Making your own homemade low carb chocolate is easy, quick and much cheaper than buying ready-made sugar free chocolate. A delicious Keto snack or dessert when your chocolate craving strikes!
Hands up who else loves chocolate? I ALWAYS have chocolate in my fridge. To me, it’s one of the best desserts ever invented. It’s instant pleasure!
Science has proven that chocolate has a whole host of proven health benefits. It’s a powerful source of antioxidants, can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease, to name a few. Read more about the positive effects the nutrients in chocolate can have here!
Of course, not all chocolate is good for you. Shop-bought milk chocolate generally contains over 50% sugar and is therefore not a healthy choice AT ALL. (My homemade Keto milk chocolate is a much better option!)
Is there carb free chocolate?
In my recipes, I use either unsweetened chocolate such as Montezuma (8g of carbs for an entire bar of 100g/3.5 oz) or dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 90% such as Lindt. A whole bar of this chocolate (100g) contains only 7 grams of sugar. To put this into perspective, 4 grams of sugar are equal to 1 teaspoon. The Lindt chocolate has 10 squares, which means it’s 0.7 grams of sugar/1.4g carbs per portion.
Then there is the option to buy Keto chocolate. (By the way, stay away from chocolate sweetened with maltitol – this sugar alcohol raises blood sugar almost as much as regular sugar and is definitely not Keto (source). It’s also a diuretic.)
I have tried several brands that make low carb chocolate bars. Nicks is a good choice in the UK, my personal favourite is the Kexbar. In the US, there is stevia-sweetened sugar free chocolate such as Lily’s, which I have also sampled. Lily’s sells chocolate bars as well as chocolate chips. The only issue is that low carb chocolate brands are EXPENSIVE!
I decided I needed to make my own sugar free chocolate to nurture my chocolate addiction whilst staying low carb and not go broke.
There are various recipes online that make Keto chocolate using coconut oil and/or butter. The problem with these ingredients is that neither stay firm at room temperature. If you use unsweetened chocolate you run the risk of the chocolate seizing once you add the erythritol.
To make proper low carb chocolate that has all the health benefits we want you need to use cocoa butter and combine it with cocoa powder and powdered erythritol.
How to make homemade low carb chocolate – step by step:
1.) Melt the caca0 butter in a pan.
2.) Take off the heat and add the cocoa powder and powdered erythritol.
Recipe Tip: If you only have granulated erythritol, blitz it in a food processor or in the attachment of your stick blender until it is powdered. It’s important to use a powdered sweetener as erythritol does not melt like sugar does and tends to re-crystallise when it cools down. The granules will sink to the bottom and won’t be evenly distributed in your chocolate.
3.) Stir until dissolved!
4.) Pour into silicone chocolate moulds and cool in the freezer or fridge until set.
Tip: Make sure you place your moulds on a firm surface such a tray so you’re able to carry them once you’ve poured in the low carb chocolate mix. 
5.) Aaaaand… chocolate time!!
There are many ways to customise your low carb chocolate.
- 1 tsp orange zest (which is absolutely delicious)
- cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom for a wintery vibe
- pinch of chilli for a fiery kick
- sprinkle of sea salt
- vanilla scraped from a vanilla pod (I tried vanilla extract, but did not like it – you can taste the alcohol)
- a handful of low carb granola or peanut butter granola or…
- any nuts and seeds you like!
It’s also not necessary to own a chocolate bar mold to make homemade chocolate. I want to show you 2 easy ways how you can make sugar free chocolate without it.
4a.) Add any chopped nuts and seeds or 1/3 cup homemade granola to the molten low carb chocolate mix. I used my grain free peanut butter granola.
5a.) Spread the mix on a firm surface lined with parchment paper. Cool in the fridge or freezer until set….
6a.) ……and you’ve got yourself some chocolate bark.
If you’re after something a bit more showy, you could also go for this option:
5b.) Using a spoon, drop little blobs of the low carb chocolate mix onto parchment paper, freeze or refrigerate until set…
6b.) …and in just a few minutes you could be munching on one (or two) of these gorgeous low carb chocolate clusters!
