Easy homemade dark chocolate with less than a handful of ingredients!
In case anyone actually needs another reason to reach for some chocolate…..
5 Reasons to Eat More Dark Chocolate🍫
You know, for health…
- It’s basically brain food
The cocoa found in chocolate helps increase blood flow to the brain which leads to faster reaction time, better problem solving skills, and improved attention span. Not only that, but increased blood flow to the brain also improves short term memory and decreases mental decline in seniors. - It helps protect against heart disease
The flavonoids in chocolate help increase blood flow to the heart as well which helps to prevent blood clots and hardening of the arteries. Eating a small amount of dark chocolate a few times a week has been shown to lower blood pressure. - Younger looking skin
Quality dark chocolate, not the sugary kind, is full of antioxidants that have anti-aging benefits to the skin. Not only that, but the same flavonoids that increase blood flow to the heart and brain also increase blood flow to the skin giving off a healthy glow. - It’s a “joy stimulant”Cocoa boosts levels of serotonin and endorphins in the brain which leads to improved mood. So when you’re feeling down and you’re craving something sweet it’s likely the boost in serotonin that your body is really craving.
- It helps you stress less
Chocolate is a great source of magnesium which has been dubbed “the original chill pill”. Getting more magnesium through diet leads to better sleep contributing to improved resilience to stress. Another study found: when test subjects who considered themselves to be highly stressed people ate an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two week had a significant drop in stress hormones.
Keep in mind that these health benefits relate to quality dark chocolate – at least more than 70% cocoa. Conventional chocolate bars filled with lots of sugar and additives don’t have the same benefits and are likely to cause more problems than anything else.
How to make homemade chocolate with Coconut Oil
Making homemade dark chocolate is probably easier than you think. It’s made with only 5 ingredients: cocoa powder (or cacao), coconut oil, honey, and sea salt. All you need is about 5 minutes of melting and whisking plus time to set and you’re good to go.
If you follow this recipe as is you’ll end up with about 72% dark chocolate, but feel free to customise to your taste adding an extra tablespoon or so of honey. I never used to be a fan of dark chocolate but over time I learned to love it as my eating habits changed and I ate less sugar.
Spruce It Up
Don’t be afraid to experiment with the flavours to make your own special chocolate bar. A few ideas to get you started:
- ground ginger
- orange zest or orange extract
- chili flakes
- chopped nuts
If you enjoy this recipe make sure you check out my recipe for homemade chocolate with cocoa butter!
Homemade Dark Chocolate
Easy homemade dark chocolate - only five ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (105g)
- 4 tbsp honey or more for taste (85g)
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 cup unprocessed 100% cocoa powder or cacao powder (118g)
Instructions
- In a small pot over a low heat: melt the coconut oil.
- Stir in the honey, and salt.
- Remove the mixture from the heat. Add the cocoa powder and mix until it's dissolved into the chocolate mixture. You should have a smooth, lump free chocolate sauce.
- Pour the chocolate into silicone moulds or a lined baking pan. Leave out at room temperature to cool and fully set. Once they've hardened pop them out of the moulds and enjoy.
Notes
- You can also use cocoa butter in place of the coconut oil for a creamier chocolate.
- Use maple syrup or agave for a vegan friendly chocolate. Use maple syrup for low FODMAP. Just keep in mind that maple syrup contains more water than honey and could leave you slightly grainy chocolate.
- Keep chocolate stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Don't pack the cocoa powder into a measuring cup - lightly scoop it into the cup until filled.
- I no longer recommend cooling/setting in the fridge or freezer. Firming up at room temperature will take much longer, but the chocolate is much less likely to melt at room temp/in your hand this way.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size:
30 grams Calories: 143Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 9gSodium: 15mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 4gSugar: 7gProtein: 2gShop this Post
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elzbieta says
hi i am having problems with this chocolate and wonder why does it harden so quickly once i put my agave syrup in it….. I melt the cocoa butter than i add cocoa and it looks lovely and runny and then i add syrup. i commit that I add it why it is still pretty hot. do i need to check temp? i don”t have a thermometer. and today i melted butter and syrup and why adding cocoa the mixture harden so i didn’t add the whole cocoa because i wanted to be liquid. ….please help
warmest regards
elzbieta
Sarah Nevins says
Hi there! Sorry for taking so long to get back to you – only just caught your comment in the spam folder! Even though you’re using cocoa butter, I might try adding 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil next time. When the coconut oil melts I think that might help it from getting hard too quickly bu adding some extra liquid in there. It’s possible your temperature might be a little high. I’d also recommend melting everything over a low heat to keep it all from drying up too soon. Hope that helps!
Heba says
How to prevent chocolate from melting at room temperature?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Heba! You would need to use cocoa butter instead of coconut oil in order for it to stay solid at warmer temperatures – coconut oil unfortunately a low melting point that just doesn’t do well when warmed up. Cocoa butter on the other hand is really made for this kind of thing
Lynn says
Just curious- if “cocoa butter is really made for this kind of thing” is there a reason you use coconut oil? Just more accessible or…?
