Popcorn Chocolate Chunk Cookies made with Tony’s Chocolonely fair trade, slave-free chocolate. I think that justifies eating at least 3 of these in one sitting. Ok. I lied. I ate four. #cookiemonster

And the best part is that we’re giving away a Chocolate sampler pack to 1 lucky winner! Enter below!

So who is Tony? What is slave-free chocolate? We’ll let’s start with my visit to Amsterdam where Tony’s is headquartered.

It all began with a stop at the grocery store. Every time I travel I make a point to grocery shop. Seems strange, right?

Well, I’m not really shopping for necessities. I’m shopping for interesting local fare. So it was in Amsterdam that I stumbled upon Tony’s Chocolonely.

Tony’s wasn’t hard to miss. The bars have brightly colored labels and are pretty massive – a small child might have a hard time carrying one around. You need a big outstretched hand to get your fingers around these heavy bars of gold – really there’s gold inside! Well in wrapper form which still makes it exciting.

After a little online research into the company, I was impressed with their mission to deliver 100% slave free chocolate. The company slogan is “Crazy About Chocolate, Serious About People.”

Did you know that many cocoa plantations use child labor? or worse yet child slavery?

When a child should be receiving an education, they are instead working alongside their parents in order to scrape by or are taken from their families and forced into modern day slavery situations. Low wages and a global demand for cheap chocolate creates a system that encourages both of these practices.

Here are the numbers from Tony’s website:

• Approximately 2.5 million people work on cocoa plantations in Ghana and Ivory Coast
• The majority of these people—1.8 million—are children (some working legally)
• 460,000 of them are modern-day slaves – meaning forced, unpaid workers – including 15,000-30,000 children

Tony’s Chocolonely IS working on change in the chocolate industry. Not only do they produce fair trade chocolate – paying a living wage direct to farmers – they are pushing for systematic change in the entire industry. Bravo Team Tony! Read more about their mission here.

As a pioneer in the fair trade, slave free chocolate industry, Tony’s began with a single person – a Dutch investigative reporter – Teun van de Keuken—aka Tony. In 2003, he went to great lengths to prosecute himself as a consumer of chocolate produced through child slavery and thus indirectly a supporter of criminal acts. Eventually the Dutch courts chose not to convict him, but Tony’s story is wild and inspiring.

Check out the progression of Tony’s Chocolonely here. You’ll see they continue to push the envelope through their foundation and continued research into best practices within the fair trade movement.

Back to the cookies.

I bought Tony’s Discodip Milk Chocolate bar not really knowing what was in it. The name sounded like a great time. Turns out it is their 2015 limited edition milk chocolate popcorn bar and I’m a super big fan. Since it’s not currently being sold on the U.S. webshop, I’m combining their regular milk chocolate with my own sea salt popcorn and voila – Tony’s Popcorn (aka Discodip) Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

Enter to win a Chocolate Sampler Pack below!

sidenote | Tony’s Chocolonely has opened a US headquarters in Portland, OR! Lucky Portlanders!

Tony's Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Print

Prep time

24 hours

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

24 hours 15 mins

Author: Oat&Sesame

Serves: 32 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups cake flour
• 1â…” cups bread flour
• 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons Rodelle vanilla extract
• 1 bar, 6 oz, Tony's Chocolonely Milk Chocolate Bar, cut into chunks
• 4 cups (popped) sea salt popcorn

Instructions

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients. Mixing until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chunks and popcorn.
5. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Try not to eat the batter from the refrigerator while you wait.
6. BAKE TIME! Remove dough from fridge and let sit for 15 minutes so it's easier to scoop.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
8. Scoop/roll into 1.5" - 2" golf ball sized balls and place onto baking sheet.
9. Bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes.
10. Call some friends. Share. Talk about slave free chocolate. High five.

Notes

Adapted from my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe at NYTimes.com

3.5.3208

As it says on Tony’s website: Create Awareness. Lead by Example. Inspire to Act. So do your part by sharing this story via Twitter and/or Facebook. And along the way, don’t forget to enter the contest to win some chocolate below.

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DISCLAIMER | I chose to highlight Tony’s Chocolonely for my Source{d) section on OatandSesame.com by my own volition. I was not compensated in any way for my opinions – although I did receive free chocolate for myself and for the giveaway above. All opinions are my own and all facts and figures are directly from Tony’s Chocolonely’s website and have not been independently verified by OatandSesame.com.

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