHOA difficult at the beginning and then just normal. Sucky sometimes, but normal. 😉
      Also, I have been so thankful for this season for Burke and Pi. I keep praying that it soaks right into the core of them, you know?
      We’ll be home next month- can’t wait to see you!!!

      Reply
  3. Peggy says

    March 26, 2015 at 12:04 pm

    oH my goodness gracious, girlie! This is so cool!! and I need to apologize!!! I have been remiss in commenting and e-mails. I think of you often in your adventure and pray for you all during this time. What a blessing for all of you to have this opportunity! Homemade coconut milk, coconut flour, and cocoa powder! Talk about so cool. Here in Indiana we are so spoiled by the “conveniences” that I sometimes miss the “inconveniences” of Alaska. Do you know the odd thing? We actually had more variety in produce there then we do here. weird, huh?! I think it is because we don’t live in Indianapolis and folks just aren’t as keen on trying new things. Take care now!!

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      March 26, 2015 at 9:58 pm

      Peggy, you are too funny! Your prayers mean the world to us- don’t apologize at all!
      And I can totally see missing this way of life- it’s SO different than Denver, and has been so great for us (mostly- haha!). We don’t have much variety in produce- I can only really count on being able to find what is grown on island. But we have all sorts of new favorites, and it’s been really interesting to live in a place where seasonal produce (aka- grown here, this month) is pretty much the only kind you can count on. It’s just so different than being able to find all ingredients at all times. 😉
      Thanks for your sweet comments and especially for your prayers, friend!

      Reply
  4. Ellen says

    March 31, 2015 at 3:58 am

    Is it really raw cocoa when you roast the beans at 250? I thought that made it normal cocoa? Raw cocoa is supposed to be roasted at 40 degrees celsius I believe? However, I’m pretty lost in the subject….

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      March 31, 2015 at 4:57 am

      Haha, Ellen you know way more about it than I do! I should do more research. 😉

      Reply
  5. Pre says

    April 13, 2015 at 3:03 am

    Awesome!How much does it yield? Like 2 cups of beans equals how much powder? Or 1 lb of beans equals how much?…

    Reply
  6. Nat says

    January 25, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    Did you add anything to the cocoa powder when you finished like sugar?

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      January 25, 2016 at 7:27 pm

      Hey Nat, no sugar, we just left it as cocoa. Though, almost every recipe I used it in called for sugar as well. 😉 And if you’re wanting to make hot cocoa, milk and sugar would be necessary for sure! 😉

      Reply
  7. Pamela @ Nutrition to Heal Yourself says

    January 18, 2017 at 4:59 am

    So interesting! Thank you for sharing this. I was researching if I could make my own cacao powder from cacao nibs that I have on hand and stumbled across your lovely blog post. Kudos to you for putting in this effort.

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      January 21, 2017 at 6:51 pm

      Haha, Pamela, it was definitely an adventure. And also something we will probably never attempt again (though, mostly because we are back stateside and the likelihood of ‘stumbling’ upon cacao pods has greatly decreased- hahaha). Good luck in your homemade cacao powder quest!

      Reply
  8. SOULFREE says

    February 6, 2017 at 4:45 am

    It so interesting when I imagine it, but if am to make chocolates where do I get the ingredients to mix with cocoa powder

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      February 10, 2017 at 8:56 am

      Mostly sugar- haha. We also added coconut oil to make the chocolates shown. When I googled ‘make chocolates from cacao’ there were all sorts of recipes that came up. Hope that helps!

      Reply
      • Lori Funkhouser says

        October 28, 2019 at 11:37 pm

        Can you use MCT oil to make cocoa from Nibs?

        Reply
        • Kirstin says

          November 3, 2019 at 1:21 am

          I have no idea! If you try it, let me know?

          Reply
  9. nikhil mote says

    February 8, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    Hey it’s an interesting read. currently have some cacao nibs with me and wish to utilise your process to do so 🙂 wanted to ask whether the coffee grinder makes the powder fine enough to mix it and make hot chocolate ? is it the same as cacao powder(fine grind) we get in the market.

    Looking forward to your reply

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      February 10, 2017 at 8:52 am

      Hmmmm, I don’t have any left to try it, but I think that it might be fine enough to make hot cocoa (with milk and lots of sugar- haha!). It is definitely not as fine grind as packaged cocoa powder, though. I have heard that a vitamix blender can make the powder very fine, but didn’t have one to try that. If you try it (and make hot chocolate), will you report back and let me know how it went???

      Reply
  10. Rey says

    July 10, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    thank u for sharing this technique im from the philippines and we have a lot of cocoa alĺ over the place..and we have no technique how to powder the bean..we just melt it by grinding..so thank very much for this learning experience..

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      July 31, 2017 at 2:17 pm

      Hey Rey- several of the videos we watched on YouTube were in the Philippines- how fun that there are plenty of cacao pods where you live!

      Reply
  11. chitoge says

    January 22, 2019 at 9:13 am

    powder is made from roasted cacao and grind it in coffee grinder? so if you want to drink a chocolate..you just need to put a hot water and thats it? thats amazing!! i have a business of mine making tablea. but i am wondering if i can make the tablea into a powder

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      February 16, 2019 at 7:59 pm

      Hey there! You could totally put the powder in hot water, but it would be quite bitter! To be drinkable you’d probably want to add sugar or sweetener (and maybe milk!). Hope that helps!

      Reply
  12. jyo says

    January 25, 2019 at 9:24 am

    Is 250 C or 250F?

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      February 16, 2019 at 7:55 pm

      250 F. Should’ve clarified! 😉 Will add that to the post

      Reply
  13. SUPRIYA THAKUR says

    April 9, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    Wonderful post. You made it awesome with the pictures!! Thank you.

    Reply
  14. MJ says

    April 19, 2019 at 10:04 pm

    THANKS FOR SHARING !

    Reply
  15. Ritz says

    August 7, 2020 at 1:23 am

    Well explained, I will also try to do at home

    Reply
  16. Emeka says

    March 6, 2021 at 1:06 am

    Thanks for the lesson.
    My question is this, the cocoa beans contain oil which makes the powder to stick together, so how do you remove the oil.

    Or do we leave it that way?

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      November 9, 2021 at 9:45 am

      Hey Emeka- I didn’t remove the oil, just left it in.

      Reply
  17. Kelly Brown says

    June 1, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    Mine turned into a paste instead of a powder. Any tips?

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      November 9, 2021 at 9:38 am

      Hey Kelly! This was AWHILE ago and we only made it once. But I kind of remember it being kind of like paste at one point? The only thing is, I don’t remember at all how we fixed it. Sorry not to be of more help!

      Reply
  18. Mel says

    June 30, 2021 at 8:21 pm

    I have here roasted cacao beans – after fermenting, it is sun-dried then roasted.
    Can I use this to.make raw cacao powder?

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      November 9, 2021 at 9:35 am

      I have no idea, Mel! Sorry not to be of more help!

      Reply
  19. Alfred David Dari says

    October 4, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    So amazing, I want you to teach me how to make it in a more large quantity bravo !

    Reply
  20. Michelle says

    January 3, 2022 at 11:43 am

    Hi! Should they be roasted at 250 degrees Celsius or F? Thanks

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      January 19, 2022 at 10:18 pm

      Hey Michelle- Fahrenheit!

      Reply
  21. Daniel Kolinjim says

    November 3, 2022 at 11:09 pm

    What an experience though, thanks for sharing

    Reply
    • Kirstin says

      November 18, 2022 at 6:20 pm

      ha, true! such an experience!

      Reply

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