6 months ago, before we started trying to limit highly processed sugar, I was a milk chocolate lover {Read: despiser of all things dark chocolate!} 🙂 I honestly didn’t like the more bitter flavor. But, when milk chocolate became a rare treat (did you know sugar is the first ingredient?!) I HAD to find a replacement. I need my daily chocolate fix and I learned long ago that cutting it out completely quickly leads to a total healthy diet fail.
So, I gave in and substituted dark chocolate. If you choose quality dark chocolate with 70% cocoa or more, the sugar content is quite a bit less and you get the healthy benefits of the flavonoids, antioxidants, and flavanols. I was very surprised to find that after a few weeks I started to crave the delicious dark chocolate flaver. I love that just a few small squares of rich dark chocolate are more satisfying than their sweeter version. I love that I get to feel healthier about this small choice. Okay, I’ll admit it…I love dark chocolate. Now when I have a piece of milk chocolate, the flavor is almost too sweet for me. Yay for healthy changes!
I originally found this recipe {for 3 ingredient chocolate bars} on a fun blog called Chocolate Covered Katie. I edited it a little to include only real food {minimally processed} ingredients and was SO excited with the results! I love too, that it includes unrefined coconut oil. I’ve been reading about the health benefits of this oil and have enjoyed using it with my family.
Just one or two small squares of this deliciously rich chocolate totally squash my afternoon chocolate craving. Plus, it is super simple to make. I highly recommend you give it a try!
I don’t have any pure maple syrup on hand. I wonder if I could substitute honey?
I’ve never tried honey before. I’m guessing the consistency would end up the same, but the flavor would be a little different. If you try it, let me know how it goes! 🙂
I tried honey the other day because I don’t like maple syrup. You can really taste it, so if you like the flavor of honey, you should like this. It was pretty good.
Thanks for sharing Becki! I’ll definitely give it a try! 🙂
Hi Tiffany:) I am one of the newbies for this current challenge. . . First of all, I am LOVING this challenge, and one of the things I really appreciate about how you’ve structured it is that you base it around real food! I love cooking wholesome, healthy, homemade meals and I love the collection of your recipes found here! Thank you for all your hard work. I just made this homemade chocolate this afternoon, and LOVE it! It’s so yummy, and totally satisfies that craving with one piece! Thank you! We also made, from melskitchencafe.com, her healthy Oat applesauce muffins and substituted the sugar with maple syrup, and they are SO yummy and healthy! If you haven’t tried them, I highly recommend. She adapted her recipe from 100daysofrealfood.com, so you will probably like them:) Thanks for such a great challenge! I TRULY appreciate it!
Meg J.
I am SO happy to hear that Meg! Thanks so much for the kind words and for sharing that recipe! Those muffins are definitely on my menu this week. Keep up the great work!
I am planning to make some of this chocolate this weekend. I do not have a chocolate mold either but what I am planning to use is an ice cube tray. The one that I have has 16 little compartments, perfect for the homemade healthy chocolate 🙂
Such a good idea Joy! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I can’t believe it! I have all of those ingredients in my kitchen! Lucky me! 🙂 I’ll have to try the recipe tomorrow though. Time to go nigh-night!
Awesome Sara! I hope you enjoyed it! 🙂
I just made these. I was skeptical but they are amazing. Everyone in my family loved them. We made one batch with some peppermint drops and another with almond flavoring. We all like the almond flavoring best. My family would probably eat the whole thing in one day so I’m hiding them in the freezer so they get a piece each day.
So glad to hear that WrayLynn! I had never thought of adding almond flavoring, what a great idea! 🙂
Just watched you on Studio 5, new fan now. Have you ever made the chocolate without flavoring? I am just like you, didn’t like dark chocolate at all until I gave up sugar last year. But I did love 60% Ghirardelli chips, so I tried 70%, got used to that, now my favorite is 85%. Can’t handle the sweetness of anything less. I love Green & Black’s 85% and feel better that the little bit of sugar is at least organic. 😉 Glad to have found you!
Thanks Katrina! I’m so glad you found me too and I’m excited to check out your blog! Green & Black’s is one of my favorites too. And, yes, I actually usually make it without flavoring and love it plain too. I bet now that you are a dark chocolate lover you will love it plain. Thanks again for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
I just started the program today! I made the chocolate because I know I will need something sweet very soon! I just popped it in the freezer and can’t wait to try it! I LOVE dark chocolate, the darker the better, so I am sure this will be a staple for me forever!
Help, Tiffany! I have tried this recipe twice and seemed to have failed both times! The first time I don’t think I mixed it enough and the oil seemed to separate after cooling. I had a few good pieces (yum!) but the rest was just so-so and I threw it away. The second batch I mixed it in my stand mixer and this time I think I over-mixed it. It became clumpy and weird and did not taste good – this batch also went in the trash, 🙁 I really don’t want to waste expensive ingredients again. Any suggestions?! Thanks 🙂
I am SO sorry Andreia! That is so frustrating. In the hundreds of times I’ve made it I’ve never had any problems. Could it possibly be the brand of ingredients you are using? Or the coconut oil (does it say extra virgin or unrefined?). I use my stand mixer and I don’t mix it the exact same each time, so that shouldn’t matter. I’ll keep thinking and let you know any other ideas for what could cause that. So sorry again!
Thank you Tiffany for your response. 🙂 So I decided to brave making the chocolate one more time and the third time was a success! Yay for yummy chocolate! I varied the order of steps slightly than my previous attempts and it worked amazingly well this time. 🙂
I am SO happy to hear that Andreia! Can I ask what order you used? It may help someone else having the same problem.
I made this tonight and ate it with fresh blueberries. So good! I think it would also be great with strawberries or raspberries. Thanks for this recipe!
Yum Suzanne! I love the idea of eating it with fresh berries! Definitely enjoying mine that way tonight! 🙂
Any substitute suggestions for coconut oil?
Sorry Leslie, but I don’t think there is anything you could use in place of the coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil is unique because it is liquid when warm and then solid when cooled, which is why it works perfectly in this recipe.
This sounds soooo good! Does it have to be kept in the freezer? Thanks!
I just keep mine in the refrigerator. 🙂