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Linden trees have edible seed pods that taste like chocolate, when prepared correctly.
It’s my dream someday to live an entire summer on foraged food, and in many cases, that will mean giving up some of my favorite treats and comfort foods. While there are many foraged coffee substitutes, none of them contain caffeine. That’s going to be a hard adjustment for me personally.
Chocolate, on the other hand, is supposed to be relatively easy to make from green seed pods of the linden tree. Once they’re fully ripe, they become hard and bitter, and are more commonly roasted and used as a coffee substitute.
In the summer months, when they’re still young and green, they’re supposed to smell like chocolate, and if well blended and lightly sweetened, all the sources I can find say they’re the best chocolate substitute available. Or so they say…
I’m obviously not the first person to be interested in a local chocolate substitute for those of us living in temperate climates.
Historically, there is an account in Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America that talks about Fredrick the Great (in 1658) hiring chemists to try to mass-produce linden chocolate to corner the market on a local chocolate substitute. Over and over they found the taste to be excellent, but couldn’t find a way to make it keep. The compounds that flavor linden chocolate are volatile, and degrade after 24 hours once the linen seeds are ground.
Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America doesn’t cite their sources, and I haven’t found any other source to back up the claim that it was a historically important potential chocolate substitute.
While the internet repeats that linden chocolate is delicious, every single article sites the same book. I can’t find anyone that’s actually tried to make it. When the internet makes claims, and every single one sites the same source without actually trying it, I become skeptical.
Every recipe I’ve found has you take 5 parts green linden seeds, 1 part dried linden flowers, and a small amount of neutral oil (such as grapeseed) and thoroughly pulverize it all in a food processor. The linden flowers are only available fresh early in the season, so you’ll need to plan ahead and save some, or buy them in bulk online.
I tried this method, and it completely failed.
Years after my failed attempt, several online foraging channels have since posted the secret to getting it right…
Roasting the seeds.
None of them say exactly how long, but they suggest 350 degrees “until fragrant.”
Looking at the videos, they’ve also browned slightly and gotten nice and crunchy.
Once browned and crunchy, they process quickly in a coffee grinder or food processor. (My attempts at the green seeds completely failed in both, as did pounding in a mortar and pestle.)
Other sources say fermenting the seeds, and then roasting them, like you do when you make cacao bean chocolate, is the right process. (Though I’ve never seen anyone try this method, so if you do, please let me know.)
Anyhow, the correct process is:
- Roast in a 350 degree oven until fragrant and slightly browned
- Cool completely
- Grind into a powder in a food processor or coffee grinder
- Add sugar to taste, and then a dash of neutral oil to bring the mixture together
- Enjoy
After failing to find pods with unroasted green Linden seeds, I haven’t been able to find pods for a few years, but now that I know the process, I can’t wait to find some and try again.
Oh, and I also recently received a comment from Tom in Europe via Email, and he suggests using fully ripe, rather than green beans:
“To make a decent Linden chocolate, you only have to pick mature fruits. I know all the books are saying to pick the green ones, but that’s a mistake. The unripe seeds inside green fruits taste horrible, while the taste of ripe seeds is quite nice, a little bit like fresh hazelnut, in my opinion. Right moment to harvest is around mid-september in the part of Europe i live in. You should then open the hard shell to get the seeds – only the seeds are used here! – and roast them until they get a coffee-like aroma. The final step is to mix them in a food processor as you would do for seed butter (linden seeds have a high-fat content). It’s definitely a time-consuming activity, but I’m pretty sure you could get good results with American linden trees, too.”
That’s a different approach than the foragers are using on social media, and I’m hoping to try both this year.
Have you tried making linden chocolate? Did it work? Leave me a note in the comments.
I have successfully made Linden chocolate from American Linden the last 2 years. Happy to share a photo of the final product. I use a chocolate refiner to get a smoother product and have found some trees taste more like chocolate and some more like coffee. Roasted green seeds is the key.
That’s great. Thanks so much for sharing. Unfortunately I don’t believe there is a way for you to add photos here.
I live in Colorado, and eat our linden fruits right off the tree, stems, shells, and all, green or ripe. They taste nutty and pleasant. I also eat the young leaves and occasionally the flowers. I’m relatively sure that it is T. Americana, but it is a volunteer, and could be a hybrid.
