How to make chocolate in just 10 minutes: This homemade chocolate requires just 3 base ingredients, is simple to prepare, and super easy to customize. You can make your own vegan milk chocolate, dark chocolate, flavor it, or top it.
Homemade Chocolate Bars – Dark or “Milk”
I’m no stranger to making vegan versions of my favorite treats, like Bounty bars, Snickers, gummy bears, and white chocolate. And while it’s fairly easy to purchase dairy-free dark chocolate, avoiding additives (waxes, artificial ingredients, preservatives, palm oil, etc.) becomes pricey. Meanwhile, finding good dairy-free milk chocolate is still a struggle in some places – which is where this homemade chocolate recipe comes in.
How Do You Make Chocolate?
Traditionally, there are many steps to preparing real chocolate. These include fermenting the cacao beans, dehydrating them, roasting the cocoa beans, removing the shell and breaking them into nibs, grinding/ conching those into a paste (which can optionally be pressed to separate cacao butter and cacao powder) using a special tool called a melanger, then adding any extra ingredients, tempering it, etc.
Luckily, you can learn how to make chocolate from cocoa powder at home and skip the fuss! All you need is a handful of simple ingredients and 10 minutes. By learning how to make your own chocolate you get to avoid additives, and it’s so easy to customize to dietary, flavor, & shape requirements.
You’ll be making batches of flavored and topped bars, buttons, and bonbons in no time!
The Ingredients
Just three simple ingredients make up the base recipe list when making homemade chocolate recipes.
- Cacao butter: Food-grade cacao butter will provide the homemade chocolate with the same mouthfeel as high-quality chocolate and can be tempered (so it has a snap and doesn’t melt as easily). However, coconut oil also works.
- Cocoa powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder/ cacao powder (the latter is less processed and contains more antioxidants and micronutrients, but has a more bitter flavor).
- Maple syrup: To sweeten the chocolate recipe (to taste). For keto chocolate, you could use powdered Erythritol.
- Vanilla extract: (Optional) Use pure, natural vanilla.
- Milk powder: (Optional) If you’d like to make dairy-free milk chocolate, add two tablespoons of either coconut milk powder or soy milk powder.
You might also enjoy a pinch of salt to enhance the cocoa flavor and balance sweetness.
What Else Could I Add To Homemade Chocolate?
There are also plenty of optional add-ins (or toppings to sprinkle over the homemade chocolate bars) you can enjoy in a homemade chocolate bar recipe. These include:
- Flavorings (i.e., mint, orange, etc. Use oil-based, not water, to avoid seizing.)
- Spices (cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, etc.)
- Nuts and/or seeds (pistachio, almond, walnut, pepitas, etc.)
- Puffed quinoa/ rice
- Raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruits
- Crushed banana chips
- Freeze-dried fruits (as a topping)
- Flaky sea salt
- Crushed biscuits (Oreos, Biscoff, etc.)
- Coconut flakes/ shreds
- Candy cane/ crushed peppermints
For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, read the recipe card below.
How to Make Chocolate From Cocoa Powder
Follow just three low-effort steps to learn how to make chocolate at home!
- First, melt the cacao butter (grate/finely chop it first if it’s in big pieces) over a double boiler, stirring/whisking often. Once melted, remove it from the heat.
To prepare a double boiler, add a couple of inches of water to a small-medium saucepan and top it with a heat-proof bowl, ensuring the water doesn’t come in contact with the bowl, then bring the water to a gentle simmer over medium to medium-low heat.
- Stir in the cocoa powder, maple syrup, and vanilla extract (if using) and whisk until lump-free.
- Pour the homemade chocolate mixture into the silicone mold of your choice (using a silicone spatula helps to get it all out of the bowl) and leave it to set for several hours in the fridge or 20-30 minutes in the freezer.
When ready, release the homemade chocolate bar/shapes from the mold and enjoy!
Storage Instructions
You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks or in the freezer for 3-4 months. I don’t recommend storing untempered chocolate at room temperature, as it melts easily.
FAQs
What is dark chocolate vs. milk chocolate?
Dark chocolate has a higher cocoa percentage (50% +), and milk chocolate (usually 30-50% cocoa) contains milk powder for extra creamy richness.
What does the percentage on a chocolate bar mean?
When you see percentages labeled on chocolate bars, this lists how much cocoa mass (cocoa liquor -in this case, powder- and cocoa butter) is in the bar. For example, a 70% dark chocolate bar usually contains 70% cocoa products and 30% sugar (with any add-ins like vanilla or flavorings). Meanwhile, a 50% milk chocolate bar contains 50% cocoa. Milk powder, sugar, and other ingredients make up the other 50%.
Why has my chocolate seized?
Overheating it, adding cold ingredients, and adding liquids to the chocolate recipe can cause it to seize.
In practice, I’ve never had issues using maple syrup (room temperature) when making homemade chocolate bars. However, if you are having this issue: Try heating the syrup with the cocoa butter, don’t add any water-based mix-ins, and if that doesn’t work, try a powdered sweetener in the future.
Can I fix seized chocolate?
There are a couple of ways to fix seized chocolate. First, you could try adding extra cacao butter (or vegetable shortening, if you have some) to the mixture, one teaspoon at a time.
If it’s seized from liquid, you can add boiling water (yes, I know that normally causes seizing). Once a certain water percentage is reached, the chocolate will come back together again. However, at this point, it’s best to use as a chocolate sauce or drizzle (or for a delicious vegan hot chocolate), as it won’t set firmly.
