Coconut Chocolate Spread product reviews

I read between the lines of some of the previous reviews for this and came to the conclusion that this spread is something that I'd probably like and that it would be really worth trying so I managed to track some down at New World this week and was keen to get it home to try.

The reason for trying is that I'm getting more conscious about non-refined sugar products and it's nice to have some relatively healthy treats available should I get cravings for something sweet. I'm a fan of coconut products and am acquiring the taste for dark chocolate. I decided that the price was not exorbitant for what it was, and happily paid the price.

Upon opening the jar I discovered the coconut oil had settled a bit on top so I stirred it in as best I could. Perhaps in hindsight I wouldn't have bothered - coconut oil is pretty nice on it's own anyway. I bought this purely for taking spoonfuls in the evening as a way to satisfy sweet cravings, so am reviewing it on this basis. My first spoonful was a surprise - I expected something more to the taste of dark chocolate and I didn't get this at all, and it was an unusual taste which is hard to describe. I liked it, but wasn't sure I really loved it, but on finding myself going back for another and another spoonful, that question was soon answered. I was definitely acquiring the taste!

It says to keep the jar in the fridge but after a couple of days of this, I've decided I probably wouldn't bother in these colder months especially if I knew I was going to get through the jar reasonably quickly. It goes really hard in the fridge and my teaspoons keep bending! I was going to try and freeze some nuggets of it, but a previous review mentioned it doesn't freeze hard anyway and so I felt I wouldn't get much more effect than I'd get eating it from the fridge.

I wasn't sure if my husband would like this but I was keen to give him a go with it as he likes to have the odd spoonful of Nutella in the evenings so I thought this might be a better alternative. It turns out he's not so keen on it, but like me he figures he could acquire the taste if he wanted to have something healthier. But as he's happy with the Nutella he is planning to steer clear if this product for now. But that's OK as it suits me down to the ground and I'll get through the jar and buy more of it... so on that basis, this gets a big thumbs up from me!

Well where to start with this little 250 gram jar of heaven! I firstly have to declare my position on Matakana Superfoods. I am a huge fan. It is expensive but it is quality and it is goodness. I have a little tribe that can't eat gluten and with that change in our lives came my wish to feed my children not just gluten free food but food that was full of goodness and built up their little bodies. Matakana Superfoods is a dependable product that I know will be gluten free and that I can trust for good quality. I love their slogan 'health... not merely the absence of disease".

This Coconut Chocolate spread contains only the best organic cacao beans, coconut nectar and coconut milk. Three ingredients! You just know that this has got to be good for you. It is recommended that this is kept in the fridge and used within six weeks of opening. In my house this had no chance of lasting six weeks. The flavour is very rich but in a Moorish way and I find myself sneaking teaspoons from the jar after dinner as they immediately satisfy my chocolate cravings. I also used this in chocolate moulds in the freezer. it doesn't freeze solid but is firm enough to make a very yummy pop in your mouth treat.

The kids didn't get a chance to eta those but my Miss Nine has taken to sneaking teaspoons from the jar (no double dipping allowed) and we have used this as a delicious spread on pancakes with cream and as a healthy topping on a chocolate cake. This has also given a lovely rich taste to my bliss balls and has been a great texture for helping to firm them together.

At $12 a jar this isn't something I would normally buy but to be honest this jar seems to have lasted for ages given how much we have used it and how often I have a teaspoon. I think because this is such good quality a little goes a long way and I don't feel that I need a lot of this at once either in my baking or on my spoon so it actually works out to be really good value for money. Because I have been having this at night I also haven't been eating chocolate so cost wise it has probably evened out. If you are a chocolate spread fan and don't want the guilt this is your perfect choice of product. I will definitely buy this again and can definitely recommend it.

I have a house full of boys who would live off Nutella if I let them, so when I came across this chocolate spread to review it sounded like a much needed product to replace the treat jar of Nutella in our household. My two boys joined me on a Sunday morning to open the jar and try it out on toast.

Upon opening the jar there was a solid layer of coconut oil on top, the boys made a few ewww noises but soon stopped after I explained what it was. While the toast was cooking we had a bit of a taste test, it was very rich and tasted quite a lot like dates and bitter chocolate, both these items feature in my home baking so the boys were not put off at all. It spread nicely onto the toast and the toast was eaten without any complaints.

I asked my two boys if they liked it and would have it again? Both said yes, as it wasn't as sweet as Nutella. I would be very happy to buy this for my family again and would be happy with the price as you are paying for quality ingredients and something still a treat but a bit better for you than the other stuff.

I love Nutella but I do not love the large amount of sugar that is in it so it's not something that we eat. I was really excited to try this product as an alternative and I love that it contains only a few simple ingredients.

Upon opening the jar I noticed that it had separated a little and there was a thin layer of fat on top. This didn't bother me at all as its not unusual for these types of ingredients. I couldn't wait to get stuck in so I grabbed a spoon and had a wee taste straight from the jar. My first thought was that the flavour was quite unusual but not in a bad way. It was rich and slightly bitter which I like but I wasn't sure what my son would think of it as he doesn't like dark chocolate or coconut which is what this spread is made from.

We first tried it on some toasted banana bread which I thought was really delish but my son wasn't too keen so I suggested that he try it for breakfast on toast and you know what?! He loved it! I also enjoyed it for breakfast but in a different way - chocolate sauce! I melted a couple of spoons in a small saucepan added a dash of vanilla and thinned it with a bit of milk (use almond or coconut milk if you're dairy intolerant) until I had the right consistency. It was heaven poured over my homemade spelt waffles.

The only slight downside to this product would be that the jar says to store it in the fridge after opening which makes it solidify a bit. It's not a huge problem if you're spreading it on something hot as it melts quite quickly but it might make it difficult if you wanted to have it in a sandwich.

