Homemade Chocolate Recipe with Coconut Oil

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This rich and decadent homemade chocolate is made with cocoa powder, coconut oil, honey, and nuts. It's easy to make, and it tastes amazing thanks to the coconut oil, although you can opt for cocoa butter to make it less melty.

Homemade chocolate is served on a white plate.

Making your own chocolate is easy. And when you make it at home, you know exactly what goes into it and can add tasty additions such as your favorite chopped nuts. It's also a fun recipe to make! My kids love helping me, and I'm happy to enlist their help. They love pouring the warm melted mixture into the molds and watching it magically turn into pretty chocolate bonbons.

Ingredients

Here's an overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below.

Virgin coconut oil: I love the wonderful flavor it gives the chocolate. I typically use Spectrum Virgin Coconut Oil. You can use your favorite brand.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: I prefer Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which is milder and not as acidic as natural cocoa powder. But if all you have on hand is natural cocoa powder, that works, too.
Honey: 2 tablespoons is the perfect amount. It gives the chocolate the perfect dose of sweetness - not overly sweet or too bitter.
Chopped nuts: You can omit them, so I did not include them in the ingredient shot above. But they do enhance the chocolate in terms of flavor and texture. I typically use chopped almonds, but you can use your favorite nuts. My husband loves this chocolate with pistachios. You can use either unsalted nuts or - if you enjoy sweet-salty flavor combinations - use salted ones.

Variations

Use Cacao Butter

You can use melted food-grade cacao butter instead of coconut oil. Melt it in the microwave in 30-second sessions until almost fully melted, as shown in the photo below, then sift in the cocoa powder. Using cacao butter will result in more stable chocolate. However, I tried both, and personally, I prefer the flavor of chocolate made with coconut oil.

Use a Chocolate Bar Mold

You can use a silicone chocolate bar mold instead of a candy mold. This is what the chocolate looks like when made with this mold:

Instructions

Making chocolate is surprisingly easy! It's so easy, in fact, that it's a great activity to do with your kids. Depending on their age, I find that they need very minimal supervision when making it. The detailed instructions for making this recipe are included in the recipe card below. Here are the basic steps:

Melt the coconut oil in the microwave, then gradually stir in the cocoa powder, honey, and nuts. You can use the stovetop to melt the oil over low heat, but the microwave is faster and easier.

Spoon the mixture into a candy silicone mold. These molds are flimsy, so it's a good idea to place the mold on a tray or pan that would fit in your freezer. The mold I typically use isn't currently available on Amazon, but here's a similar one.

Spooning the chocolate into a candy mold.

Freeze the chocolate until set. This should take between 20-30 minutes. I'm impatient, so I usually take them out after 20 minutes, even though they tend to still be quite melty at this point. It should be easy to release the chocolate from the mold:

This is what it looks like on the inside - delightful!

Made two batches yesterday, with some combination of roasted almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes, and defrosted frozen raspberries. There were five of us and we ate all of them! The ones with raspberries were the favorites. Will definitely make again. Thank you.
Rupa
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Recipe Tip

Even when made with coconut oil, the chocolate is not as melty the next day after it's had some time to rest and stabilize in the fridge. So it's a good idea to make it a day ahead. You should still keep it in the fridge and take it out of the fridge just before enjoying it.

Recipe FAQs

How do you make chocolate from scratch?

It's surprisingly easy! I like to mix cocoa powder, coconut oil, honey, and chopped almonds to create delicious chocolate I can feel good about eating.

Why is my chocolate melty?

Coconut oil is delicious, but since it's almost liquid at room temperature, any chocolate made with it will be quite melty, so you should keep it in the fridge. Another option is to use food-grade cacao butter instead of coconut oil.

How long can you keep homemade chocolate?

As you can probably imagine, it doesn't keep as long as commercial chocolate. And it does need to be refrigerated. You can keep it in the fridge, in a sealed container, for about a week. Take it out of the fridge right before enjoying it.

Serving Suggestions

I like to enjoy a couple of these chocolates with coffee or mint tea (iced coffee or iced tea in the summer) or a tall glass of cold almond milk. They make the perfect dessert, but they are also excellent as part of a snack. I sometimes make myself and my kids a plate with cheese cubes, fruit slices, and a couple of chocolates for an afternoon treat.

Recipe Card

4.96 from 47 votes

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Homemade Chocolate Recipe

This rich and decadent homemade chocolate is made with cocoa powder, coconut oil, honey, and chopped nuts. It's ready in 30 minutes!

Prep Time15

Freeze time20

Total Time35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 202kcal

Author: Vered DeLeeuw

Video

Ingredients

▢ ¼ cup virgin coconut oil - See notes below
▢ ¼ cup cocoa powder - Unsweetened, Dutch-processed
▢ 2 tablespoons honey
▢ 1 ounce almonds - Roasted, unsalted, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Place the coconut oil in a medium microwave-safe bowl. If it's solid, microwave it for 20-30 seconds to melt it.
Sift the cocoa powder into the melted coconut oil. Use a small rubber spatula to combine.
Mix in the honey.
Mix in the chopped almonds.
Spoon the mixture into a candy silicone mold. These molds are flimsy, so it's a good idea to place the mold on a tray or pan that would fit in your freezer. The mold I typically use isn't currently available on Amazon, but here's a similar one. Freeze the mixture for 20-30 minutes until completely set.
Gently release the chocolate pieces from the mold.
Enjoy immediately or refrigerate overnight for improved texture.

Notes

The chocolate sets better and becomes less melty the next day, so I recommend making this recipe a day ahead.
You can use any type of chopped unsalted nuts, such as pecans, which I used when filming the video. They can be salted (if you like sweet-salty flavor combinations) or unsalted.
For less melty chocolate, use 2 ounces (¼ cup melted) of food-grade cacao butter instead of coconut oil.
I only made this recipe with real honey, so I don't know how other liquid sweeteners, including maple syrup, would affect the texture.
This recipe makes 4 servings. The exact number of pieces you get will depend on the mold you use. The mold I typically use makes 10-12 pieces. Other candy molds will yield a different number of pieces. You can also use a chocolate bar mold.
You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Take them out of the fridge right before enjoying them.

Nutrition per Serving

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Disclaimers

Most recipes are low-carb and gluten-free, but some are not. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate. Please verify it independently. The carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Please read these Terms of Use before using any of my recipes.

Homemade Chocolate

Ingredients