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
Quirino W. Jacques
If you wanted to add pecans or walunts how many ozs would you recommend
Katrin Nürnberger
I would add a small handful.
Sena
Hello! I’m excited to try this out. Would using 100% cacao chocolate (baking chocolate) work in place of the cacao powder? I’ve heard homemade chocolate with the powder is a bit gritty and was considering of purchasing backing chocolate.
Katrin Nürnberger
It's not the same thing - you'd add more fat as there's cacao butter in the baking chocolate (plus cheaper fats). But of course, it's something you can try. Personally, I think the best thing you can do to avoid grittiness is to use allulose instead of any other sweetener - it does not re-crystallize
Stacey
can you use coconut milk from a can instead of the cream?.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes you could try that. Put the can in the fridge so the cream separates from the milk. And use only the firm part - the cream.
Angel
Would you still boil the coconut cream as you do the heavy cream?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, definitely. It is all about reducing the liquids as much as possible so you get a firm chocolate.
Pete
This looks amazing and I cNt wait to try it as my wife hates dark chocolate. Could this be used in other recipes instead of dark chocolate such as making brownies or no bake cookies?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, of course!
Janet
Hi, this looks great! If I were to replace the cream with milk powder or cream powder, what quantity would I need for this recipe?
Katrin Nürnberger
I would use 3-4 tbsp.
Sherri
Hi Janet. Did you replace the cream with the powder? If so, how much did you use and how did it turn out?
James White
This was easy and awesome. Thanks for the warning about the similar temperature. I have lost a many mixtures before.
Rosemary Hearn
Can I substitute regular butter for the cocoa butter?
Katrin Nürnberger
No, that wouldn't work, unless you kept it in the freezer. Cacao butter is very neutral in taste AND it's firm at room temperature.
Ida
The cacao butter link to Amazon is powdered. Is that ok? If so, what is the measurement for the powder?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Ida, Amazon gives different results depending on your location. You need to get cacao butter, not cacao powder. It should be white, like in my images and comes either in pellets or in pieces.
Cassie
Thank you so much!
Mina
I don't understand the nutrition. Is this per portion? There are 6 portions. So, I have to multiply the given nutrition with 6, if I want the nutrition in total?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, I always calculate the nutrition per portion. So, if you want the nutrition for the entire recipe, you'd have to multiply by the number of portions.
Kaidi
I'm so happy I found your chocolate recipe. I'm dying to try it out.
In my country it's impossible to find chocolates with stevia or erythritol, so it's such a relief to finally be able to make my own chocolate and have a possibility to make all these delicious chocolate desserts and cakes.
I was wondering though if this chocolate will melt completely in chocolate chips cookies and muffins? Normal chocolate usually doesn't melt completely if you cut a bit bigger pieces than the chips are.
Do you have any recommendations or experience?
Katrin Nürnberger
It will get very liquid, unless you use an emulsifier like soy lecithin. But I have a recipe for sugar free chocolate chips where I added cacao paste - this made them nice and firm.
Kaidi
Thank you for the tip. I'll definitely try it out.
Cassie
I have both lecithin and milk powder here at home. I'd like to make this recipe so that it's stable for baking. How much lecithin should I use or how should I add in the milk powder? Your recipe for the sugar free dark chocolate was absolutely divine btw. Thank you.
Katrin Nürnberger
I would use 1/4 tsp lecithin. And just replace the cream with milk powder. 🙂