Even though it is allergy friendly and free from refined sugar I still consider it a treat food only. The price is on par with other similar products and you're paying for quality ingredients and the health of you and your family. I will definitely be adding this product to my shopping list as an occasional treat.

When I heard Matakana Superfoods had a Coconut Chocolate Spread and KIWIreviews had it available for reviewing I was keen to try it. My daughter has a child in her class with life threatening nut allergies so the children aren't allowed nuts at school. This means my daughter can't have her favourite spread Nutella for lunch on school days. I am also concerned at the amount of sugar and other additives in Nutella so was keen to try a natural alternative. The Matakana Superfoods product contains just two ingredients, cacao beans and coconut.

When I first opened the jar there was a liquid layer of coconut oil on top. This mixed in very easily to give a smooth paste. This was easily spread on toast. I gave this to my girls (6 and 7.5 years old) to try and they both refused to eat more than one bite. I think they were expecting a very sweet spread and weren't used to the bitterness of real dark chocolate.

After their reaction I was hesitant to try it myself and left the jar on the bench for a few days. It then dawned on me that as a natural product it should be stored in the fridge (which it did say on the label) so I moved it to the fridge. The next day I was searching through the fridge for ingredients for my breakfast smoothie and decided I would give the new spread a try. This time when I opened the lid there was a solid white layer of coconut oil and underneath was the toffee like spread. I gave up on using the plastic spoon to get it out as it was threatening to break and swapped it for a metal one.

I added a couple of heaped teaspoons to my smoothie mix. I licked what was left on the spoon and loved the taste. In the smoothie the spread had not mixed fully with the other ingredients so I got chewy bits as I was drinking it, making it a lovely treat. It also made the healthy smoothie a lot more appealing colour and a lovely chocolate coconut taste. I have continued to add the spread to my daily smoothies and have a had hard time convincing myself the something that tastes so nice is still quite healthy.

I have also found that the spread is very nice straight from the jar to cure the late night munchies. I won't be buying this for my children as they have too much of a sweet tooth but for dark chocolate lovers this is a healthy alternative both as a spread and a treat. I am thinking the jar will be finished off with heating it in the microwave and adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

When I got this Matakana Chocolate Coconut spread I was eager to open it up and sniff! Bear in mind the only other thing I had to compare to was the standard Hazelnut spread so when the label said cocao and coconut oil I wasn't really sure quite what to expect. The top of the spread was covered in a layer of solid coconut oil so I could not smell a thing, so I stuck a knife in and scraped the layer back and I was then able to smell the spread, and it was really lovely! The aroma was so chocolatey and coconutty, I just had to lick the knife, it was sticky, rich and really quite different from anything I had ever tasted before. This got my mind thinking, "how am I going to use this?".

After a few days thought, I decided to check out the Matakana superfoods website which had a lot of recipes on it, mainly promoting the use and health benefits of all things coconut; oil, nectar, butter and even sugar! After I had a good look through I failed to find any recipes that used their chocolate spread, so I really had to get my thinking cap on. About a week earlier a friend at work bought in some home made bliss balls, so I thought this spread would be perfect for making bliss balls. I got together ground almonds, ground peanuts, medjool dates, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and about half jar of the spread. I whizzed them all up and once I was happy with the consistency I rolled into balls and coated them in coconut. My family were all eager to taste and I am happy to report, they were a hit! So moreish that it was hard to stop at one.

The label also said that the spread should be refrigerated after opening, and after doing this it was virtually impossible to put the knife into the spread, let alone spread it on something like bread. I'm not sure that I would use the spread on bagels or toast like the label suggested, but I will definitely make the bliss balls again, trying out other ingredients to mix with the spread. I would recommend this spread to discerning buyers who appreciate high quality ingredients that this certainly does offer.

My daughter has always had a hazelnut spread for her lunch. Her school recently had to go nut-free (they previously discouraged nuts but now they have a severely allergic child there). My daughter was quite distraught at the announcement and has been having trouble trusting anything in her lunchbox to be safe since. So we have had several talks and have been working with the school to find a suitable alternative.

I had already bought another nut free alternative for her and she had turned her nose up at it. She said that the cocoa flavour was too bitter for her. So while I was not feeling terribly confident about her with this spread, I figured it would get eaten anyway. My youngest daughter is pretty open minded with sweet things, so I was more confident that she would eat it.

I sat them down to a sandwich each. It had a light spread of this on it. My youngest took a bite and promptly spat her mouthful out. This is totally unusual for her. We have a no-spitting rule with food. You bite it, you swallow it. But she couldn't handle the taste at all. Her older sister was obviously put off by that and didn't want to try her sandwich. So I put a bit of the spread on a spoon and gave it to her. She said it tasted like bitter cocoa and coconut which confused her. When I explained the ingredients to her, she understood what she was tasting, though she wasn't a fan.

For me though, I actually really liked it. I have eaten it on hot toast, and in sandwiches. The best was on hot cross buns! All that fruit and the spread, was a delicious combo. However, I have eaten my way through the jar, largely with a spoon in my hand. It is just so darn tasty. I was trying to put my finger on it earlier today and it came to me. It tastes a lot like malt. My dad was a home brewer and I remember days of "helping" out with the pouring of the malt. The tin was a great treat for me and him to share afterwards. So this spread tastes just like that.

I think this spread will be great for adults who are looking for something yummy to try on their toast or as a treat alternative to eating all their children's Easter eggs. However, for my kids, it just didn't work. The price seems quite hefty, but you get quality ingredients for your money. Most coconut products are in a similar range. I have marked the taste high, as to me it was delicious even if my kids didn't rate it.