This easy homemade chocolate recipe is creamy, dreamy and delicious. Once you learn how to make chocolate at home you may not want to go back to store bought again!
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I love making chocolate bars right in my own kitchen. It's just so satisfying to know exactly what ingredients went into them and that they haven't been sitting on a shelf in wrappers for who knows how long. Plus, they really are SO delicious—trust me when I say that you probably won't want to go back to store-bought after you try this recipe. As DIY chocolate recipes go, this is one of the easiest with no prior experience required.
And if you have any left over, you can also use your homemade chocolate in other recipes such as this chocolate bark or these chocolate covered raspberries.
Looking for a chocolate sauce recipe? Look no further than this 2-minute chocolate sauce to learn how to make chocolate sauce with cocoa powder.
Did you know?
Chocolate is technically a fermented food since the cocoa powder used to make it is produced from fermented cacao beans. The fermentation process lasts for about a week before the fermented beans are roasted and processed into powder. And even though the high heat used during processing will kill any beneficial bacteria from the fermentation step, you can still thank them for helping to give your chocolate bar its irresistibly rich and alluring taste we've all come to know and love. 🙂
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Super fresh, delicious chocolate in only a few steps
- Only 4 ingredients needed
- No processed sugar!
- Requires only 15 minutes of active prep time
- Can make chocolate bars or any shape of homemade chocolates using different silicone molds
- No special equipment required
🌿 Ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are very minimal, with the two key ingredients being cacao powder and cacao butter. Most larger natural foods stores them, but you can also order them online.
Pro tip: Note that you can easily substitute unsweetened cocoa powder and/or cocoa powder for the raw cacao versions. Just make sure that if you use cocoa butter it's a food grade product (look for "food grade" on the label.)
Some optional add-ins include:
- chopped almonds, cashews or peanuts
- chopped dried cranberries
- pomegranate arils
- sea salt
See recipe card below for exact quantities.
📝 Instructions
Step 1: Finely chop your favorite nuts, dried fruits or any of the optional add-ins listed above.
Step 2: Place your toppings in one or more sections of a silicone chocolate bar mold.
Pro tip: If you don't have a mold, you can simply line a shallow baking dish with some parchment paper to make one large chocolate sheet, and then break it into pieces once it's cooled.
Step 3: Melt the cacao butter, and then add some honey.
Pro tip: If your cacao butter is in large chunks rather than mostly smaller pieces, chop the large chunks into smaller ones first before you measure it, for better accuracy.
Step 4: Place the cacao butter in a double boiler and start warming it using about an inch of water in the bottom of the boiler over medium heat.
Pro tip: If you don't have a double boiler, just place a stainless steel mixing bowl over a saucepan with an inch of water in it, and heat to medium.
Step 5: Continue to heat the cacao butter slowly until it just melts, and then use a whisk to mix in the honey. Once the honey is incorporated, remove the top of the double boiler to a heat safe surface or cooling rack.
Caution: If you are using a bowl rather than a double boiler, be extremely careful as you lift it off the saucepan so that the steam below doesn't burn you—try to lift it off towards you rather than off to one side.
Step 6: Once the cacao butter and honey mixture is away from the heat, add the cacao powder, vanilla and a pinch of sea salt to the melted mixture and whisk everything to combine well.
Pro tip: Take a taste of your homemade chocolate to test the flavor; add a little more honey, if desired, to reach your preferred sweetness.
Step 7: Place your mold onto a cutting board to keep it flat as it chills, and then carefully pour the melted mixture evenly among the mold sections until it's level with the top surface of the mold. If you have any leftover, you can line a container with parchment paper and add the rest to cool.
Step 8: Carefully transfer the mold to the fridge and chill for at least 45 minutes to solidify. (Keep it on the cutting board for easy transfer.)
Once they've solidified, remove the bars from the mold by slowly pulling the sides of the mold away. Then, store your bars in an airtight container in the fridge.
📋 Substitutions
As written, this is a gluten free and dairy free chocolate recipe. Here are a few substitutions in case you can't find cacao butter or powder, or if you'd like to make a vegan version of this recipe:
- Cacao butter - use food-grade cocoa butter, or substitute coconut oil; with coconut oil, the result won't be quite as creamy, but it will still be delicious!
- Cacao powder - use cocoa powder, but just make sure it's unsweetened!
- Vegan chocolate recipe - use maple syrup instead of honey
📖 Variations
The possibilities are endless for making dark chocolate! Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Almond and sea salt dark chocolate - add finely chopped raw, unsalted almonds and a little extra sea salt to your mold
- Cranberry dark chocolate - add finely chopped sweetened dried cranberries to your mold
- Kid friendly - add a little extra honey to the recipe if needed, for sweetness
🔪 Equipment
The main piece of equipment you'll need for this recipe is a silicone chocolate bar mold or other shaped mold. (You can still make this recipe without a mold and just line a baking dish with parchment paper.)
- chocolate bar mold (this one worked out perfectly with the amount this recipe makes)
- double boiler (optional; you can also use a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan)
- cutting board
- chef's knife (for chopping any add-ins)
🍱 Storage
Homemade chocolate bars will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 2 months. I don't recommend storing homemade chocolate at room temperature as it does melt easily once it's warmed. (This is especially true in warmer climates.)
🎉 Top tip
You can experiment with using slightly less honey if you like your dark chocolate more on the bitter side. I'd recommend ¼ cup of honey as a starting place. If it's not sweet enough when you do a taste test simply add a little more honey. Then, keep mixing and testing until it's perfect for you.
