Easy Homemade Dark Chocolate Bars
Enjoy delicious homemade dark chocolate bars naturally sweetened with maple syrup with no refined sugar added. Super easy to customize! Learn how to make healthy chocolate bars with this step-by-step guide.
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Chocolate is one of my favorite indulgences. Luckily, dark chocolate is a healthier choice as far as treats go. Like these Chocolate Crunch Cups or these Chocolate Coconut Macaroons. How about an adult beverage to go along with it like this silky-rich Rumchata Hot Chocolate? Yum! Check out all of our Chocolate Recipes for inspiration.
Remember friends, dark chocolate has a healthy nutrition profile. the calories in this treat are nutritionally dense with minerals like magnesium and potassium. Great for after a workout because they help your muscles relax. Nice!
Ingredients And Supplies:
This recipe has a short ingredient list which I love. You only need three ingredients for the BEST dark chocolate bars.
- cacao butter wafers – using the wafers makes everything so much easier. Just measure and go.
- cocoa powder
- maple syrup
Chocolate bar making supplies:
- cutting board and knife
- measuring cups and spoons
- small saucepan
- candy mold
- small spatula
This is by far my fav chocolate bar mold. I find some are too shallow if you want to add any extras like nuts etc.
How To Make Homemade Dark Chocolate
First things first, I don’t use a double boiler. I know, I know. Most instructions you read for homemade chocolate usually involve some kind of double boiler action which is when you set a bowl over a pot of boiling water and melt your cocoa butter that way. I toss mine right in the pan over medium-low heat and go for it. I find the texture is always perfect so why make more dishes?
Using the wafers makes life so easy! No chopping up chunks of the butter and even melting.
It takes less than five minutes for the wafers to melt.
Next, stir in the cocoa powder. You want to stir it really well and break up any clumps.
Follow this by the maple syrup and keep stirring until the chocolate mixture is smooth as silk.
Finally, pour the mixture into the mold. This is where you would add any extras if you wanted to customize the chocolate bar. I did half plain and half with rice crispies for this batch.
Tap the mold on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles then pop the mold into the freezer to set.
A useful tip is to put the candy mold on a small cutting board before pouring the chocolate mixture in. This makes it so much easier to transfer it to the freezer by making it stable and flat.
Serving Suggestions and Substitutions
- This is best stored in the fridge in a sealed container. It will definitely soften at room temperature.
- Substitute honey as a sweetener. I prefer a liquid sweetener to something like granular cane sugar. Stevia is another sugar-free substitution.
- You can substitute coconut oil for the cacao butter but it melts much quicker at room temp and isn’t quite as rich.
- Instead of cocoa powder try raw cacao powder from cacao beans.
- Add a teaspoon of vanilla – I prefer pure vanilla extract or even fresh from the bean if you’re feeling fancy. The taste of the real vanilla bean is incomparable.
- Anything crunchy is always amazing – nuts for instance like pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, etc. Rice crispies are another great way to add crunch.
- Another fav addition is essential oils like peppermint, orange, or lavender. Be sure to use quality food-grade essential oil products only!
More Healthy Chocolate Recipes
- No-bake Chocolate Coconut Cookies
- Healthy Crunch Bars
- No Bake Brownie Bites
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Balls
- Chaga Hot Chocolate – Vegan + Gluten Free
If you’ve tried my homemade dark chocolate bars, please rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out by leaving me a comment below. I’m always interested in feedback!
Be sure to follow me on social media! I love pinning to Pinterest, sharing on Facebook, and posting pics to Instagram. See you there. 🙂
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Homemade Dark Chocolate Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup cacao butter
- ⅔ cup cacao powder
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- pinch of salt *optional
Instructions
- Place the cacao butter wafers in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until melted and remove from heat.
- Add the cacao powder and stir really well, making sure to get rid of any clumps.
- Pour in the maple syrup and stir until the mixture is silky smooth.
- Pour evenly into a silicone chocolate mold with 6 wells.
- Place the filled mold into the freezer for 1 hour to set fully.
- Pop the dark chocolate bars out of the molds and enjoy. Store in the fridge in a sealed container.
- See below for extras and variations.
Notes
Serving Suggestions and Substitutions
- This is best stored in the fridge in a sealed container. It will definitely soften at room temperature.
- Substitute honey as a sweetener. I prefer a liquid sweetener to something like granular cane sugar. Stevia is another sugar-free substitution.
- You can substitute coconut oil for the cacao butter but it melts much quicker at room temp and isn’t quite as rich.
- Instead of cocoa powder try raw cacao powder from cacao beans.
- Add a teaspoon of vanilla – I prefer pure vanilla extract or even fresh from the bean if you’re feeling fancy. The taste of the real vanilla bean is incomparable.
- Anything crunchy is always amazing – nuts for instance like pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, etc. Rice crispies are another great way to add crunch.
- Another fav addition is essential oils like peppermint, orange, or lavender. Be sure to use quality food-grade essential oil products only!
