It's quick and easy to make creamy keto milk chocolate at home! All you need for this simple sugar free chocolate recipe are 4 ingredients and a silicone chocolate mould.
Since going sugar free a few years ago, I've been opting for dark and darker chocolate. Chocolate with 90% cocoa solids contains only 7 grams of sugar for a whole 100g/3.5 oz bar - perfectly fine for a low carb diet.
I then started to make my own, TOTALLY sugar free dark chocolate (sweetened it with powdered erythritol) and posted my recipe for low carb chocolate on the blog. Check it out - it's delicious and the post includes plenty of recipe variations!
But. Sometimes it's just got to be milk chocolate, right?
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Can you have milk chocolate on keto?
Shop-bought milk chocolate contains around 50% sugar. Not a good idea for anyone, basically. And all the shop-bought sugar free milk chocolate bars I have tried so far have been more or less disappointing. Firstly, they are expensive, And secondly, they may be sweetened with stevia or erythritol, but the taste.... meh.
So. Here's my homemade version. Simple, rich and super-milky!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- Cacao butter - do not substitute this with coconut oil or regular butter. It has to be cacao butter.
- Thick heavy cream or double cream - can be subbed with coconut cream for dairy-free chocolate.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Powdered sweetener - I used powdered erythritol, but for a completely smooth chocolate use powdered allulose. With erythritol based sweeteners there is always a residual graininess as it re-crystallises as it cools.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
1.) Heat double cream / heavy cream in a frying pan until it stats to bubble, thicken and reduce.
2.) Keep stirring with a spatula so the cream does not burn. I used ¼ cup / 60g of cream. After a few minutes, my cream had reduced by half and I was left with 2 tablespoon / 30 grams. Can you see how thick it has become?
3.) While the cream cools in a bowl, melt your cacao butter.
4.) Add in the powdered sweetener and cacao powder and stir until combined.
5.) Here's a CRUCIAL step. You have to wait for the cacao butter / cocoa mass to COOL DOWN. You want the reduced cream and the cacao butter to be of a SIMILAR TEMPERATURE. Stir and combine them...
6.) .... and pour the mixture into a silicone chocolate mould. Chill in the fridge or freezer until set.
Tips and tricks
The key ingredient in regular milk chocolate is whole milk powder. There are Keto chocolate recipes out there that use heavy cream powder, which has less carbohydrates. Cream powder is a specialist ingredient and not cheap. And I did not want to buy a huge pot of milk powder that I KNOW I will NEVER use again.
Therefore, I settled on using REAL double / heavy cream in this recipe and simply reduced the liquid by half. It does make the chocolate softer. I don't recommend keeping it at room temperature - it turns into the consistency of a creamy praline. Store it in the fridge or freezer!
I've mentioned above how important it is that the chocolate mix and the cream need to have a similar temperature when mixed. This is ESSENTIAL! I have made the mistake for you here, guys. If the temperature difference is too great, THE CHOCOLATE WILL SEIZE AND SEPARATE!!!!! You don't need fancy equipment - just test with your finger and combine the two when the time is right.
The amounts given will make you only 1 chocolate bar. Which is not a lot, but I thought it's better for you to try first before making a larger batch. Double or triple the recipe as you wish.
You can use either cacao powder or cocoa powder in this recipe. Cacao has the added benefit that it contains more antioxidants and nutrients as it is not roasted.
If you wish, you can add vanilla to the recipe. As it's a no-bake recipe, I'd go for quality here. Regular vanilla extract contains alcohol, which you would be able to taste. Go for a vanilla powder instead, or even splash out on a vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds.
A chocolate bar mold is great for this recipe, but not essential. Just put parchment paper on a plate and pour in your chocolate. Freeze, then break into pieces. Voila - keto milk chocolate bark. Alternatively, make pralines with a silicone ice cube tray!
Reader Tip
Update October 2023: A reader who used allulose shared this tip, which is useful for anyone who has experienced issues with chocolate seizing.
Instead of adding the allulose to the warm cacao butter, he dissolves the allulose in a little bit of water. He then stirs the allulose solution into the completed chocolate mixture as the last step. This way, he does not experience any coagulating which he did on his first try.Â
This is not necessary with erythritol or other sweeteners, but will work well with allulose since it dissolves easily. I'll try it next time and report back here!
Storage
Store this chocolate in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If you store it in the freezer, you'll get a great snap.
More Sugar Free Chocolate Recipes
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Recipe
Creamy Keto Milk Chocolate Recipe
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz / 40g cacao butter
- ¼ cup / 60g thick double cream / heavy cream
- 1 ½ tablespoon cacao powder unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon allulose powdered (use an additional ½ tablespoon if you like your chocolate sweet), or use powdered erythritol
Instructions
- Heat the cream in a pan until it bubbles. Lower the heat and stir regularly so the cream does not burn. Cook it until it has reduced by half and has become thick and slightly yellow in colour. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool.Â
- Melt the cacao butter in a pan until just melted. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cacao powder and the powdered sweetener **see notes.