Enjoy!
💭 FAQ
You can make your own chocolate bars at home by melting cacao butter and mixing it with cacao powder, some sugar or honey, a little vanilla and a pinch of sea salt. You'll want to chill your homemade chocolate in a mold for at least 45-60 minutes in the fridge to let it solidify.
Basic chocolate ingredients consist of raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder), cacao butter or food grade cocoa butter, a sweetener such as cane sugar or honey, a little vanilla, and a bit of salt to balance flavors. Additionally, you can add chopped nuts, dried fruit or extra sea salt for variety.
Yes; you can substitute coconut oil for cacao/cocoa butter. The result won't be quite as creamy, but it will still be very tasty.
A double boiler is helpful to melt the cacao butter needed to make homemade chocolate, but you can also use a stainless steel mixing bowl over a saucepan. Additionally, you may wish to purchase a silicone mold to form actual chocolate bars.
🍳 Recipe
Homemade Dark Chocolate
Equipment
- chocolate bar mold (see notes)
- double boiler optional; you can also use a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan (see notes)
- chef's knife for chopping any add-ins
Ingredients
- ½ cup cacao butter or food grade cocoa butter or coconut oil (see notes)
- ⅓ cup pure raw honey or maple syrup for vegan (see notes)
- ½ cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch sea salt
Optional add-ins:
- chopped almonds, cashews or peanuts
- chopped dried cranberries
- sea salt
Instructions
- Prep: Finely chop any optional add-ins if you'd like to add them to your chocolate bars, and place them in one or more sections of a chocolate bar mold.
- Melt: Place the cacao butter in a double boiler and start warming it using about an inch of water in the bottom of the boiler over medium heat. Continue to heat the cacao butter slowly until it just melts, and then use a whisk to mix in the honey. Once the honey is incorporated, remove the top of the double boiler to a heat safe surface or cooling rack.
- Mix: Add the cacao powder, vanilla and salt to the melted mixture and whisk to combine well. Take a taste of your melted chocolate to test the flavor; add a little more honey, if desired, to reach your preferred sweetness.
- Mold: Place your chocolate mold onto a cutting board to keep it flat as it chills, and then carefully pour the melted chocolate evenly among the mold sections until the chocolate is level with the top surface of the mold. If you have any leftover chocolate, you can line any size container with parchment paper and add the rest of the chocolate to that to cool.
- Chill: Carefully transfer the chocolate bar mold to the fridge and chill for at least 45 minutes to solidify (keep it on the cutting board for easy transfer.)
- Enjoy: Remove the chocolate bars from the mold by slowly pulling the sides of the mold away, and then store your bars in the fridge in an airtight container for best results. Bars will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for up to 2 months. Enjoy!
CONNIE l kenealy
Is the Calories: 452kcal per batch or per bar since you state 3 bars not sure what size the bars would be
Allison
Hi Connie--great question! Each bar is 2 servings (6 servings total for the 3 bars) so each serving has 226kcal; I have updated the recipe card to make this clearer. Thanks for reaching out! 🙂
Heidi H
Tastes fine. I subbed in the coconut oil. Followed the instructions to a T.
They somehow sunk in and kind of look like brownies. They're VERY soft and wouldn't come out of the mold easily.
I'd say the coconut oil has to be the culprit with its very low melting temp.
Allison
Sorry they didn't work out perfectly, Heidi! Yes I agree; coconut oil does melt a lot faster at room temp and especially in warmer months. Sometimes I just keep the bars in the freezer during the summer and break a little off at a time. 😉
Heidi H
I'd also like to add that the chocolate had two distinct layers. The top half was harder and more dark chocolate flavored while the bottom half was soft and was very strong honey flavored. it was quite messy to pull out of the molds and had no detail of the molds.
Have you made these with any other type of sugar or sweetener?
Allison
Hi Heidi--thanks for the follow up! Yes, both raw honey and maple syrup worked well here with either cacao butter or coconut oil. I do think that cacao butter tends to be a little easier all around though as far as creating a nice solid chocolate bar; I know coconut oil can be a little fussy. If your room temperature is on the warmer side to begin with (and the coconut oil is already in liquid state), I'd recommend only warming over low heat instead of medium and letting the melted chocolate cool as much as possible while you whisk, so that it goes into the molds on the thicker side rather than super runny. Additionally, you could place the molds directly into the freezer rather than the fridge to chill, and that should help with separation as well. Hope this helps!
Heidi H
I'll certainly give that a try if I ever make this again with coconut oil. Thanks for the tips!
Allison
Absolutely; happy to help!
Claudia
I have tried your dark chocolate recipe, and I must say, "Wow!" It not only tastes amazing but also reminds me of my favorite organic super dark chocolate. Now, I have the option to make it at home when I don't have time to buy one. Thank you!
Allison
Yay! I'm so glad you loved it Claudia!:)
Disha
Hello!
I tried this recipe but after adding in the cocoa powder, vanilla and sea salt the mixture had a texture similar to truffle balls befire they are rolled. It wasn’t like melted chocolate. Could you help me with what I might have done wrong?
Allison
Hi Disha--thanks for reaching out! My guess is either that the cacao butter and honey mixture cooled off too much before the cocoa powder was added, or possibly that there wasn't enough cacao butter to produce the right consistency before pouring the chocolate into the mold...but more likely it just cooled off too quickly. Hope this helps if you try again! 🙂
Cordell Stubbolo
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve visited this web site before but after browsing through some of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m certainly happy I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!