IncidentLly, I love the recipe, my husband ate it right out of the freezer but asked if I would make some
For his work friends.
We took it out of the freezer and ran in to slight melting on fingers etc, so this is why I’m curious? DELICIOUS!
Thanks so very much!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Lynn! I like using coconut oil here for accessibility reasons – I can’t find cocoa butter in stores where I live it’s always pretty pricy online so I figure it’s just easier to make them like this and keep the chocolate refrigerated. I think I’m going to try to get some more cocoa butter soon though and play around with making some non melty chocolate.
So glad to hear you guys enjoyed this!
Heba says
Hi Queen Unfortunately im not sure if we have it in Egypt . Will look for it. Thank you .
Rasha says
Hi Heba
Actually I found a health shop that sells it in Moqattam Cairo…
Queen says
Can I use this dark chocolate in baking chocolate cake??
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Queen! I’ve never tried using this as a substitute for baking chocolate so I can’t be sure but I don’t think it would work too well as this has a very low melting point which would probably disrupt the balance of ingredients
Wanda Shell says
Hello I thought you should know again and again that this recipe is awesome I made it just the way you said too…u cant beat it any where I will never buy it at the store… I have cut back on my sugar so I’m watching what i use and buy now…thank u so much.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Wanda! I’m so glad to hear you’ve been enjoying it!
Shifra says
How do I know which cocoa powder is unprocessed? Does this mean raw? The Hershey’s 100 percent cacoa powder in my cabinet doesn’t say if it’s unprocessed or alkaline?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Shrifra! Usually (though not always) it will say somewhere on the box if it’s unprocessed or not. The Hershey one doesn’t say it but it is unprocessed
Andrew says
I’ve made them in a very similar recipe in the past. Great taste but struggle at room temperature. Was wondering if you could give advice on firming them up. Would tempering do anything to help?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Andrew! I think you would need to use cocoa butter instead of coconut oil in order for it to stay solid at warmer temperatures – coconut oil unfortunately a low melting point that just doesn’t do well when warmed up. Cocoa butter on the other hand is really made for this kind of thing
Wendy says
Hi! I am planning to make this for a friend but I have a question. Can we use butter instead of coconut oil ?
Thanks ,
Wendy
Sarah says
Hi Wendy! I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure but I don’t think butter would work here – the coconut oil helps the chocolate keep its shape because it solidify’s at room temperature. The chocolate would need to be much colder to solidify again which might make it tricky
Vicky says
Thanks so much for the recipe and all the advice. I made some chocolate ganache using soya cream but it was a bit too loose and very bitter but I didn’t know how much stevia to add so probably used too little.
Has anyone tried to using soya cream, or any other ingredient to reduce some of the bitterness?
Sarah says
Hi Vicky! Have you tried it with coconut milk instead of soya? If you’re interested in a ganache I’ve made a hot fudge that’s basically a ganache made with coconut milk and it’s super thick: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/dairy-free-hot-fudge/ I think the slight sweetness of the coconut milk might help cut down some of that bitterness
John says
Great!!! Easy recipe. My fist try I had the oil to warm and it all separated into a gummy mess. So make sure the oil is just warm not hot. 2nd batch was fantastic, 10 servings lol. ( Not for me ) I made a solid bar as I have no molds. I just poured it on a parchment lined pan and sprinkled some course sea salt on the top. It came out of the freezer super shiney and professional looking. Thanks for this post!!
Sarah says
Glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to let me know what you thought!
Lynn says
Hi! Was your first batch super shiny? Mine was slightly bumpy, tasted amazing and looked “homemade” but I admit i like the sleek and shiny. I noticed as I was shocking away it suddenly began to go from shiny to flatter so maybe I over-whisked? Thanks for
Your thoughts!
Sarah Nevins says
A few of things this could be – I’ve had that bumpy kind of look before and it took loads of trial and error to figure out what went wrong.
One problem could be that there was a little water/moisture left over in your equipment. Chocolate doesn’t like moisture and any leftover drops of water left after cleaning is enough to ‘break’ the chocolate and make it look a little dull and bumpy.
I also noticed that different cocoa powders made for smooth/shiny chocolate and others made for dull/bumpy chocolate. It was only after making so many different batches that I noticed that my chocolate always came out a little worse looking when I used a certain brand (Bournville unsweetened) but had no problems when I used cocoa powder I got from Costco.
Also, it could be as you mentioned and you might have left it on the heat, whisking a little too long. You could try whisking a little less next time to see if that makes a difference.
Hope that helps!
Tamzin Coelho says
Love your recipe I don’t eat sugar myself due to my training schedule and this always helps with my sweet tooth.. Wanted to ask if you’ve managed to figure out a way to stop the chocolate from melting so quickly? I’d love to make some for friends and family, but it seems the chocolate melts nearly as soon as I take it out the freezer 🤷♀
Sarah says
Hi Tamzin! I haven’t tried this out myself yet but I do believe that using cocoa butter in place of the coconut oil should stop it from melting so quickly! Coconut oil has such a low melting point it just doesn’t do well when warmed up but cocoa butter is much more lenient here.