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    Home » Recipes

    How to Make Homemade Dairy Free Chocolate (Vegan)

    Published: Oct 12, 2018 · Modified: Mar 31, 2023 by Larisha Bernard · This post may contain affiliate links · 14 Comments

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    Going dairy free doesn’t mean you have to give up chocolate! Learn how to make homemade dairy free chocolate today!

    Unless you’ve been dairy free your whole life, there’s a few things that concern you about going dairy free.  You’re terrified mostly of missing cheese, milk, ice cream, and, of course, chocolate.  

    What if I told you, that you can still have all those things. Sure, it will be slightly different than your favorite milk-based brand, but that doesn’t mean you can’t adapt and learn to equally love some really amazing new things that are super close to what you loved in the past. 

    So let’s learn how to make dairy free chocolate! 

    What ingredients do you need to make dairy free dark chocolate?

    I’m likely about to blow your mind, but in order to make dairy free chocolate, you only need four ingredients. 

    • Cacao Powder
    • Coconut Oil 
    • Maple Syrup
    • Vanilla

    Shocking right?  That’s literally all you need. These four ingredients will make you a super rich and creamy dairy free dark chocolate. As with all dark chocolates, there is a bitter taste at the end, but there are lots of sweet notes mixed into this homemade dairy free chocolate recipes thanks to the maple syrup and vanilla. 

    How do you make homemade dairy free chocolate?

    In a medium saucepan, over low heat, mix all the ingredients together except the vanilla. Once well combined, remove from heat and add the vanilla.

    It’s literally that simple. No games. No gimmicks. This dairy free chocolate recipe is perfect for so many things too! 

    How to use dairy free chocolate?

    So once you make homemade dairy free chocolate, you are now wondering what you do with this saucepan full of melted chocolate.  Well, you could just eat it from the pan. That’s always a great option. 

    You could also use the mixture to make homemade chocolate chips. In order to do that, let the dairy free chocolate mixture stand to thicken back up a bit, and then using a piping bottle, squeeze a little out at a time. If you don’t have a piping bottle, you can pour the chocolate into a sealable bag and snip a very small corner off one end. 

    Another option you have is to lay a piece of wax paper on a small baking sheet (we like these 9×7 baking sheets), then pour the chocolate in an even layer. Let freeze. Once frozen cut into bars to have chocolate bars anytime you want. 

    Why Wouldn’t I Just Buy Dairy Free Chocolate?

    You could easily buy dairy free chocolate at a host of locations like Whole Foods or Trader Joes, or grab online at places like Amazon or Vitacost. Typically, a 10oz bag of dairy free chocolate chips would cost you $6-8. The recipe below makes approximately 3oz of chocolate chips, so the price for 10oz of chocolate chips would be $4.77.

    Other benefits including controlling the ingredient list, being able to make a fun treat with children (yours, nieces/nephews, grandkids, friends’ kids, etc), and likely not having to leave your house because you have these ingredients already stocked. 

    Use this Homemade Dairy Free Chocolate to make dairy free chocolate chips for deliciously amazing vegan dairy free chocolate chip cookies!!!

    Print Recipe
    4.43 from 7 votes

    Homemade Dairy Free Chocolate

    Going dairy free doesn’t mean you have to give up chocolate! Learn how to make homemade dairy free chocolate today!
    Prep Time3 mins
    Cook Time3 mins
    Total Time6 mins
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Servings: 8 servings
    Calories: 64kcal
    Author: Larisha Bernard

    Ingredients

    • 3 tablespoon Coconut Oil
    • ¼ cup Dark Chocolate Cacao Powder
    • 2 tablespoon Maple Syrup*
    • ½ teaspoon Vanilla

    Instructions

    • In a medium saucepan, over low heat, add the coconut oil, cacao powder, and maple syrup to the pan. 
    • Whisk constantly until well combined and a pourable consistency. 
    • Add in the vanilla and whisk until just combined. 
    • If too thick, add more maple syrup ½ tablespoon at a time. No more than 2 more tablespoon of maple syrup (*See Notes)
    • Store in air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Use as needed. 
    • Reheat over the stove on in 30 second intervals in the microwave if hardened. 

    Notes

    **Nutritional facts are just estimates. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates.
    *This recipe is similar to traditional dark chocolate and will still have a slightly bitter taste.
    *If consistency is too thick add a more maple syrup 1 teaspoon at a time until thin, no more than 2 more tablespoon of syrup.
    *If you want to make homemade dairy free chocolate chips using this dairy free chocolate, make chocolate as directed, then put into a piping bottle or sealable bag with a tiny hole cut out. Then, pipe out little dabs of chocolate in the same size as normal chocolate chips. One recipe will make ~3oz of chocolate chips. Use immediately or store in refrigerator until ready to use.
    *If you want to make homemade dairy free chocolate bars, triple the recipe and then pour onto a small 9×7 baking sheet. Freeze. Then cut bars into desired size carefully. Store in refrigerator.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2tablespoon | Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 52mg | Sugar: 3g | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 0.4mg

    Pin this Homemade Dairy Free Chocolate Recipe for later!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Pat Jeffery

      December 03, 2022 at 2:50 pm

      This is great my grandson has been diagnosed with dairy intolerance

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        December 04, 2022 at 8:40 am

        Enjoy!

        Reply
    2. Mary

      November 24, 2022 at 5:13 pm

      Turned out all lumpy with coconut oil all separated out. Is there a fix?

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        November 29, 2022 at 10:09 pm

        Hmm, that shouldn’t have happened. Did you make any changes?

        Reply
    3. Luigi

      May 01, 2022 at 5:16 pm

      What kind of vanilla ? Vanilla extract ?

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        May 04, 2022 at 7:14 pm

        Yes

        Reply
    4. Linda Bentley

      February 25, 2022 at 5:27 pm

      Can I put this mixture into moulds for proper chocolates?

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        March 02, 2022 at 4:29 pm

        Yes

        Reply
    5. Ley

      October 29, 2021 at 4:15 pm

      Do you think this would work with brown rice syrup? Or dextrose powder? I don’t use fructose sweeteners because fructose gives me headaches. But I really want to make this chocolate! Also it is awesome that you included instructions on how to make chocolate chips, because dairy free chocolate chips are SO expensive. it didn’t occur to me to make my own but now I definitely will

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        February 10, 2022 at 7:51 pm

        Sorry we’ve never tried to know if those will work or not

        Reply
    6. Rudestar

      May 09, 2021 at 1:46 am

      Thanks for the recipe it is really simple!

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        May 10, 2021 at 3:45 pm

        Glad that you liked it!

        Reply
    7. Karen Angel

      November 14, 2020 at 4:07 am

      Hi can you suggest an alternative oil please?
      I think my little boy is allergic to coconut.

      Reply
      • LarishaBernard

        November 17, 2020 at 3:58 pm

        You could try vegan butter.

        Reply

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