Homemade Paleo Chocolate
Delicious homemade chocolate made with simple ingredients and simple steps.
Making a perfect chocolate bar at home is difficult unless you have the right equipment. You can, however, make a decent chocolate with an alternative sweetener for when you want a special snack. It's also a perfect treat for holiday gatherings!
Powdered Coconut Sugar
Because sugar granules don’t properly melt in cocoa butter without special equipment, it’s important to use a fine powder as this integrates better with the melted cocoa butter. Finding powdered coconut sugar is difficult, but you can easily make your own by grinding coconut sugar in a blade coffee grinder until it is light and powdery. This is key when making this homemade paleo chocolate recipe.
Cocoa Butter
Edible cocoa butter can be found online or in most health food stores. It typically comes in chunks or in wafers. I prefer the wafers as they are all the same size and melt more evenly, but either shape will work.
Silicone Molds
Silicone molds work really well for shaping your chocolate. These can be found online or at many craft or home goods stores. Since they bend easily, it's best to place them on a cookie tray before pouring in the melted chocolate.
Mold Alternative
If you do not have a silicone mold, a bread loaf pan or other small pan lined with parchment paper also works well. Spray a little oil in the pan, then press the parchment into the pan. The oil acts like a glue and keeps the parchment from sliding around.
How to Make Homemade Paleo Chocolate
The first step is to measure the coconut sugar and pour it into a coffee grinder. The grinder should be an inexpensive blade grinder and not a burr grinder where coffee moves from one container to another. Grind the coconut sugar as much as needed until it becomes a fine powder.
To melt the cocoa butter, use either a double boiler or a bowl placed on top of a pot of water. With either method, add the cocoa butter to the top pot or bowl and place it over boiling water in the bottom pot. Occasionally stir the cocoa butter until it is melted. Add the cocoa powder, powdered coconut sugar, and pinch of salt, then stir to combine.
To get your homemade paleo chocolate even smoother, pour the melted ingredients into a food processor. You can use a regular size or mini chopper. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Quickly pour the melted chocolate into the mold (or parchment lined pan) before it starts to solidify. Place the mold into the refrigerator to harden.
After hardening, pop the pieces out of the molds. If you used the parchment lined pan method, lift the parchment out of the pan and break the chocolate bar into pieces. Store in an airtight container and keep in a cool area or place in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Enjoy!
Additional Flavorings
For variations on your homemade paleo chocolate, try one of the following:
Orange flavor: add 1/2 tsp orange extract before blending
Mint flavor: add 1/2 tsp peppermint extract before blending
Salted: before chocolate has completely hardened, sprinkle the top with a little sea salt.
Homemade Paleo Chocolate
Equipment
- 1 blade coffee grinder
- 1 double boiler or bowl and pot to create double boiler
- 1 food processor regular or mini
- 1 silicone chocolate molds or parchment lined bread loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup edible cocoa butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar more can be used for a sweeter chocolate
- 1 pinch sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
- Pour coconut sugar in a coffee grinder. (Make sure it is a basic blade grinder and not a burr grinder.) Grind until the coconut sugar turns to a powder. Scrape out and place in a bowl.
- Melt the cocoa butter in a double boiler or in a bowl that is placed on top of a pot of boiling water.
- Add cocoa powder, coconut sugar powder, and a pinch of salt to the melted cocoa butter. Stir to mix.
- Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Do this as quickly as possible so the chocolate doesn't have time to harden.
- Quickly pour the chocolate into silicone molds or a parchment lined small pan. If using silicone molds, be sure to place them on a flat pan to keep the molds from bending.
- Place in the refrigerator to finish cooling for approximately one hour. Remove from molds and store in a container at room temperature or in the refrigerator. If using a parchment lined pan, lift the parchment out of the pan to remove the chocolate and break into pieces.