I’ve tried it by roasting the fully grown but still green seeds in the oven till they were brown, then grinding and sifting them. Quite some work this grinding, but doable. I’ve mixed the fine powder with powdered sugar and butter, and it actually makes a pretty nice paste. More like mocca than purely chocolate, but really nice. The sugar is really nessecary, but let’s be honest, it’s an important ingredient in real chocolate too.
I’ve tried to make coffee out of the remaining grind that I couln’t get through the sif (I just poored boiled water on it and let it sit for a while) and that too turned out quite well. Like a coffee cocoa mix drink. Also recommend to add sugar there, but then I’m not much of a coffee drinker.
Greetings from the Netherlands, Marjolein
That sounds pretty yummy. Thanks for sharing.
I make Lyme tree berry chocolate every year and trust me it definitely tastes like chocolate 😊💕❌❌
I eat the seeds (nuts) directly off our linden, both green and fully ripe, husks and all. Don’t even bother to remove the stems – neither those nor the husks are hard to chew, and the flavor is mildly nutty. I can’t say that they taste anything like chocolate, but they are pleasant enough for a quick nibble. I haven’t bothered to collect them in quantity. My tree has plenty of flowers low to the ground. I tried keying it out, but am still not sure of the species. I suspect European. They are common yard trees in the Denver area.
The Black Forager on Facebook did this. First I’d heard of the tree. She blended them on camera and said they were delicious.
Um… you didn’t roast them?! 👀
Hiii I tried yesterday with just a handful, still green fruits from european small leafed linden tree, after I saw @theblackforager ‘s post: picked, roasted for 40 mins (it already had a distinct, mild caffe/nutty/cinnamony fragrance) then grinded. I don’t have a good grinder to make it pulvery so it was quite rough, only a small part got powdery, then added a bit too much sugar and some oil to it then milk substitute: well, it DOES have a reeeally nice nutty/chocolaty taste! I really like it, and I can just imagine if it’s properly grinded it would be perfect for hot drinks! Now reading this article I am devastated that it can’t be stored long 😂 but isn’t it how with coffee was as well 👀 (and still, ‘real’ coffee drinkers will buy the beans then roast/grind themselves) So I’m thinking of foraging, roasting then storing whole in airthight container until use 🤔 also can’t wait to try the ripe ones as someone above wrote it’s not the green but the brown that has it 🤩
You gotta roast them in the oven for 40 min at 350 F then grind them to a dust after that then sift, add a neutral oil and sugar to taste until it is a almost paste like texture and then you’ll get that chocolate like flavor with light notes of coffee!
I just saw this TIkTok today about linden chocolate. She recommends roasting them first. It doesn’t even look possible — her ground up linden powder 100% resembles coco powder. I am eager to try and see if I get the same results.
This is a pretty lazy effort. Chocolate is both fermented and roasted. Not sure why you’d think just eating green seeds would produce a similar product.
Hi From the UK , I was really inspired by everyones comments and your work. I have to report sucess 🙂 in making a very lovely but fiberous chocolate substitute that tasted to my mind as good as chocolate ! I bought £14 worth of Linden seeds from ebay as I was to impatient to wait for steptember, they were sold for planting . They are very hard . I have eaten cocoa pod in Ghana and nibbled the tough purple seed chocolate comes from , it does not taste too bad to me , but not good either .
I soaked the Large leaved linden seeds for about 30 mins in water with a tiny bit of bread yeast and sugar (I don’t know if that did anything ) they softened very slightly , enough to crack in a mortar and pestle. Then I blended a few and nearly broke the blender, after that I sifted out the powder from the mostly unbroken seeds , I roasted for about 10 mins at 200 c , it smelled a little chocolatey , then I added ground almond sugar and a lot ! of vanilla and a little almond milk , magic happened !!!! Chocolate happened !
I did some more after leaving another half an hour and then after 2 hours or so , each time hardly any linden seeds “powdered” , but eventually I got through most , I found 10 mins roasting is important , less and there is no chocolate smell or taste and more there if a different not chocolate taste . I don’t know if it was sensible to use that pinch of yeast, it was so little it was probably killed by the heat even with so short a time .
Anyway thanks to you all I made very fibreous (and expensive ) vegan chocolate , and I tried almond and hazel as the nut , both work , so I will now be able to gather these myself and have ethical low fat vegan chocolate every autumn ! 🙂 It really does have a flavour as good as any nut milk based vegan chocolate just more fibreous.
