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    Home » Desserts

    Homemade Vegan Chocolate

    Published: Mar 12, 2019 Updated: Jun 28, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Vegan Chocolate

    Super easy homemade vegan chocolate recipe. This deliciously dark chocolate is made with cacao butter for a wonderfully textured versatile chocolate. 

    Vegan chocolate stacked up on top of each other.

    I have been making my own vegan chocolate for years. And it’s really fun to make and so delicious. 

    But usually I make it with coconut oil. 

    We have a recipe for raw chocolate hazelnut cups on this blog and that is a coconut oil based recipe. 

    I have tried lots of different chocolate recipes over the years but all with coconut oil. 

    So to shake things up a bit with my chocolate making routines I wanted to try it with some cacao butter. And it was a massive success so I had to share it here on the blog. 

    Coconut oil is awesome and also usually easy to get hold of, so there is nothing wrong with using it as an ingredient in homemade chocolate.

    But what is really great about cacao butter is that it creates a super creamy texture to the chocolate, which is really quite identical to the texture of the chocolate you buy. 

    It also doesn’t melt as easily when you touch it as it does when you make chocolate with coconut oil. 

    Ingredients for making vegan chocolate.

    How to make vegan chocolate

    Grate or finely chop the cacao butter. This lets it melt easily and evenly over a double boiler. 

    You don’t want to try and melt this ingredient in the big blocks that it comes in, not only will that take too long, but some of it will be getting crazy hot while you still have big chunks that haven’t melted. 

    So it works best to chop it finely or grate it. 

    Then place a heat-safe bowl over a pot with a couple of inches of water in it to create a double boiler and let it gently melt as the water below it heats. As soon as it starts to melt, stir and keep stirring so that it melts really evenly. 

    This isn’t something that I would blitz in the microwave. It’s quite pricey and you don’t want to accidentally burn it. 

    Step by step process photo collage of making vegan chocolate.

    As soon as your cacao butter has melted, add cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract and tahini into the melted cacao butter and whisk it quickly until well combined. 

    Then transfer to a pouring jug and pour it into cupcake liners. 

    You have to work quite quickly because the chocolate mix starts to thicken up really fast and you want to get it into the cupcake liners as fast as possible while the mix is still pourable. 

    Then you can use the back of a teaspoon to just swirl the tops of the chocolate when it’s already in the cupcake liners so that it looks pretty on top!

    Vegan chocolates stacked up on top of each other on a white plate.

    The cacao butter can be switched for melted coconut oil but it will change the finished taste/texture a fair bit. If you do want to do it that way though, then take a look at our recipe for raw chocolate that uses coconut oil.

    Cacao butter is definitely preferred to use in this recipe. 

    The taste is very much a dark chocolate taste. So if you love the taste of super dark chocolate, then this is right up your street. If you prefer milder/sweeter chocolate then you can reduce the cocoa powder a bit to accommodate that. 

    You could switch cocoa powder for cacao powder if you wanted to, but then the dark chocolate taste would be even stronger. 

    I like maple syrup for this, but you could substitute a different type of syrup. Your chocolate mix will be thicker though if you do, because maple syrup is a very thin consistency, which works well here for stirring into the chocolate and keeping it a pourable consistency. 

    And then the tahini! I know it seems an odd ingredient but it works great in this! You can substitute it for any other nut butter that you like though.

    Of course it will alter the flavor but that will just add to the fun and you can create slightly different flavor profiles according to which nut butter you use. 

    You can definitely add in some nuts to this recipe as well. And I used cupcake liners because it’s easy, but you can absolutely use chocolate moulds too. 

    Vegan chocolates stacked up on top of each other.

    I hope you’ll love this vegan chocolate recipe! It is:

    • Super easy
    • Quick
    • Divine
    • Deliciously dark
    • Versatile

    Keep the chocolate stored in the fridge and enjoy straight from the fridge whenever you like, they will be perfect in the fridge for at least a week. If you want to keep them longer, then keep them stored in the freezer instead. 

    Vegan chocolates on a white plate. Stack of vegan chocolates on a white plate.

    More vegan chocolate!

    Oh my, we love chocolate here, so we’ve got a lot of options for you!

    Our best vegan chocolate cake is a dream of taste and texture! Our super decadent vegan chocolate ice cream will send you straight to chocolate heaven and our vegan chocolate brownies and vegan chocolate truffles will satisfy any and all chocolate cravings!

    Our vegan chocolate pie is an absolute treat and our vegan chocolate banana bread is perfect for you if you like bananas and chocolate together. And then our super popular vegan chocolate cookies are not to be missed either!

    So let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments and please do rate it as well. Thanks!

    Sign up to our email list so we can send you our latest recipes and we’ll also send you a gorgeous recipe ebook containing 10 delicious vegan dinner recipes (entirely free). 

    Stack of vegan chocolates. Stack of vegan chocolates with the top one cut in half to show the center.

     

    Vegan chocolate stacked up on a white plate.

