How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate

How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate | Healthy Recipes | DIY Gift | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Paleo |

Welcome to Week 3 of our Healthy, Homemade Gifts series!   Today we’re whipping up a batch of delicious, creamy, homemade chocolate that’s perfect for gift giving!   If you missed the other gift ideas in our series, you can find them here and here.

 

Last year, I was on the hunt for a great homemade chocolate recipe for gift giving.   I tried lots of recipes for healthy chocolate but they just didn’t seem to measure up to my expectations of a delicious, creamy bar of chocolate.

 

Finally, after many batches of not-so-great chocolate, I discovered the missing ingredient—cocoa butter!   Yes, the same cocoa butter I use in my lip balm and my lotions (I’ll be sharing some of these recipes soon!)  Cocoa butter adds a wonderful creaminess to our chocolate while keeping it completely dairy free.  You can read more about this awesome ingredient here.

 

How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate | Healthy Recipes | DIY Gift | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Paleo |

So let’s talk about making chocolate!   You have lots of options to customize your chocolate.  In the picture above, I simply added cacao nibs (nature’s chocolate chips) to my chocolate for a little crunch.  I love how it adds some rustic looking craters to my chocolate bar!

You can stick with my basic chocolate recipe or you can substitute the vanilla with a different extract such as almond, cherry, orange, mint, coconut or any others flavors you think might make delicious chocolate! Personally, I’m a big fan of orange extract with almonds!  Yum!

Another way you can customize your chocolate is with toppings.   You have all sorts of options to make your chocolate even more delicious and beautiful!

 

How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate | Healthy Recipes | DIY Gift | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Paleo |

Topping Ideas:

  • Nuts:  pistachios, slivered, whole or chopped almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, whole or chopped pecans, hazelnuts, etc.

  • Dried fruits:  raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dates, chopped apricots, coconut flakes, etc.

  • Seeds:  hemp, chia, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc.

  • Chopped pretzels (gluten free if needed), or cereal (I love brown rice cereal for this recipe.)

  • Cacao nibs

 

 I hope you are able to bless a chocolate lover in your life!   Don’t forget to save a few bites for yourself!

I hope you enjoy this one!  Happy chocolate-making!

–Jen

 

 


How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate

 

What you’ll need: 

 

Instructions:

  • Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or prepare your silicone molds.

  • Melt the cocoa butter in a double boiler or heat safe measuring cup in a pan of water.

  • Working quickly, combine the melted cocoa butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt.  Chocolate will start to thicken as it cools.

  • Pour and spread your chocolate onto the parchment paper or in the silicone molds.   Smooth to your desired thickness and top with any toppings of your choice.

  • Place your chocolate in the freezer for 30-60 minutes to harden.  Remove from the freezer and cut into bars or remove from the molds.

 

 

Are you looking for more gift ideas?   You might enjoy these posts:

Infused Culinary Oils

Making Herbal Vinegar

Sage Honey

How to Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

My Healthy Homemade Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate
How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate | Healthy Recipes | DIY Gift | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Paleo |
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Servings
servings
Ingredients
Course Snacks
Servings
servings
Ingredients
How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate | Healthy Recipes | DIY Gift | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Paleo |
Instructions
  1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or prepare your silicone molds if using
  2. Melt the cocoa butter in a double boiler or heat safe measuring cup in a pan of water.
  3. Working quickly, combine the melted cocoa butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt. Chocolate will start to thicken as it cools.
  4. Pour and spread your chocolate onto the parchment paper or in the silicone molds. Smooth to your desired thickness and top with any toppings of your choice.
  5. Place your chocolate in the freezer for 30-60 minutes to harden. Remove from the freezer and cut into bars or remove from the molds.
Recipe Notes

Recipe by Jennifer Prentice @ www.myhealthyhomemadelife.com

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12 Comments

  • Reply yvette at these look so beautiful! You should open a store for all your wonderful recipes. I am pinning this recipe to give a try later, I've never made my own chocolate.
    • Reply Jen at Thank you so much, Yvette! Making homemade chocolate isn't as difficult as you'd think! :) I hope you enjoy it!
  • Reply Corey | The Nostalgia Diaries at Yum, yum, yum - chocolate is my weakness. Not only do I bet they taste good, they look beautiful!!
    • Reply Jen at Thank you, Corey! Chocolate is my weakness too and it's easy to whip up my own on whim now!
  • Reply Sarah | I Heart Frugal at This sounds yummy! I am a HUGE chocolate lover! I never thought to make my own, but this recipe doesn't sound to difficult! Thanks for sharing.
    • Reply Jen at Thanks, Sarah! It really is easy! :)
  • Reply Danielle at This looks so scrumptious! I love how it is dairy free! And, cocoa nibs are delish to snack on!
    • Reply Jen at Thanks, Danielle! Cocoa nibs are so under-rated! I love them too!
  • Reply Leah at I have honestly never thought to make my own chocolate but it looks so easy! Definitely going to be trying this cause I have all those ingredients in my pantry! And I will gift it to the chocolate lover in my life... ME!!
    • Reply Jen at It is soooo easy, Leah! I hope you love it! :)
  • Reply The Sun Mama at I am loving you so much right now LOL!!!! Homemade chocolate bars.... Umm... Yes please!!! Pinn By this to save!!
    • Reply Jen at Thank you, Sun Mama! You can't go wrong with homemade chocolate!! No more midnight chocolate runs! lol

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