This ultra-rich and decadent homemade chocolate is made with cocoa powder, coconut oil, honey, and chopped nuts.
It's very easy to make, and it tastes amazing thanks to the coconut oil, although you can opt for cocoa butter to make it less melty.
Making your own chocolate is easy. And when you make it at home, you know exactly what goes into it and you can also add tasty additions such as your favorite chopped nuts.
It's also a fun recipe to make! My kids LOVE helping me make it, and I'm happy to enlist their help. They love pouring the warm melted mixture into the molds, then watching it magically turn into pretty chocolate bonbons.
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Ingredients
You'll only need four ingredients to make your own homemade chocolate! Don't you just love recipes with a short ingredients list? Here's an overview of what you'll need - the exact measurements are included in the recipe card below:
Virgin coconut oil: I love the wonderful flavor it gives the chocolate. You could also use food-grade cocoa butter for a more stable chocolate that doesn't need to be refrigerated. See the discussion below.
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 should work too.
Honey: I find that just 2 tablespoons are the perfect amount. They give this chocolate the perfect dose of sweetness - not overly sweet, but also not too bitter.
Chopped nuts: You can omit them, but they do enhance the chocolate, both in terms of flavor and in terms of texture. Make sure the nuts are unsalted unless you think you will like the sweet-salty combination.
Instructions
How to make homemade chocolate? It's surprisingly easy! 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:
1. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave, then gradually stir in the cocoa powder, honey, and nuts. You can also use the stovetop for melting the oil over low heat, but the microwave is faster and easier.
2. Pour the mixture into a candy silicone mold (a product link is included in the recipe card below). These molds are flimsy, so it's a good idea to place the mold on a tray or a pan that would fit in your freezer.
3. 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.
Frequently asked questions
It's surprisingly easy! I like to mix cocoa powder, coconut oil, honey, and almonds to create delicious chocolate that I can feel good about eating.
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.
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 cocoa butter instead of coconut oil. But I do find that even when it's 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.
Variations and substitutions
I love this recipe as is and almost always make it as written. But in case you'd like to vary the basic recipe, here are a few ideas for you:
- You can use food-grade cocoa butter instead of coconut oil. I believe you can find it at Whole Foods and probably also on Amazon. But I prefer coconut oil because I love the flavor!
- You can vary the nuts you use - definitely use your favorite nuts. My husband loves this chocolate with pistachios.
- If you love coconut, ½ teaspoon of pure coconut extract will enhance the flavor even more.
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Recipe card
Homemade Chocolate with Coconut Oil
INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup virgin coconut oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 oz roasted unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped in food processor
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, then the ground almonds.
- Use a spoon to transfer the mixture into a candy silicone mold. Freeze for 20 minutes, until completely set.
- Gently release the chocolate pieces from the mold. Keep the homemade chocolate in the fridge in an airtight container.
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NOTES
NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 