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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Shreyas says
Can I add Milk… And Will it Stay in Room Temperature…?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Shreyas! I’m not sure how adding milk would alter the recipe here – I think there would have to be other changes as well to ensure that everything comes together fully as the end
james says
that’s not dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is at least 70% cacao solids. Your recipe has less than 50%…
Sarah Nevins says
Hi James!
Traditional chocolate/dark chocolate recipes use cocoa butter instead of coconut oil as the main fat. I designed this recipe to be more accessible to the average person which is why I use coconut oil – it’s much easier to find in most grocery stores these days.
Since coconut oil is acting as out cocoa butter substitute, it should be included and calculated as cocoa butter normally would to find the chocolate percentage.
This recipe uses 105 g coconut oil and 118 g cocoa powder that would bring the ‘cocoa’ solids amounts to 223 g. If you divide that by the total weight of ingredients (308 g) you end up with .724 or 72%. This makes much more sense when describing what this chocolate should taste like. Chocolate percentage refers to the intensity of the chocolate flavour versus the overall sweetness (how much sugar is in it). A 70% bar of chocolate basically just means that the chocolate has 30% sweetener + 70% everything else.
If you would like a more traditional dark chocolate recipe that does use cocoa butter you might be more interested in this recipe here: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/homemade-chocolate-with-cocoa-butter/
I hope that makes sense! My intention is not to mislead, I’m just trying to most accurately describe what the chocolate is like and it’s certainly not anywhere close to being a milk chocolate recipe.
Holly says
Thank you for the detailed answer to this question, I appreciate it! ☺️
Sarah Nevins says
My pleasure! 🙂
Agnes Peter says
Hello Sarah, it’s Agnes again. I tried out your recipe again. Been some time. And this time it turned out right. I know what the problem was. Sarah, how to store these chocolates? I mean after they are put in the fridge for an hour, they can be eaten. But let’s say i want to make a few bottles to store, and give as gifts. Do I put these in airtight jars? Anything i should know about to prevent the chocs from melting?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Agnes! So glad they worked out for you in the end!
As for storing the chocolate – the best thing to do would be to keep it stored in an airtight, sealed container. You don’t want any moisture to come in to contact with the chocolate or it will start to ‘sweat’ which is when little beads of water form all around the surface. It’s still totally fine to eat when it’s like this but people usually don’t like the look of it.
Coconut oil has a fairly low melting point so any temperature about 78°F/25°C will make for soft/melty chocolate. So with this in mind you will want to keep these stored in the fridge unless you know the weather/temperature where you live is cooler than that.
Joan says
Thanks! The recipe was so easy and delicious. I think I might add some shredded coconut or nuts to my next batch.
Sarah Nevins says
Sounds lovely! So glad you enjoyed it – thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!
Katherine says
This recipe has changed my life! I used cocoa butter and local honey and this is the most divine chocolate! I didn’t even use a double boiler. Just pulsed in a heat proof glass measuring cup in the microwave 30 seconds at a time til the cocoa butter was mostly liquid then stirred it until it was completely liquid. This is heavenly!
Sarah Nevins says
I’m so glad to hear that! Yay for the local honey – I bet that makes the chocolate all the better! So glad you have been enjoying this. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review letting me know what you thought!
Kevin Hein says
What is a serving size?
You say 10.
10 what? pieces? bars?
Thanks!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Kevin! Sorry about that! One serving size is about 30 grams of chocolate
Karen says
I made the chocolate and added sea salt, but my boyfriend is saying it is to salty. Am I able to remelt the chocolates and add more cocoa butter, cocoa powder, honey and vanilla extract?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Karen! You can remelt this – I would just start by melting and adding more sweetener and vanilla in. You might be able to balance out the salt with some added sweetness alone. If you start adding more cocoa powder you might start to run into more trouble getting the balance of ingredients right and your chocolate texture might start to change too much
AGNES PETER says
Hi Sarah, good day. I tried out your recipe. I used extra virgin coconut oil, which is already diluted. I added all ingredients as mentioned, but instead of getting a solution, i got a thick pasty consistency. Cannot pour out to the mold. The honey is at room temperature. I used a machine whisk. I thought this might need more coconut oil, so I heated up a little bit of coconut oil and poured in. it’s still a mushy consistency. So i had to spoon out the mixture and press the mixture into the molds.
Can you guide me on what i should be doing differently? in order to get a consistency i can pour out into the mold? Also, I get more coconut smell, which is okay with me.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Agnes! Based on your description it sounds like the chocolate might have either been overheated – overheated chocolate is often thick, muddy and without shine. When chocolate gets too hot the fat separates and makes for a grainy, pasty kind of texture. I’m also not sure, but I think the machine whisk might have also had something to do with the texture. In my experience, the best way to make this chocolate is warm everything up low and slow. Melt the oil and sweetener on a low heat and gently stir everything together as it melts. If everything mixes up too hot and too fast then the fat and sugar doesn’t have much opportunity to melt into each other. I hope that helps!
bog says
Miss Sarah,
Where does tempering come into play in this recipe? How come some chocolates need to be tempered and in other recipes, not?
~bog
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Bog! There’s no tempering in this recipe as it’s meant to be a very basic/ anyone-can-do-it sort of recipe. It looks, feels and taste like chocolate, but it’s not going to have the same snap and baking durability that you get from commercial chocolate.
Gary says
Just tried the recipe and I got a lumpy mess that stuck to the whisk and produced a very irregular texture and was difficult to pour into the molds. I’m a clueless cook and i wonder if I whisked too long and the coconut oil began to harden. Does that make sense?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Gary! Coconut oil has a fairly low melting point so it would only start to harden up if the temperature of the chocolate cooled down quite a bit. (That could happed if you added honey straight from the fridge). Is it possible that your mixture could have been too hot? Usually lumpy chocolate like this happens if things cook too long/hot and the sugar/cocoa starts to burn.
Jane says
I also find it helpful to melt the coconut oil with the honey
Maybe that helps