Chocolate Homemade

By mariannefeldman

Ingredients

• --all recipes:
• 1 cup cocoa butter
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup honey or to taste (using half this amount or less will make a bittersweet chocolate)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or other flavors to taste
• almonds, chopped and toasted (optional)
• orange or mint extract (optional)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Details

Adapted from wellnessmama.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a double boiler or a glass bowl on top of a small pan with an inch of water in the bottom, melt cocoa butter over medium heat. Make sure that the water isn't touching the bowl.
When the cocoa butter is completely melted, remove from heat and add cocoa powder, vanilla, and other flavor extracts.
Allow it to cool slightly. When it has cooled enough to thicken to the same thickness of the honey you are using, stir in the honey. If using a solid raw honey, melt with the cocoa butter.
Make sure all ingredients are well incorporated and smooth. At this point, make sure that no water or liquid gets in to the chocolate as it can cause the texture to get mealy! Be careful even with wet hands or a drop of water in the mold!
Pour the chocolate into molds or glass pan to harden, or pour onto a baking sheet lined with natural parchment paper.
Let harden for several hours at room temperature until hardened and remove from molds. You can also stick in the refrigerator to harden more quickly. These chocolates will store for over a week at room temperature or can be kept refrigerated for longer. They can also be frozen.
Enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to play with the mix-ins for this recipe to create YOUR favorite flavor of chocolate!

You can also use coconut oil in place of the cocoa butter which will produce a very healthy chocolate, but it will not be as thick or creamy (but still very good!). If you use coconut oil, I recommend hardening and storing in the fridge. This is one easy way to add coconut oil and magnesium to your daily diet!

Also, I've done the melting in a small pan on very low heat and not had a problem, but this isn't as reliable as the double boiler method.

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all recipes:
Gently melt coconut oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir cocoa powder, honey, and vanilla extract into melted oil until well blended. Pour mixture into a candy mold or pliable tray. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
2. Cook's Notes:
3. Flavor by adding orange zest, peanut butter, dried coconut, chopped nuts, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, etc. to taste and consistency desired. Add after melting coconut oil, cocoa powder, honey, and vanilla together.
4. Maple syrup can be used in place of honey.
5. Number of servings depends on thickness of mold(s) used, as does set up time.
6. Not recommended for baking. Must be kept refrigerated

From "notes" -
1-
To prevent the honey from sinking to the bottom of the chocolate, here is what you do. Mix the oil and cocoa powder. Stick this mixture in the fridge until it starts to thicken. Now you can stir in the honey and it won't 'sink' because the coconut oil is no longer liquified. I added a little less than 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper, and a couple pinches of chipotle powder
2-
I know other reviewers said they also had the problem of the honey sinking to the bottom. When I tried the recipe, I tried the trick that others had given, to cool the mixture a little in the fridge before adding the honey, so that they consistency of the cocoa/oil mixture and the honey was similar. However, the first time, the honey sank to the bottom. The second time, I tried another suggestion, and heated the honey first, to give it the same consistency as the coconut oil. That batch was better, but it still had some honey on the bottom. The third time, I did not melt the coconut oil, but kept it as a soft solid. I mixed in the cocoa, and the honey and vanilla, which made a thick paste-like consistency. Then I heated that on the stove-top, just enough so that the cocoa powder dissolved and it was smooth. Then I poured it into a foil lined dish and put it in the fridge. Perfect! The texture is amazing...so smooth. It is great if you like dark chocolate. I added a little cinnamon to mine