Whichever recipe variation you decide to go for, homemade keto chocolate is a life-saver when the need for a sweet treat strikes.
It keeps forever in the fridge if you store it in an airtight container or simply have it on the kitchen countertop. Personally, I prefer to have my sweets slightly out of sight. They’re just too tempting.
Have you seen my post about sugar free chocolate chips? I have an ingenious hack how to make them.
Love chocolate as much as I do? Try these sugar free chocolate dessert recipes:
★ Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!★
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Low Carb Chocolate
You only need 3 ingredients to make your own delicious low carb chocolate from scratch. Check out the post for plenty of recipe tips and variations!
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz / 100g cacao butter
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder unsweetened (48g)
- 4 tbsp powdered erythritol (32g)
Instructions
Melt the cacao butter in a pan, stirring continuously.
Add the cocoa powder and powdered erythritol and stir until combined.
Add any optional extra (1 tsp orange zest/pinch cinnamon/pinch of sea salt/pinch of chili/1/3 cup (50g) low carb granola/handful of nuts and seeds and stir
Fill into a silicone chocolate mould to make chocolate bars. Or pour onto parchment paper to make chocolate bark/clusters.
Freeze 5 minutes until set.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
I calculated on the basis on 12 generous portions. My recipe made 2 chocolate bars with 24 squares each. Each portion @ 4 chocolate squares weighed circa 12 grams.
If you add the 1/3 cup (50g) of peanut butter granola as I did in the second round when I made the bark and the clusters, the nutrition increases to 103 calories and 0.9 net carbs per portion.
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David O Blackman says
Hi Katrina,
I use Hersey’s cocoa 100% cacao unsweetened, SoNourished powdered Monk fruit/Erythritol blend and cacao butter that I purchased in bulk and it is solid at room temp. It makes a very good chocolate, just not hard at room temp. I have read about tempering chocolates and found that there are two ways to temper chocolate. The first is seeding the chocolate with well tempered chocolate (very solid at room temp) like unsweetened Baker’s chocolate bar and seed it to the new chocolate when it cools to 86-90 degrees F. The second way is to let the chocolate cool down to 86 to 90 degrees F, and then place a small amount of chocolate on a marble surface working it with a metal scraper until it cools and thickens, then adding more of the warm chocolate to it and continuing this process until it is all tempered. Then spread it out on parchment paper and let it cool and it will harden. I did this and had about a half inch thick chocolate bar that was hard to break at room temp! I have been having fun learning about chocolate and how and why it pulls together and crystalizes at this temperature. Milk and white chocolate have different temperatures that the chocolate crystalizes at.
Katrin says
Hi David, that is so interesting! Thank you so much for your comment.
David O Blackman says
Do you need to temper the chocolate? I have made this chocolate and it is soft at room temp. You said yours is hard at room temp, but I have to keep mine in the freezer to have a nice snap to it! What do you think I might be doing wrong?
Katrin says
It should be firm. What Type of cacao butter are you using? Did it look like the one I used? Because essentially this recipe is just cacao butter with two extra dry ingredients, and as long as the cacao butter is firm at room temperature, so should be your chocolate.
Sel says
Hi, I powedered the ethritol extremely finely and put it on the heat for just a min or less and continued to stir but it was extremely crystalised still. Any tips? I have pure stevia powder (You only need the tiniest amount), do you think this would be an OK substitude, or honey?
Katrin says
Hm, not sure why that happened. Was it pure erythritol? There are some brand which add fillers. I have never tried stevia powder, but stevia would definitely work too. Drops may be easier to measure. Honey should be fine as well, or a sugar free syrup – although the chocolate may be less firm at room temperature because you’re adding more liquid. .
Rachel Tuck says
I find that sugar alcohols make me unwell regardless of the amount I have. I’m trying to go sugar/sugar replacement free. Do you think that this would taste good enough without the erythritol in it?
Katrin says
Yes, it is possible. I think you’ll have to add some kind of flavour though. I would try vanilla bean, for example, or cardamom/cinnamon – both slightly sweet. I have also tried 100% unsweetened chocolate with almonds and orange peel in it which tastes very good.
