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Make homemade vegan chocolate right in your kitchen. The method is so simple!
Easy Homemade Vegan Chocolate
I had you at vegan chocolate, didn’t I?!
If you’re a new vegan, you might be under the impression that you had to give up chocolate. That is definitely not the case. There are plenty of store-bought chocolate items that are vegan (my favorites include Enjoy Life chocolate chips and Unreal PB cups.)
But you might want to make your own if you just want a classic vegan chocolate bar or to make your own chocolates to package up and give as a gift.
Some of you have struggled to find vegan chocolate chips in your local grocery stores, and while you could order them on Amazon, a quicker option is to make your own. I have tried the chocolate chip molds and was not happy with how they turned out. Too finicky! But after the chocolate hardens in whatever mold you choose, you can chop them up into chocolate chunks. They’ll still work great in my chocolate chip muffin recipe!
How to Make Vegan Chocolate
These homemade chocolate bars are made with a few simple ingredients: cocoa butter, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, a sweetener like agave syrup or maple syrup, and salt. I order the (food grade) cocoa butter on Amazon.
The method for making vegan chocolate at home is easy. You’ll just need a double boiler (or make one out of a pot and a heat-safe glass bowl) and your molds of choice.
A simple mold you already have at home is a muffin tin and muffin cups. Or, you can buy a chocolate bar mold or any silicone candy mold. Kids (or adults with a great sense of humor) would love these chocolate poop emoji molds. 💩😂
My favorite sweetener for this recipe is maple syrup. Agave is also a great option. You can also use organic cane sugar but I haven’t tested it for amounts. Just add and taste to your preference!
You can customize your chocolate by adding nuts, extract, dried fruit, etc. My favorite addition is 1/2-1 teaspoon of orange extract. I LOVE orange-flavored chocolate. One of my favorite treats as a kid were those orange chocolate bars that peeled apart like an actual orange.
Tell me, what are you doing to do with your homemade chocolate?!
Ingredients
- 1 cup cocoa butter – chopped into small pieces
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 6-8 tbsp agave or maple syrup
- 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp pink salt
Instructions
- Add 1 inch of water into the bottom of a pot. Place a glass bowl on top to create a double boiler.
- Bring the pot to a simmer, then turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Add the cocoa butter into the bowl to melt. It takes about 5 minutes to fully melt.
- Whisk in the cocoa powder, agave or maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated. Be careful not to spill the hot chocolate. Wear an oven mitt to hold onto the bowl and stabilize it.
- Remove from the heat.
- Pour into molds and then let the chocolate set, either on the counter at room temperature or in the fridge. It takes 1-2 hours to set in the fridge.
Keli Carlson says
So, I followed instructions to the letter & my “bars” separated. They had film of cocoa butter all over the top. Also, could you post the recipe in grams.
Jackie Working says
This chocolate is amazing! A question though. I had a small issue though. The chocolate was hard on top and there was a small layer of maple syrup liquid on the bottom. Did I use too much? Or is my syrup too thin? Even the syrup from the batch, I saved tho for pancakes. It’s so rich and wonderful. The rest I cut up and is like chocolate chunks.
Tasha says
Same issue, can’t seem to make the chocolate without the suryp leaking 🙂 Same story with maple and agave.
Kerry says
Mine came out a fudge consistency. I was hoping for a harder chocolate like in the picture. It was good tho
Chops says
But honey is not really vegan
Dale says
Hi. Could you use honey instead of maple syrup?
Thanks.
Karissa says
Yes.
Cap'n Dave says
You could, but just be aware that honey isn’t vegan and the way it’s commercially harvested actually contributes to colony collapse.