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This easy recipe for healthy homemade chocolate bars makes delicious dark chocolate that melts in your mouth. Only three ingredients! It’s perfect to use as a Paleo-friendly or refined sugar-free alternative in any recipes calling for chocolate chips or chunks. You can also use this recipe for homemade vegan chocolate bars!
I’m super excited to be sharing this post with you today, because it’s such an easy recipe that creates the most delicious, melt in your mouth chocolate. You can snack on it when you need to fix a chocolate craving, and it’s also perfect to use in place of traditional sweetened chocolate chunks for baked goods.
I’ve used these paleo chocolate chunks in my Paleo Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread and my Paleo Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread, and they stay melty and delicious.
You could also use it in my Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies or Paleo Chocolate Chunk Blondies…you see, I use these chunks in a whole lot of delicious ways, and they couldn’t be easier to make.
Ingredients for homemade chocolate
You only need three ingredients to make this recipe, with two optional additions!
- Cacao Butter or Coconut Oil: whichever of these you choose is the base of the chocolate. See below for more details about the differences, but if you go with coconut oil, make sure to use refined for no coconut flavor.
- Maple Syrup: for sweetness! You can also use honey or another liquid sweetener if you prefer. I recommend sticking with liquid sweeteners here, because granulated sweeteners can be gritty.
- Cacao or Cocoa Powder: either will work – cacao is just a raw version of cocoa.
- Vanilla Extract: this adds a little extra flavor, but it will still be delicious if you don’t add it.
- Salt: I love a little salt in everything, but skip it if you don’t!
Cacao Butter vs. Coconut Oil
Cacao butter, or cocoa butter (cacao is just the raw version of cocoa), is made from the cacao tree and is the traditional base of chocolate. Coconut oil comes from the coconut plant, and tastes coconutty unless you get the refined version. I prefer cacao butter for this recipe but it can be more expensive and harder to find.
- Cacao butter (or cocoa butter) will result in a firmer, more shelf-stable chocolate, whereas coconut oil will need to be stored in the fridge and will melt more easily.
- If using coconut oil, make sure to use refined coconut oil to avoid any coconut flavors (unless that’s what you want!).
- Cacao butter chocolate will bake into treats a bit better, and stay firmer, though both will work.
How to make healthy homemade chocolate
This homemade chocolate could not be easier to make!
- Melt the coconut oil or cacao butter in the microwave or over the stove. If you’re using cacao butter and choose to melt over the stove, I recommend using a double boiler to prevent the cacao butter from burning.
- Once melted, add good quality cocoa or cacao powder, maple syrup, if you’d like a sprinkle of salt and/or a splash of vanilla extract, and whisk it together.
- Pour into a pan or chocolate bar mold and add any toppings if using.
- Place the chocolate in the fridge to set. If using for a recipe, chop into chunks to use and enjoy as you’d like!
Want to make homemade chocolate bars? Use a chocolate bar mold and chill until solid. You can (and should) add any of your favorite mix-ins to this, like nuts, seeds, dried fruit, coconut, or a nut butter swirl. The limits are endless!
Where to store this homemade chocolate
I recommend you keep this homemade chocolate in fridge, especially if you used the coconut oil base, because in a hot kitchen they’ll melt into chocolate flavored coconut oil, which isn’t what we’re after! It will be more shelf-stable if you use the cacao butter, but still avoid keeping it in a warm spot, the way you would with any chocolate.
This seriously tastes like delicious dark chocolate, but there’s the benefit of knowing exactly what went into it. You can adjust the honey or cocoa amounts to make it darker or sweeter to suit your tastes.
Now you don’t have to guess whether your chocolate is dairy-free, or refined sugar-free, or vegan, or Paleo-friendly. You know that it is! Try it out – I think you’ll be impressed with how easy it is to make chocolate yourself. Enjoy!
Use your homemade chocolate in these recipes…
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a Vegan Option)
This recipe for Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies is my go-to cookie recipe! My taste testers had no idea these cookies were gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, and refined sugar-free! This is one of my most popular recipes. You can easily make the cookies vegan.