Lacey says
Oh my god these are amazing. Just made them for the first time and I can’t stop eating them! I’ve been craving chocolate since I went keto, but these are better than Lily’s or any store bought version I’ve tried! I used organic cacao butter and cacao powder, I might try cocoa next time (as the recipe suggests) for a stronger chocolate flavor but these are soooooo good and definitely a recipe I will make over and over. Thank you for the great recipe!
Katrin says
That’s so good to hear! Glad they hit the spot
Jenn says
Does this taste sweet at all?
I’m looking into this for a gestational diabetes substitute for chocolate craving.
Katrin says
It tastes like a 85% dark chocolate. I don’t like my sweets too sweet, so I think it is just right. When you make the recipe, just have a little taste before you pour it in the mould. If you feel it needs more sweetness, just add another teaspoon of sweetener.
Ann says
I made this too, being new to Keto I’m trying to find more cost effective sweet treats. It was great the first and second day but day 3, it was gritty and felt crystallized and separation began….any help?? Don’t know what went wrong
Katrin says
Hi Ann, which sweetener did you use? And what do you mean with separation? I’ve never had problems with recrystallisation in homemade chocolate as it’s firm, only with sauces – anything that’s liquid.
LlB says
I see some keto chocolates with inullin or other fiber(oat fiber, psyllium husk)? Could one add one of these to ramp up the fiber and lower the carbs?
Katrin says
You could definitely sweeten with inulin. I love the taste (no cooling effect). You may need to blend it in a food processor though, I have tried to add it to hot liquids and found it was prone to clumping.
Cindy H says
hiya….I have missed chocolate so much on the Keto diet, noting that even 70%> choc has sugar in it, i have avoid the shop bars.
so I been looking for a Keto sugar free chocolate recipe for some time…I have tried many, but this beats all hands down, and so simple. I used Indigo Nutrition organic Cacao powder, Superfood World organic Cacao powder and Swerve confectioners Erythritol, as it is a very fine powder and dissolves easily. I reduced the cacao powder to 4 tbls as a precaution on the first attempt, as it can be too strong. I used individual silicone muffin cases as that’s all i had in the house and spooned 2 tbls into the bottom, sprinkled toasted flaked almonds on top. Popped them into the fridge for a few hours. They were delicious!! i will be trying the orange version next. Thank you for all your experiments, saved me loads of frustration!!
Cindy H says
……that should have been Indigo cacao BUTTER….and AVOIDED …..please edit!!
Katrin says
Thank you for all your details, this is always so helpful for everybody else trying out the recipe. I’m glad you made it work for you and happy you like it
Nick says
Hi –
I’ve tried this recipe a few times and the end product keeps coming out a bit gritty. Any ideas on how I could smooth it out?
Katrin says
That’s the nature of the erythritol, I don’t think you can prevent it from crystallising a little. You’d have to make it with stevia drops instead (I did not as I’m not too fond of the taste, but it’s entirely possible) or use a sugar free syrup (which means you may have to store it in the fridge as you’ll be adding more liquid).
karen says
i have a bag of stevia sweetened granola that i would like to use. it is just right in sweetness for my palette. do you think i could eliminate the sweetener in the chocolate. I was never a sugar fan and used to reduce it many recipes.
Katrin says
Hi Karen, there’s an unsweetened chocolate brand called Montezuma’s here in the UK and I find that the versions that have nuts or orange nibs in it actually taste nice. The unsweetened bar on its own is a bit much – you really can’t have more than a little square. So, I think if you’re not keen on a sweet taste anyway you’ll probably quite like your chocolate unsweetened with the granola.
Jonathan McCord says
Can you use coconut butter in place of the cocoa butter?
Katrin says
Cacao/cocoa butter is much firmer than coconut butter. Unless you plan to keep the chocolate frozen, I would not recommend it.
Jess says
This looks great! Just curious, the link you have for the cacao butter leads to a cocoa butter link. Which did you use? Thanks!
Katrin says
Hi Jess, they call it both cocoa and cacao butter – I guess, to make sure they catch more customers. I have used 2 different brands so far, one is Green Origins and the other one is Sevenhills
Debi says
Were can I get the chocolate bar mold in the U.S. ?
