Low-Sugar & Sugar-Free Chocolate Recipe

by ALEXA

I am no chocolatier. I am no pastry chef. I am just a mom who spends a lot of the time in the kitchen experimenting and playing. I’m also a mom who is learning to let go of [some] of her perfectionist ways and say “that’s good enough.”

And so it was with this attempt at chocolate making. I did some reading up on it; how to temper it, all the technique involved. Bah, too many steps, too complicated.“Let’s just go melt some cocoa butter, throw in some cocoa powder and some sweetener and run with it,” I thought.

My apologies to the chocolate artisans who will clutch their chests at my amateur chocolate making skills, but for me this homemade chocolate was “good enough.” And best of all, it’s dairy-free, soy-free, and just oh-so-lightly sweetened with coconut sugar and stevia—or make it sugar-free by sweetening to taste with stevia alone (for some, an acquired taste).

Maybe one day I’ll have the time to devote myself to learning the art of chocolate making, but for now I’ve got a pile of dishes to wash and a kids to pick up at school so I can live with a little “bloom” (bloom is that whitish discoloration that sometimes develops on chocolate. There is nothing wrong with it and it does not affect the taste—it’s what happens when chocolate is not tempered correctly).

If you can to live with some bloom and some imperfection, give this homemade chocolate a try. It’s so easy! And if you can’t do cocoa, use carob. Just be forewarned—this chocolate is intended to be nibbled on as you would a chocolate bar and not for baking chips. I tried breaking these into chips and adding to cookie dough—not recommended—they liquified during baking. One day I will figure that one out, too.

Low-Sugar and Sugar-Free Chocolate (or Carob)

Gluten-Free | Casein-Free | Citrus-Free | Corn-Free | Dairy-Free | Egg-Free | Fish-Free | Nightshade-Free | Peanut-Free | Potato-Free | Rice-Free |Shellfish-Free | Soy-Free | Wheat-Free | Grain-Free | Sesame-Free | Easily Sweetener-Free | Yeast-free | GFCF | Vegetarian | Vegan | Easily ACD (use carob and stevia only)

Makes:  Approximately 4 ounces
Prep Time:  5 minutes
Set Time: 1-3 hours

Ingredients:

2-1/2 ounces plus 1/2 ounce pure, food grade COCOA BUTTER
1 ounce (approx. 1/4 cup) good quality COCOA POWDER or CAROB POWDER
1/2 ounce (approx. 2 tablespoons) powdered COCONUT SUGAR (see notes) (omit for sugar-free version)
2 scoops (about 2 pinches) pure STEVIA EXTRACT POWDER (add additional scoop for sugar-free version)

Directions:

1. Using a double boiler, heat cocoa butter over very low heat just until melted. Make a makeshift double boiler using a pot filled with a couple of inches of water and place a larger stainless steel bowl on top.

2. Remove from heat and stir until completely melted.

3. Working quickly, whisk in cocoa powder, sugar and stevia. Whisk until smooth. Stir in remaining 1/2 ounce cocoa butter and stir until melted.

4. Pour into moulds or line a small, shallow, flat-bottomed dish with parchment, fill with chocolate. Allow chocolate to set until hardened in a cool place. You can rush the process by chilling in the refrigerator (probably another technique no-no). Once hardened, pop our of molds and chop or break chocolate into desired sized chunks.

5. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

Notes:

Cocoa Butter: I use these chips from ChefShop. They are much easier to work with than a solid block of cocoa butter. If a block is what you have, I suggest grating it prior to melting.

Cocoa Powder: The better quality chocolate powder you use, the richer the chocolate will be. I have been using raw cacao (cocoa, same thing) powder from Foods Alive. But the powder you use need not be raw.

Stevia Powder: I usually bake with NuNaturals NuStevia Vanilla Liquid. But for this recipe I am using the powdered form—NOW® Better Stevia pure extract powder (any brand should work, just ensure it is pure stevia with no fillers or additional ingredients).

Coconut Sugar: Coconut sugar can be quite coarse. For this recipe we want it milled to a very fine powder. This can be done in a high-powered blender or coffee mill/spice grinder.

More Good Stuff

23 comments

Ricki December 7, 2011 - 1:36 am

There is absolutely no bloom on that chocolate–it looks perfect! I think we must be chocolate soul sisters. I made homemade chocolate with raw cacao and it's almost identical to this (except I didn't have the cocoa butter–coconut oil had to stand in). There is nothing like chocolate, and there is REALLY nothing like homemade chocolate!! Yours looks absolutely flawless, missy, so no need to be humble! 😉

Reply
Laurel December 7, 2011 - 1:41 am

Damn, er darn it! I've got all this stuff in my pantry as well as those ice cube trays hubby brought home by mistake. Truthfully I've been considering making my own chocolate and now I can. Yours look so pretty too with all that gold foil going on. I wouldn't worry about them not working like chocolate chips, I understand that's a different recipe, meant to be difficult to melt, it's why they don't recommend you use chips when tempering chocolate. As you say though, who has the time? Thank you for another beautiful post.

Reply
Karen December 7, 2011 - 2:55 am

You are seriously my BEST FRIEND right now!!! I can't wait to give this a try! Thanks so much for making my life a little "sweeter"!!!!

Reply
Lexie December 7, 2011 - 3:22 am

Well, Ricki, of course I hand picked out the pieces that did not have any bloom : ) OKAY, I am going to email you now for the recipe of yours … so that I can link it to this post. xoLexie

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Lexie December 7, 2011 - 3:24 am

Karen, let me know how it works out for you. : ) For my little guy on the candida diet I made the stevia sweetened version using carob. Carob kind of has an inherent sweetness. It wasn't half bad just sweetened with stevia. Plus, it's been two years that I've been low sugar and anything much sweeter I just can't tolerate. : ) xoLexie

Reply
Lexie December 7, 2011 - 3:25 am

Karen … thanks for the "sweet" words! xoLexie

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free December 7, 2011 - 3:44 am

Yum, Lexie!! Looks so good! I make some chocolate chips sans cocoa butter….was going to post next week. Will check out your source for cocoa butter. I agree with you about powdering the coconut palm sugar – that's what I do when I make my chips. Otherwise it just doesn't melt down.

Thanks for the mention!!

Hugs,
Amy

Reply
Lexie December 7, 2011 - 4:16 am

Amy … yes, totally! That's the one fussy thing about coconut sugar. I just can't seem to get it to dissolve. Powdering helps … in baking, too (as you know) … especially light cakes. When your post goes live let me know and I will link to this one. xoLexie

Reply
Hannah December 7, 2011 - 4:18 am

Wow! These are beautiful! Your'e so clever!

Reply
barb December 20, 2011 - 5:23 pm

I can't tolerate sugar either, so i make my own using carob, similar to yours. I just melt unsweetened carob chips, add some vanilla and Valencia flavoured Stevia drops, and also add some chopped fruit like banana and pineapple or even nuts….then freeze it. Sugar free carob bark. YUM!

Reply
Lexie December 21, 2011 - 12:21 am

Barb, sounds divine! What brand of carob chips do you use? I am always looking for new products to try : ) Thanks for sharing. LOVE the addition of the fruit.

xoLexie

Reply
Deanna April 6, 2014 - 3:52 pm

You're right- as a chocolate maker I read this and nearly had a heart attack lol. It was a fun read though. And I promise the day you learn to temper you'll laugh at how easy it is.

Reply
Lexie April 7, 2014 - 12:30 am

Deanna, I am glad I was able to entertain you 🙂 Feel free to give me some pointers, ha! xoLexie

Reply

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