I just wanted to share , it does work! 🙂
That’s great! Thank you so much for sharing.
Just out of curiosity, how is commercial chocolate not vegan, if it’s not milk chocolate? I know most corporations exploit their workers, but you can get fair trade chocolate. Shipping is problematic, too, but that’s another issue.
Hey! I’ve heard stories of linden paste from my elders (miqmaw from easter Canada) and there’s definitely missing steps in the recipe. The astringency depends on the health source ecosystem, the types of plants growing in connection to the linden roots, and the tree genetics. If your tree has very astringent berries you might need to boil them in 1 or 2 changes of water, then let them dry, then, no matter what quality of tree, you need t roast them before pulverizing with sweetener
Roast the raw new growth seeds then grind them into a pulp. Sift them so it’s fine. Then add in some of the flowers, sugar and oil.
A tiktoker tried the recipe. She took the green seeds roasted and ground them and dried flowers in a mortar and pestle. Sifted the grind added sugar and oil and said it was delicious!
The tiktoker @thebotanican may have just found the missing link.
I just saw someone on TikTok roast them, ground them and sifted the powder then mixed with sugar and a neutral oil
Check out the video
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRGJWLFC/
I know the answer to this one! You have to roast the seeds first, before you pulverize them, just like you do with cacao seeds (which are equally inedible straight from the tree). I also recommend sifting the powder before using it in any baking etc, just to get out any large (and potentially sharp!) chunks.
Hi ! My English is not that great but i thought i should have a try ! For making a decent linden chocolate you have to pick mature fruits only. I know all the books are saying to pick the green ones but that’s a mistake. The unripe seeds inside green fruits taste horrible, while the taste of ripe seeds is quite nice, a little bit like fresh hazelnut in my opinion. Right moment to harvest is around mid-september in the part of Europe i live in. You should then crack the hard shell open to get the seeds – only the seeds are used here ! – and roast them until they get a coffee-like aroma. Final step is to mix them in a food processor like you would do for a seed butter (linden seeds have a high fat content). It’s definitely a time consuming activity but i’m pretty sure you could get good results with american linden trees too.
Wow, that’s so interesting. I may have to try your instructions this season. Thank you, Tom!
I did it too in the Netherlands, harvest ripe seeds, roast, grind them in a food processor, sieve the shells out and blend again with (nut/coconut)butter and a bit of sugar. I think it tastes more like popcorn then chocolate though, but it could be a fun addition to baked goods and other sweet stuff!
I took a chocolate making class in Belize. The chocolate fruit is delicious, but the seeds were horrible… Because the seeds were fresh. The seeds have to ferment while the fruit rots. Then the seeds are washed after fermentation and then roasted. That’s when it finally tastes like chocolate. I’m wondering if, like some of the commenters mentioned, the seeds need to ferment and then roasted as the chocolate beans had to. By the way, I bought some chocolate beans to bring home and no amount of mortar and pestle it food processing made it taste creamy and delicious. In Belize, we used a flat mortar and a sort of scraper made from lava rock. The pits and crannies in the rock made enough friction to heat and temper the beans, which is how it made the chocolate delicious and buttery.
Hi! Just have eaten the early fruits of the linden. They taste fine. They are still soft now ( it is July 10 ) , After chewing they are a little bit slimy, but still fine. I ‘d love to know what exactly is in the fruits> vitamines, minerals and so on ? When you know something about the composition that should be great. Greetz from Holland ~ Sophia
I think in the ones you have in Europe are quite different from the ones we have here. As to nutrition, I don’t know and I have no idea if anyone’s ever analyzed them. It’s good to know the ones in Holland taste good though, a far cry from ours here in the Northeastern US.
Great Article! I’m glad you tried it, I was hoping for a better outcome though, I got quite excited to be honest! I will have to try some of ones here in the UK.
Great experiment! Just browsing the web, found something related, wanted to come back and make a connection. According to this site, for a different species, bay nuts: “Before roasting, or if not roasted properly, the nut is extremely bitter and astringent, similar to acorns and olives before they are cured. You will NOT want to eat the nut before roasting.
They say that the roasting cures it into a chocolate-coffee-like flavor; I wonder if some aspect of the chemistry of roasting degrades some bitter thing into some floral thing?