    Vegan Chocolate

    Super easy homemade vegan chocolate recipe. This deliciously dark chocolate is made with cacao butter for a wonderfully textured versatile chocolate.
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert, How To
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 9
    Calories: 248kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Cacao Butter (135g) finely chopped, packed cup
    • 1 cup Cocoa Powder (84g) Unsweetened
    • ½ cup Maple Syrup (120ml)
    • 4 Tbsp Tahini (60g)
    • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Set 9 cupcake liners into a cupcake tray and set aside.*
    • Add the chopped cacao butter to a heat safe bowl and place it above a pot with a couple of inches of water in it, making sure that the bowl is not touching the water. This creates a homemade double boiler.
    • Let the cacao butter melt gently over the hot water. As soon as it starts melting, stir it gently and keep stirring until melted.
    • Turn off the heat and add in the cocoa powder, maple syrup, tahini and vanilla and whisk it in quickly. Then transfer to a jug for easy pouring and pour it out into the cupcake liners.
    • Place the cupcake tray into the fridge and allow the chocolate to set.
    • Keep the leftover chocolates stored in the fridge and enjoy them directly out of the fridge. You can also store them in the freezer if you want them to last even longer.

    Notes

    1. Cupcake liners. You don't necessarily have to put the cupcake liners into a cupcake tray, but I find it helps them to hold their shape easier when you're pouring the chocolate into them. You also don't have to use cupcake liners for this, if you prefer to use moulds, you can do that too.
    2. Make them smaller. If you pour less chocolate into each cupcake liner you could get 12 out of this batch instead of 9. As you can see from the photos each chocolate is quite large.
    3. Make it raw. If you want this recipe to be raw vegan then use cacao powder instead of cocoa powder.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Chocolate | Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.8g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 19.9g | Saturated Fat: 10.5g | Sodium: 11mg | Fiber: 4.1g | Sugar: 11g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Clair says

      February 02, 2021 at 10:32 pm

      Hello, I’m not sure if this comment was sent or not if yes, I’m sorry that I’m asking twice.
      What could I substitute for the cacao butter? Could I use coconut oil? Would it be okay? I can’t get the cacao butter anywhere at the moment. Thank you.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        February 03, 2021 at 11:06 am

        Hi Clair, you may want to try our recipe for hazelnut chocolate that uses coconut oil instead.

        Reply
    2. Melanie McCann says

      April 08, 2020 at 3:22 am

      This is a fabulous recipe. Love the depth of flavour from the combination of vanilla and tahini. And the cacao butter gives it a great texture.

      I sprinkled some with sea salt flakes and others with cacao nibs. They were both great. Next time I might try adding a little orange or peppermint oil as a variation.

      Thanks for a great recipe.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 08, 2020 at 10:42 am

        So happy to hear that Melanie! Thanks for the awesome review.

        Reply
    3. Cheryl says

      December 17, 2019 at 6:47 pm

      Alison! This sounds wonderful, do you have a recipe for dipping chocolate? I’m afraid this will set up to quickly while working with pretzels, cookies, etc. I tried just using basic vegan choc chips, but they did not look good at all, no shine, melted on touch. Any suggestions?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 18, 2019 at 9:38 am

        Hi Cheryl, our vegan chocolate sauce might be a good fit? Otherwise I would just use melted vegan chocolate (regular vegan chocolate often melts better than chocolate chips) but add coconut oil to make it a little more saucy. All the best! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Marie says

      July 26, 2019 at 2:34 am

      Hi Alison,
      Can I use half/ half cacao butter and coconut oil ?
      Thanks a lot.
      Marie

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        July 26, 2019 at 2:11 pm

        I don’t see why not, I think that would work just fine. 🙂

        Reply
      • Kieran says

        February 19, 2021 at 9:58 pm

        Just tried this and it a lovely rich dark taste I use cashew butter instead of tahini.
        Only thing is mine came out fudgy any advice on how to make it a bit more solid.5 stars

        Reply
        • Alison Andrews says

          February 20, 2021 at 12:04 pm

          Hi Kieran, so glad it tasted good! I’m not sure why it would have been fudgy, the cacao butter is what makes it set.

          Reply
    5. Ruki says

      May 27, 2019 at 5:19 pm

      I’ve used this recipe several times, substituting tahini with homemade peanut butter and I used moulds instead of the cupcake liner. Absolutely amazing, 5 star!!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        May 28, 2019 at 9:41 am

        Fantastic! Thanks so much for the wonderful review. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Michelle says

      May 11, 2019 at 4:49 pm

      Can I use something else instead of tahini?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        May 12, 2019 at 7:31 am

        Yes, this is discussed in the post, you can switch it for a nut butter. 🙂

        Reply
    7. Mamapeck says

      April 18, 2019 at 7:10 pm

      Sounds yummy. I’m always looking for vegan chocolate bars for s’mores when we camp. Do you think this recipe would adapt well if I pour in a cookie sheet to cut into bars?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 20, 2019 at 10:00 am

        I think so! I think it would work great no matter what sort of shape you’re wanting for it. All the best! 🙂

        Reply
    8. Veronica says

      April 17, 2019 at 9:17 am

      Yummy Yummy Yummy!!!!!

      Reply
    9. Gillian says

      March 13, 2019 at 1:42 pm

      Sounds divine I must have a go even tho not a vegan! Im attempting vegan cheese tomorrow and then I will try the chocolate just need to get the ingredients lol. I choose a lot of vegan food as they are so interesting for me and much healthier, which is my main aim. Thanks for an easy yummy looking recipe…I’ll let u know if I make it. ?5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        March 14, 2019 at 10:18 am

        Hi Gillian! That is so awesome that you’re open minded and willing to experiment with vegan recipes, you definitely don’t have to be vegan to appreciate a vegan recipe as you already know. 🙂 Thanks for the great review, I hope you’ll try them and other recipes on this blog! All the best! 🙂

        Reply

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    Hi I’m Alison Andrews! I love making delicious vegan food and creating delicious vegan versions of all your old favorite dishes, so you can have your vegan cake and eat it too!

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