Taking Guilt Away From Eating Chocolate- (Mentions Virgin Coconut Oil ....see bold text)

If you love chocolate, KXAN has a story for you. Right before Valentine's Day, KXAN's Kate Weidaw was in Whole Foods, and there were samples of this chocolate called Innocent Chocolate.

It was unlike anything Weidaw had ever tasted before. Since she is a self-proclaimed chocoholic, when she noticed this new product, she just had to check it out.

Inside the Hill Country health food store in Marble Falls, something delicious is being made.

"It took about a year and a half to really come up with the final recipe," said Innocent Chocolate President Elaine McDaniel.

McDaniel came up with the recipe that takes the guilt out of eating chocolate. That's why it's called Innocent Chocolate. And it's unlike anything on the market.

"And what we decided to do is take the cocoa powder, which is separated from the cocoa butter, and add the rich coconut oil to it and some other 100-percent organic, healthy ingredients," said Innocent Chocolate Vice President Rosita Alvarez.

And like most unique inventions, this was born out of necessity, or in McDaniel's case, a health crisis with her thyroid.

"And in her research, she discovered that virgin coconut oil was rich in lauric acid, which supports the thyroid function. Well, she needed to eat a lot of it, so she turned it into chocolate," said Alvarez.

To keep it all natural, agave nectar replaces sugar.

"Well, agave is a low-glycemic sweetener, so people that have blood sugar issues can generally enjoy it," said McDaniel.

But in order for this chocolate concoction to go from kettle to bar, it has to be placed into molds and frozen.

"And we found that the frozen texture that melts just like a ganache truffle center was so appealing and so delicious, we kept with it frozen, and we've created a whole new frozen novelty," said Alvarez.

This two-woman business with some part-time help does it all.

Thanks to word of mouth, the small-country store product can now be found in 27 stores in Central Texas, including Whole Foods on Sixth Street.

"Together, we created $13,000 in retail sales in the first three weeks in the store, which is pretty unheard of for a new product or a local product," said Alvarez.

If you still feel guilty about eating chocolate after seeing this, think of it this way.

"It's really a food item. It's just a pleasant food item," said McDaniel.