Welcome to Week 3 of our Healthy, Homemade Gifts series!   Today we’re whipping up a batch of delicious, creamy, homemade chocolate that’s perfect for gift giving!   If you missed the other gift ideas in our series, you can find them here and here.

Last year, I was on the hunt for a great homemade chocolate recipe for gift giving.   I tried lots of recipes for healthy chocolate but they just didn’t seem to measure up to my expectations of a delicious, creamy bar of chocolate.

Finally, after many batches of not-so-great chocolate, I discovered the missing ingredient—cocoa butter!   Yes, the same cocoa butter I use in my lip balm and my lotions (I’ll be sharing some of these recipes soon!)  Cocoa butter adds a wonderful creaminess to our chocolate while keeping it completely dairy free.  You can read more about this awesome ingredient here.

So let’s talk about making chocolate!   You have lots of options to customize your chocolate.  In the picture above, I simply added cacao nibs (nature’s chocolate chips) to my chocolate for a little crunch.  I love how it adds some rustic looking craters to my chocolate bar!

You can stick with my basic chocolate recipe or you can substitute the vanilla with a different extract such as almond, cherry, orange, mint, coconut or any others flavors you think might make delicious chocolate! Personally, I’m a big fan of orange extract with almonds!  Yum!

Another way you can customize your chocolate is with toppings.   You have all sorts of options to make your chocolate even more delicious and beautiful!

Topping Ideas:

• Nuts:  pistachios, slivered, whole or chopped almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, whole or chopped pecans, hazelnuts, etc.

• Dried fruits:  raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dates, chopped apricots, coconut flakes, etc.

• Seeds:  hemp, chia, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc.

• Chopped pretzels (gluten free if needed), or cereal (I love brown rice cereal for this recipe.)

• Cacao nibs

 I hope you are able to bless a chocolate lover in your life!   Don’t forget to save a few bites for yourself!

I hope you enjoy this one!  Happy chocolate-making!

–Jen

How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate

What you’ll need: 

• Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone molds

• double boiler or heat safe measuring cup in a pan of water

• 1  1/4 cup cocoa butter (I used the wafers)

• 1 cup cocoa powder or raw cacao powder

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, scraped

• Pinch of sea salt

• Toppings of your choice :  nuts, seeds, dried fruit, freeze dried fruit, cacao nibs, pretzels, cereal, etc.

Instructions:

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or prepare your silicone molds.

• Melt the cocoa butter in a double boiler or heat safe measuring cup in a pan of water.

• Working quickly, combine the melted cocoa butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt.  Chocolate will start to thicken as it cools.

• Pour and spread your chocolate onto the parchment paper or in the silicone molds.   Smooth to your desired thickness and top with any toppings of your choice.

• Place your chocolate in the freezer for 30-60 minutes to harden.  Remove from the freezer and cut into bars or remove from the molds.

Are you looking for more gift ideas?   You might enjoy these posts:

Infused Culinary Oils

Making Herbal Vinegar

Sage Honey

How to Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

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How to Make Delicious Homemade Chocolate

Course

Snacks

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup cocoa butter I used the wafers
• 1 cup cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• pinch of sea salt
• Toppings of your choice: nuts, seeds, dried fruit, freeze dried fruit, cacao nibs, pretzels, cereal, etc.

Course Snacks Servings servings Ingredients 1 1/4 cup cocoa butter I used the wafers 1 cup cocoa powder or raw cacao powder 1/2 cup pure maple syrup 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, scraped pinch of sea salt Toppings of your choice: nuts, seeds, dried fruit, freeze dried fruit, cacao nibs, pretzels, cereal, etc.

Instructions

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or prepare your silicone molds if using
2. Melt the cocoa butter in a double boiler or heat safe measuring cup in a pan of water.
3. Working quickly, combine the melted cocoa butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt. Chocolate will start to thicken as it cools.
4. Pour and spread your chocolate onto the parchment paper or in the silicone molds. Smooth to your desired thickness and top with any toppings of your choice.
5. Place your chocolate in the freezer for 30-60 minutes to harden. Remove from the freezer and cut into bars or remove from the molds.

Recipe Notes

Recipe by Jennifer Prentice @ www.myhealthyhomemadelife.com

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