- Once the cream and the cacao mix have the same (lukewarm!!) temperature, combine them and stir. Pour into a chocolate bar mould and place in the freezer or fridge until set.Â
Diedra Denton
If using the heavy cream powder, how much do you use?
Katrin Nürnberger
That's a good question - I honestly don't know because I've never used it myself. We're using 1/4 cup of cream, which we're reducing to about 1/2 the amount. That's 2 tbsp. I would start with 1 tbsp of the powder and taste. Add 1 more if you think it can handle it!
Diedra Denton
I made a double batch, made 2 bars. I used 4 T of the heavy cream powder. On the package it says to mix with a little water before adding to coffee or things so it doesn't clump. I followed your recipe, added the powdered cream mixture and a splash of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon. I also added chopped almonds. It is great. I put them in the fridge to set up but they are great at room temperature. Thanks so much for your recipe. The possibilities are endless.
Katrin Nürnberger
Good to know it works with the heavy cream powder!!!
Sally
Hi, I've been considering buying the full cream milk powder but it has 37g of carbs per 100g (Nestle Nido Instant Powder)... would it still make a keto recipe? Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
You wouldn't be using 100 grams - you'd have to work out how many grams there is in a tbsp and take it from there. I don't think you'd need more than 3. My feeling is you'd probably add a bit more carbs, but not an significant amount. Plus, you'd be able to store the chocolate at room temperature.
Seb
Heavy cream powder has a lot less carbs
Addie
I'm having trouble finding the cocoa butter, except for skin care products. Any suggestions ?
Also, I can't seem to get your search feature to do anything; amI doing something wrong?
Thanks,
Addie
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Addie, as for the search function, you have to hit enter on your keyboard to start the search. You're not the first person to have difficulties with this 🙂
As for the cacao butter, if you are in the UK, you can get it from Ocado. Otherwise I would try health food shops or Amazon.
Linda
I thought to try this as chocolate chips. What are your thought? Thanks.
Katrin Nürnberger
Absolutely! Just make sure you store the in the fridge 🙂
Charlotte Claridge
Hello I'm wanting to try this but not with cream. How much powdered milk can i use in it please or can i use milk? And how would I do that plese?
Katrin
You cannot use milk because it would be too liquid and make the chocolate soft. I don't have powdered milk at home right now so I cannot check how much you'd have to use. I think a few tablespoons (start with 3) should do the trick. Then taste the mix and see what you think.
Jade
Hi, really looking forward to trying this recipe! Just wondering, I would like to possibly make it a little creamier for my dad who is a diabetic and doesn't like dark chocolate (I love it), if I add extra milk/cream will it ruin it the recipe?
Thank you! 🙂
Katrin
Hi Jade, if you want it milkier, I recommend that you use cream powder. This chocolate is not 100% firm at room temperature because of the liquid from the cream, but it's fine if kept in the fridge. If you added more liquid, it may get too soft for the fridge and you'd have to keep it in the freezer. Which is possible, but not ideal. Using the powder instead, if you can source it, may be a better solution.
Nl
Hey there. So I tried the recipe, but something keeps going wrong. My chocolate mixture and heavy whipping cream won't combine and I keep getting small pellet of cream in the chocolate that never seem to meld in. Any tips? (Btw I am absolutely sure I am letting it cool properly, but for the sweetener I am using Pure Monk, maybe that is the problem?) Thanks in advance.
Katrin
That's an interesting question. I have tried the recipe before with inulin and it ended up clumping terribly. So maybe the pure monk fruit is a problem. Other than that, it was just the temperatures that I found needed yo be similar for the recipe to work. Maybe give it a try with erythritol and see if that solves the issue.
Claire
Hi there Katrin,
So my first attempt at making this chocolate, was a bit disappointing. The sweetener I used, (stevia) left a very bitter after taste and it also didn't dissolve, leaving a terrible sandpaper texture.
However, my latest attempt was brilliant and I will be repeating the recipe often. I changed my sweetener to powdered erythritol and melted it with the cacao butter, so it was very smooth. I also added a splash of vanilla essence and some roughly chopped raw cashews and almonds. Wow! What a difference. The texture was much better and the flavour much more like bought chocolate. I think I'll splash out and buy some good quality whole milk powder for some moorish Christmas chocolates...
Thank you!!!
Claire xo
Katrin
That's great news! I also have my reservations about the taste of stevia. Just too metallic-tasting.
Saoirse
Hi, could you substitute coconut cream instead of normal heavy cream? And if you wanted to use milk/coconut milk powder instead of either cream, would you still use 60g? Looking forward to trying this out 🙂
Katrin
Hi Saoirse, I have not tried that myself, but I have reduced coconut cream for my 2 ingredient caramel recipe and that worked fine. I think you can definitely give it a go. As for the amount of powder, I'd probably use less because the 60g includes the liquid you're reducing. I would try for 2-3 tbsp and taste if it tastes of milk chocolate, adding more if necessary.
Scott
I made this exactly as you suggested and it was remarkable. I've tried so many different healthy chocolate recipes and none came out as good as yours! I had some guests try it today and they liked it, too! Thank you for posting this!!
Katrin
Glad you liked it!!