Can I use homemade chocolate for bonbons/truffles?
Yes, but temper the chocolate first, especially if using non-flexible molds. To learn how to temper chocolate, check out this post: How to make white chocolate
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Avoid porous utensils: Wooden and other porous materials can hold on to moisture and cause the chocolate to seize.
- Cacao butter vs coconut oil: The latter will create chocolate that’s ‘oilier’ and not as rich or creamy.
- For flavored chocolates: Only add any flavoring once the homemade chocolate mixture is off the heat.
- For smooth chocolate: If you’re able to source some, then using cacao paste or liquor in place of cacao powder will make a massive textural difference.
- To top the chocolate: Pour the melted mixture into your mold of choice and sprinkle over the ingredients before leaving them to set.
- To avoid bloomed chocolate: Placing it in the fridge too quickly can cause blooming (white steaks/patches and dullness). It’s fine to eat but doesn’t look great. So you may prefer to leave it to cool at room temperature for a while first.
More Vegan Candy Recipes
- Homemade Ferrero Rocher (hazelnut truffles)
- 2-Ingredient Condensed Milk Chocolate Truffles
- 3-Ingredient Coconut Truffles (Raffaello)
- Best Marzipan Recipe (Almond Paste)
- Simple No-Bake Brownies
If you try this homemade vegan chocolate recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan #elavegan—I love seeing them.
How To Make Chocolate (Dark or Milk)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (40 g) cacao butter (see notes)
- 1/4 cup (25 g) cocoa powder (I used Dutch processed)
- 1 1/2-2 Tbsp (30-40 g) pure maple syrup (room temperature, not cold)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.
- First, melt the cacao butter (finely chop it if it's in big pieces) over a double boiler, stirring/whisking often. Once melted, remove it from the heat.To prepare a double boiler, add a couple of inches of water to a small-medium saucepan and top it with a heat-proof bowl, ensuring the water doesn’t come in contact with the bowl, then bring the water to a gentle simmer over medium to medium-low heat.
- Stir in the cocoa powder, maple syrup, and vanilla extract (if using) and whisk until lump-free.
- Pour the homemade chocolate mixture into the silicone mold of your choice (using a silicone spatula helps to get it all out of the bowl) and leave it to set for several hours in the fridge or 20-30 minutes in the freezer.
- When ready, release the homemade chocolate bar from the mold and enjoy!
Notes
- Cacao butter: Food-grade cacao butter will provide the homemade chocolate with the same mouthfeel as high-quality chocolate. However, coconut oil also works.
- Optional add-ins: Add a few spoons of nuts/seeds, puffed quinoa/rice, or raisins/dried fruit to your homemade chocolate.
- For keto chocolate: Use powdered Erythritol. Avoid adding any keto syrups (water-based) as they will cause the chocolate to seize.
- Prefer milk chocolate? Add 2 Tbsp of coconut milk powder (or soy milk powder) to the mixture.
- You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks or in the freezer for 3-4 months. I don’t recommend storing untempered chocolate at room temperature, as it melts easily.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
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Hi, Michaela. I made this recently but found the end result too intense.
a. Can I add the cocoa powder at leas than equal measure to the cacao butter?
b. I used the right portion of maple syrup but the result was not sweet. How much more should I add?
c. Is there anything else I can add to make the end result creamier? (I mixed the ingredients really well.)
Hi Ploni, the recipe already contains a lot of cocoa powder, and that’s why the chocolate is also not overall sweet. If you want it sweeter, use LESS cocoa powder.
Maybe a nut butter would make it creamier, but I haven’t tried it.
Good day! I need my chocolate to be harder and stronger. I tried tempering but it is tricky and doesn’t get the chocolate brittle enough. What can I add to Baking chocolate to get it harder or stronger, or to any chocolate for that matter. I need it be thin and strong for a mould.
More cocoa butter will make it harder.
Hi Ela,
Can you please recommend a cacao butter? I have checked many stores near me and cannot find it. Do you buy yours online? I checked Amazon and found some but unsure which kind to purchase. Thank you in advance,
Chriss
Hi Chriss, here is the one I use: https://amzn.to/45RsIbL
nice
yum
Hello, can we temper this homemade chocolate?
Yes, you can! 🙂
How do you temper it? I saw somewhere that homemade chocolate needs to be tempered to be able to be stored out of the fridge.
I will try it, thank you! Can not find a video…
No worries, Natalie. The video will appear within the post and stick to the screen once you scroll past it. You will only see it if you don’t use an ad blocker, though. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hello Ela, thank you for your recipes and great articles. I am wondering if I can use a rice powdered milk?
Wish you all the best 🙂
Hi Daria, I think that should also work. Just note that it has to be a very fine powder, otherwise, the chocolate will be grainy. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I have been looking around for a simple chocolate recipe.
I have 2 questions:
-If I got the right mold, would this type of chocolate be okay to use as chocolate chips such as in your delicious blondies, for example?
– And do you think it would be okay to use date sugar powder rather than maple syrup? And if so, how much would you suggest in the recipe? (I usually use it 1:1 for other granulated sugars such as coconut sugar, etc.)
Hi Annie, yes, that will work. I also make my own chocolate chips, which I store in a bag in my fridge. I used them in this chocolate pumpkin bread. Worked fine!
Any powdered sweetener is fine too, the mixture will be a little thicker, though. You can add 25 grams, taste it and then add more if it’s not sweet enough. 🙂
Thank you, Ela! I look forward to making my own chocolate chips!
You are very welcome. 🙂