Katrin says
I would just order it on Amazon, for example this one 🙂
Simon Hoefer says
Hi,
German “cook” here, can I ask how many gramm each of your tablespoons has?
I tried it with with 14 gramm per tbsp and it was quiet too much, the mixture never became fluid after I addded the cocoa powder and powdered erythritol…
Thanks in advance,
best regards,
Simon
Katrin says
Hello Simone, sorry this took me a while, I’ve been away. It’s 8g per tbsp for both powdered erythritol and cocoa powder.
Simon Hoefer says
Hi Katrin,
no problem, and thanks for the answer, that explains why it didn’t work they way it should, will try it again now 😉
Regards,
Simon
Catalina says
Hi! I made this recipe and it’s really good, but it won’t stay completely solid at room temperature, any ideas why could that be?
Thanks!
Katrin says
Hm, I’m wondering if that’s to do with your cacao butter? Maybe there are differences in quality? I”d be interested in hearing which brand you used. The one I use came in these pellets you see in the images in the post. They are solid, but if you were to rub them in your hands they warm up and become soft (I have used them as a hand cream before!!) As you only add dry ingredients this would be the only ingredient affected by temperature. Unless your room temperature is way above 20 celsius?
Emma Luxford says
omg!! amazing x
Audrey says
Hi, which cocoa powder did you use? I used Droste, the chocolate was very intense, I think I will try it with different cocoa powders. Maybe I could use slightly less cocoa? Love your recipes!
Katrin says
I used the Green & Blacks cocoa. You’re right, different brands would taste different, depending on how much they are roasted. If you don’t like an intense cocoa taste you could also try using cacao powder. It’s unroasted and milder. Plus, it has more antioxidants 🙂
radha says
i tried the erythritol . bot even powdered it does not dissolve. Is there any way to dissolve erythritol for this recipe. I dont want to use stevia drops
Katrin says
Erythritol has the tendency to re-crystallise, even if it dissolves. I don’t mind it in this recipe, as long as you use the powdered version. I’m about to test a new sweetener, polydextrose, which is supposed to behave more like sugar, and will let you know what I think about it. I guess the only other thing you could try is to use a sugar free syrup.
KokesW says
I made this tonight. So quick and easy! I added some cinnamon and chilli pepper and it was delicious. I couldn’t find my silicon mould so just poured it all on baking paper and made bark. I’ve been paying silly money buying ChocZero from the US – this tasted miles better and so much more cost effective! This is the second recipe of yours I’ve tried and I’m sold! Thumbs up from me!!
Katrin says
That’s so good to hear!!! I must try a batch with chilli next time.
Lauren says
Can you make this with stevia? I could total carbs and while I use erythritol from time to time, I try to stick to liquid or powdered stevia (I thankfully have never tasted the “icy” after taste of stevia). I’ve tried making some fat bombs in the past with powdered stevia and I found it does not really dissolve. Do you think this would happen with this recipe? Thanks!
Katrin says
I’d use stevia drops instead of the powdered stevia. Powdered stevia brand contain various different fillers to make it look like sugar, from maltodextrin to sucralose.
Glenys Costain says
Hi
Can you use normal butter for this recioe?
Katrin says
No, you couldn’t. Cacao butter is firm at room temperature. If you used butter instead, you’d essentially get a frosting. You CAN freeze and eat it straight from the freezer. But it would be a frosting/fat bomb and not chocolate.
Kim Radcliffe says
I love your recipes that I have tried and can’t wait to try my hand at chocolate making. Have you ever experimented with xylitol in your cooking? I generally avoid erythritol because of the aftertaste, but will try making a batch with it to compare to the xylitol. Thanks again!
Katrin says
You can definitely use xylitol (powdered) in this recipe. I prefer to use erythritol because it has no carbs, while xylitol does have a few. Let me know if you think it tastes better with the xylitol!
Audrey Lawrence says
This is brilliant! I really don’t like the taste of Lily’s with Stevia, I am going to try this, and maybe buy a chocolate chip silicone mold, I want to try making Keto chocolate chip cookies!
Katrin says
Let me know how you get on Audrey! 🙂