Fudgy Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies
These Vegan Gluten-Free Fudge Brownies have a 10 minute prep time and are better than a box mix! They are naturally sweetened, dairy-free, super-rich, fudgy, and satisfying.
Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars
These Vegan Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars are like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, pressed into perfectly portable chewy bars! This easy vegan dessert will become a hit, and they only take 30 minutes to make from start to finish.
Healthy Homemade Chocolate (Bars and Chunks)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cacao butter, 163g or refined coconut oil (172g),cacao butter will result in a firmer chocolate that bakes better whereas coconut oil will be softer and melt more easily
- ¾ cup 64g cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup 111g maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, optional
Instructions
- First, melt the cacao butter or coconut oil. If using cacao butter, I recommend melting it in a double boiler over low heat. Coconut oil can be melted in a saucepan on low heat. You can also melt either in the microwave. Start by heating for about 30 seconds, stir, and heat in 15 second increments, stirring between each, until melted.
- Stir the cocoa powder, maple syrup or honey, and if using, vanilla extract and salt, into the melted cacao butter or coconut oil until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a lined baking pan or sheet, or to make homemade chocolate bars, pour into a chocolate bar mold. You can add extras like nuts, dried fruit, or coconut either mixed into the chocolate or placed on top of the still-warm chocolate.
- Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. If you’ll be using the chocolate for baking, chop it into chunks. Store in the refrigerator.
Is their a difference in using cacao powder vs cocoa powder?
You can use either here, cacao is just a raw form of cocoa (which has been heated to high temps).
I grow my own stevia….can I use stevia to sweeten instead of honey or maple syrup?
Hi Mary, I’m not sure how you would process fresh stevia to be the right texture to incorporate here, especially since the maple syrup provides some bulk to the recipe. I haven’t ever used fresh stevia so unfortunately I can’t be much help here, sorry!
Would this keep in the freezer if I wanted to store some for later?
Yes it definitely would!
My thirteen years old daughter and I loved this. Thanks for the recipe! I will be making it again. I have made similar recipes with honey but really like how it turned out with maple syrup.
So thrilled you’re enjoying the chocolate, Megan! Thanks for your feedback :)
Just mixed this together and set in refrigerator to cool. Cannot wait to test it out in a banana bread tomorrow!!!
I hope you love them!! Enjoy.
This chocolate is so good!!!
So happy you’re loving it! Thanks for your feedback April.
This works great with rice malt syrup as the sweetener :-)
Thanks for letting me know, J!
Hello! I was very excited to try this recipe but I don’t know what happened but mine separated and the maple syrup sank to the bottom. :( It tastes great but it’s just not solid all the way through. I did see other people had separation issues so I’ll try it again later and use the freezer instead of the fridge.. I wasn’t sure if the 3/4 cup coconut oil was supposed to be a melted measurement or solid so maybe that contributed?
Hi Hima, sorry you had issues! I’ve found for separating, it helps to let it cool on the counter for about an hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so to mix everything back up, and THEN pouring into the mold/pan to finish setting in the fridge really helps (I haven’t had issues with this recipe separating personally, but it’s helped for a vegan white chocolate recipe I’m working on :)). The coconut is melted as part of the recipe, so it doesn’t matter how it starts out. Hope this helps!
Would coconut nectar work in the place of maple syrup?
I haven’t tried it so no guarantees, but it should be fine.
Hi There… if I wanted to add a “flavor”, say Lavender… how best would I incorporate it into your recipe?
Hi Josh, I’d recommend using a flavored oil (like edible essential oils) to flavor the chocolate!
Thanks! With regard to this recipe, can you advise “how much” essential oil should be added? Also do you think ghee can be swapped in for coconut oil 1:1?
Hi Josh! I’m obv not Rachel but 1-2 drops is the amount I added and it tasted fine. ( Sorry but I don’t know the answer to your second question. Maybe research a bit to see other peoples advice on that. ) Hopefully that helped!