Easily make homemade maple sweetened chocolate with just a few ingredients - really you can make your own healthy chocolate! And when you add peppermint flavor and crushed candy, it becomes a special holiday treat.
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I've wanted to make my own chocolate for awhile. When you read the ingredients in chocolate - cocoa butter, cocoa powder, sugar and flavoring (usually vanilla) - it seems like it should be fairly simple to make.
And, like many things I've found that I can make at home (chocolate syrup, ketchup, and other pantry basics), it IS easy. Ridiculously so. And of course I do like controlling the ingredients to make it healthier.
But, here's the million dollar question: does it taste like the chocolate we all know and love?
I've got to be honest here - no it doesn't, in both flavor and texture. Contrary to some comments I've read on other sites with homemade chocolate recipes ("best chocolate EVER" "throwing out the Ghiradelli") no one in our family thinks my homemade chocolate tastes as good as commercial chocolate - me included.
Don't get me wrong - it's not bad and if you're trying to avoid refined sugar completely (or soy lecithin) this is a great option because it's still chocolate, just very lightly sweetened and, in my daughter's words, "healthy-tasting."
And you might guess that I think it's totally fun to make my own chocolate candy easily - this kinda stuff always gets me excited!
Homemade Maple Sweetened Chocolate Peppermint Wafers
For this homemade chocolate recipe you'll need:
- cocoa butter wafers
- unsweetened cocoa powder (I like this organic brand, which is also a good price)
- maple syrup
- vanilla
- pure peppermint extract (NOT peppermint flavoring which is in an oil base instead of alcohol like pure extracts)
- salt
- optional crushed peppermint candy
What kind of cocoa butter do you use?
The only thing that's tricky at all about making homemade chocolate is where to find the cocoa butter and what kind to buy. You want a food-grade cocoa butter (versus cosmetic grade) - I used these Cocoa Butter Wafers, which were really easy to measure and use.
Maple syrup or honey?
I made two batches of homemade chocolate - the one sweetened with maple in the recipe below and this recipe for classic chocolate candy with honey (since peanut butter and honey go so well together). You can use either, really, it's up to you.
Plain or flavored?
To make this candy recipe more holiday-worthy, I added a bit of peppermint oil and topped the simple wafers (no molds to buy or deal with!) with crushed candy canes. Yes, they have refined sugar, again, it's up to you. I've been on a chocolate-peppermint kick lately, but of course the topping is optional. Without the added topping, though, the wafers will be very dark chocolate, if you get my meaning.
You can also flavor this chocolate with other pure extracts like orange, strawberry, or other fruit. There's even a pure coffee extract you could use for a mocha flavor!
Of course you can leave them plain. Though the sweetness then is quite minimal, so I would probably break them up to use as chocolate chips in cookies or something, rather than eating plain.
Anyway you flavor them, I do really encourage you to try making your own chocolate, it's fun and nice to have as an option, because no one should go without chocolate, right? If you make it, do let me know how you use it!
Other Healthy Treats to Try
- Simple Whole Food Dessert Recipes with 6 Ingredients or Less
- Low Sugar Dark Chocolate Coconut Clusters
- Healthy No-Bake Fudge Oatmeal Bars
Homemade Maple Sweetened Chocolate Peppermint Wafers
Ingredients
- 1 cup cocoa butter wafers
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder unsweetened for baking
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla*
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract**
- pinch salt
- crushed peppermint candy for topping optional
Instructions
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Set a glass bowl in a saucepan with water in the bottom that doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the cocoa butter to the bowl and heat the water to simmering over medium-high heat, melting the cocoa butter completely.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder gradually until completely smooth.
- Add maple syrup, vanilla, peppermint, and salt and whisk again until smooth.
- Use a teaspoon to drop the chocolate onto the prepared pan, making round wafers. Sprinkle tops with optional crushed peppermint.
- Cool completely in refrigerator before removing from pan and storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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