If there is one thing you can learn about me from flicking through my recipes, or scrolling through my social media pages, it’s that I am a serious chocoholic. I can’t remember the last time I went a whole day without even a single square of chocolate being consumed! It’s makes the best evening treat after a busy day at work. Ombar chocolate has to be by far my favourite brand at the moment, one of their 35g bars always manages to sneak its way into my basket whenever I visit my local health food store.
When I was diagnosed with IBS and to eliminate dairy from my diet (it’s one of the worst triggers for me) it got to a point where I didn’t think creamy dairy-free chocolate existed unless I made it myself. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many delicious vegan chocolate brands out there but the majority seem to focus on dark chocolate rather than creamy ‘milk’ chocolate. Ombar completely changed this for me as their chocolate bars use creamed coconut for an indulgent, melt-in-the-mouth texture. So how could I say no to the chance to review a few of their bars!
All of the Ombar chocolate bars and buttons are organic, vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, raw and made with high quality ingredients. They are sweetened with coconut sugar so aren’t low FODMAP but my digestive system is fine with coconut sugar so I still include it in my diet. I was sent the 60% coconut, strawberry mylk, mandarin, coconut & vanilla centre and the 72% cacao buttons to try and trust me they did not last long!
I am already obsessed with Ombar centre chocolate bars so was excited to open the coconut & vanilla centre bar, with ingredients include vanilla powder and coconut oil. It’s so rich and perfectly sweet, that you could probably fool any milk chocolate lover into believing it’s packed with dairy. I’m not a big fan of oranges but, when it comes to chocolate, it’s somehow my favourite flavour! Ombar mandarin bar did not disappoint, it’s got a darker cacao taste than some of their other flavours which matches perfectly with the tang of the mandarin oil and powder. It melts so well over a bowl of chocolate protein oats for a Sunday morning treat! I have to say I was slightly sceptical of the strawberry mylk flavour as I don’t often like berry flavoured things but I took it to work with me this week and managed to wolf it down in about 3 seconds and don’t have anything bad to say about it at all. There are little flecks of strawberry powder in each piece and it also contains live cultures which is perfect for someone with digestive disorders, like myself. I used the 60% bar and the 72% buttons to make chocolate chip cookies and they melted so well, I love the subtle coconut aftertaste provided by the rich creamed coconut used in each bar.
Trust me you won’t regret treating yourself to a bar or 6 of this delicious, indulgent dairy-free chocolate! There are so many different flavours and cacao percentages that I promise you there is at least one bar that will become your new addiction. Visit the Ombar website for more information on flavours and stockists.