Hi! The seeds are Nos ready here in Switzerland. First, it smells nothing like chocolate. None of the two kind of linden seeds smells. But it was easy to bite in the fresh ones. I try to roast some, but it doesn’t help. No taste, no smells. So, no luck on my Side!
Thank you so much for checking! I’m glad it’s not just ours. Sometimes foraging information is just copied from one book to the next, without anyone ever trying it…
I’ve found an additional account of successful Linden Chocolate, which confirms that roasting (and sifting after grinding) is necessary. Without any sugar it tastes the same as baking cocoa powder, and acts much like it, so milling it with oil and sugar will produce a chocolate paste more like what is typically expected. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qBYT9xEEYUk&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE I will give it a try this summer.
Just bit into some linden berries since no flowers yet. no chocolate flavor, though seems a bit fresh almost grassy but not quite and yes that astringency does come through at the back of my throat. Quite interesting. I intend to get more when flowering and then try again also in the fall and compare all. There is a big leaf and smaller leaf nearby- will check both. Today was berry from big leaf.
Chocolate, coffee and tea go through a roasting and fermentation stage. Have you tried roasting them before your mentioned process? Just curious.
A good point…The directions for making linden seed coffee that I found involve roasting them. Given how rock hard they are, they’ll need something before they could be ground successfully.
For chocolate though, I was amazed at how little flavor they had. I can’t imagine anything making them taste like chocolate. Sure, fermenting might make them easier to grind, but I can’t imagine it giving them the floral taste notes that all the books describe.
Raw, unroasted cacao seeds taste nothing like chocolate you find in the candy aisle. Chocolate itself comes from the seeds of a medium sized fruit. And if you did not know how to process cacao seeds in order to make it a smooth, velvety chocolate, then you would also find them unpleasant I am sure. So try to learn about the process of roasting the linden.
I wonder if there is a vital step that never got passed on. Like maybe you have to ferment the seeds, or soak them in some kind of liquid or oil for a while before they can be mashed–and that fermentation and/or soaking would change the flavor. Awesome experimentation though! Thank you for sharing.
That’s possible, and I could believe there’s some kind of soaking/fermentation process that leaches out the nasty.
As I live in Swizerland with a lovely Linden tree next to my house, I’m eager to try it! But I must say that we have 2 kind of Linden here. With small leaf and with big leafs. We take the flowers only from the big leaf tree and do not touch the other one! Did you know that we eat the leafs wenn they are just coming out? Great salat ! But I was reased in fear of the seeds. They said that it is poisonous ! So, if I do not come back to tell you how it went, it’s that I killed myself for science ! Nah! I’m joking !
I must correct myself ! We only harvest from the small leaf linden.
I’d love to hear how it goes. Every way we’ve tried to eat the American linden seeds they’ve been really horrible. The leaves and flowers are great, but the seeds are terrible. I’d love to hear if you have success making anything resembling chocolate!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CgvArnhD9xR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Here is someone making chocolate ice cream from linden
Perhaps the missing step was roasting the seeds?
We tried this today with tillia europea. We roasted the seeds, ground them and then tried in several different ways including using coconut oil, adding sugar, adding hot water to the dried flowers (to activate the sweetness) and it was all gross. We also roasted some acorns, ground them up for a coffee substitute and it most definitely had a malt chocolate tast. A little bit if sugar and it tasted like chocolate horlicks or ovaltine (if you get those in the usa).
I tried this today. Small leaved lime with the seeds still slightly green. I collected and dried a small handful, then roasted them for a out 12 minutes, ground them easily in a pestle and mortar, sifted in a fine sieve.
Then I added finely ground and sifted sugar. I didn’t have any neutral oil so I added butter.
The result was a slightly gritty but definitely chocolatey paste.
Not sure what to do with it now but might try making a linden mouse tonight before the flavour disappears.
When the small leaf linden seeds turn brown the outside of the seed taste like sweet tea or chocolate. I have never tried to eat the pit or seed.
My wife and I also enjoy eating many wild things in our yard here in Southern Minnesota. Sheep sorrel, wood sorrel, stinging nettle, lambs quarters, young milk weed pods, plantain leaf, young dandelions, perslane, chicory, clover blossoms, violet blossoms, pig weed, wild rose hips and the list goes on.