These Homemade Chocolate Chips are special-diet friendly and so much cheaper than the store-bought dairy-free or low-carb chocolate chips. They're a great guilt-free treat that is guaranteed to satisfy your chocolate craving without breaking the bank.
Today we're talking about how to make--get this--homemade chocolate chips!
Ever since my son was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies, baking became a challenge. I really wanted to make him special treats occasionally but some ingredients like chocolate chips were hard to find without dairy in them.
As time went on, dairy-free chocolate chips showed up in the stores, but their price was a little prohibitive for a frugal shopper like myself. (And allergy-free white chocolate chips are still pretty much non existent.)
If you are, like us, on a special diet where you need to avoid
- dairy
- sugar, or you wish to avoid
- trans-fats
- artificial or natural flavorings that are often in store-bought chips?
For years I tried to find a recipe for homemade chocolate chips or homemade carob chips that would work.
Finally I have one.
Thanks to the basics from a fellow blogger who writes about special diets, I finally have a recipe for homemade chocolate chips.
This week on Maundy Thursday, I thought I'd make a dessert to take to our church's Passover Seder so that my family would have a healthy dessert alternative. Well, the cookies that I made from another blogger's site didn't turn out so great (though the other kids at our table surprised me by eating a number of them and to be fair, I did alter the original recipe a bit due to dietary restrictions), but the chips sure were a success. I'll have to make another go at the cookies another time.
Ways to Eat these Chocolate Chips
Of course, you can use these in chocolate (carob) chip cookies, or eat them plain. Either way, if you are using a healthy sweetener, then you have a great way to get coconut oil into your diet.
This past Sunday I didn't have any good take along snack options for my kids, so I opted for soaked and dried almonds and these chips instead. They loved it! Kind of a crazy breakfast, but it worked.
When you are dealing with special diets and whole foods, you have to often think out side the box a bit. For example, another "crazy" breakfast that we have sometimes is this Silky Bean Fudge. Yes, I said "bean" and "fudge" in the same sentence. Try it and you'll see!
What You Will Need
- Coconut Oil (or any solid healthy fat. I really like Nutiva brand.)
- Cocoa (for more health benefits, use raw cacao, or use carob (I prefer toasted) for AIP)
- Sweetener (both liquid and granulated work fine, but you might wish to powder your granulated sweetener before mixing it in to the oil. Options include stevia extract (for AIP), xylitol, and erythritol)
- Vanilla Extract
- If using stevia, these scoops are great.
(Check out my New and Improved Recipe for a richer taste and better oils to use!)
Recipe Notes and Substitutions for Homemade Chocolate Chips
- Chips Holding Together: These chips may or may not hold up in baking. Some of it appears to be the time of year when you bake. It also appears to be due to the type of recipe. They held up great in my Grain-Free Coconut Chocolate Macadamia Cookies, but, as you can see from the comments, for some readers they didn't work so well.
Try using this cocoa butter instead of the coconut oil for chunks that hold up better. And stay tuned - I will have a new recipe soon that's tastier!! - Multiple Batches: Though this recipe yields approximately 3 cups of chips, I recommend making more than that. True to my bulk baking style, I recommend making a double batch and storing the extra in your freezer for future baking or munching :-).
For more information on stevia and how to use it, check out this post. It includes measuring helps. - Cocoa: For more health benefits, use organic raw cacao instead of cocoa, or use organic carob (I prefer roasted) for AIP.
- Xylitol: Any healthy sweetener can be substituted for the xylitol. Low-carb options besides xylitol include 1/4 cup organic erythritol or 3 scoops (3/32 of a tsp) stevia extract, or to taste. For AIP, use honey, maple syrup (read Choosing Maple Syrup), or sucanat. If you use a liquid sweetener, you may need to use a different amount, so read this post for tips on substituting sweeteners.
- THM: For those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, this recipe is an "S."
NEW Homemade Chocolate Chip Recipe
Following is the super simple recipe that we use most of the time, but you can also head over and see my Homemade Chocolate | Carob Chips -~ Improved for the updated version of this recipe. This version is still good, but the new ones are GREAT!
Homemade Chocolate Chunks
You can, of course, also make Homemade Chocolate Chunks out of this recipe. Here's a look at what they will look like:
Homemade Chocolate or Carob Chips
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil (or any solid healthy fat)
- 1 cup cocoa
- 3 Tbsp xylitol (see notes above for alternative sweetners)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil over a very low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in carob, sweetener, and vanilla. (If you heat over too high of a heat or don't remove from the heat, the coconut oil will separate from the carob when cooling. You can still eat it, but it won't be as smooth.)
- Pour mixture into a pan (8x8 works well).
- Place in refrigerator or freezer until solid. Remove from pan, and cut into chunks of desired size with a good, solid knife.
- Store in a cool place such as the fridge until ready to use.
How would you use these homemade chocolate chips?
Hi, can I use liquid coconut oil? Is it ok if I opt out the vanilla extract?For the sweetener is it ok to just use honey ?
No, liquid coconut oil will not harden so that will not work. Melted coconut oil will. Yes, you can try the other alterations--they should work but I have never tried a liquid sweetener. Please let me know how it goes!
Hi, when I made this recipe with carob powder, sadly the coconut oil separated from the rest of the ingredients, leaving a dark carob "lump" behind. Was it my mistake to substitute 3 Tbsp molasses instead of the sweetener called for?
Hi there. Sorry you are having trouble. How much did you heat the oil up? Did you see the link to the improved version by any chance?
Thanks for replying. I wa snt using a thermometer,but i heated the oil over a makeshift double boiler about 3 min,till it was partially melted. Then i stirred it till the solid chunks in it melted,too.
Of course! So you stirred it until the coconut oil melted and then added the carob while it was still over the makeshift double boiler?
Hmm, I stirred the oil till it all melted. Then I added the molasses and whisked, and removed the pot from heat (but kept the inner bowl suspended over the hot water bath). Then I added the vanilla + carob powder.
Hi again--oops I missed this comment. I hope you can try this again w/ a different sweetener!
Hmm, to my recollection, I melted the oil over 2-3 min over the boiling water, storing it at the end to melt it all. Then I added molasses and whisked to combine. Then I removed it from the heat, but left the bowl suspended over the hot-water bath. I added the vanilla and carob powder and whisked it together, and it was then that I saw the carob separating from the oil.
I did some digging and think it's the molasses. Really removing from heat is best so as not to cause chocolate or carob to seize up, but I believe it's more acidic than other sweeteners and is of course more dense. Did you use blackstrap or regular? I wonder if the recipe was just way too thick w/ the molasses.
Ohhh, interesting! I didn't think about the acidity of the molasses. Would it be the acidity or the viscosity that causes the recipe to seize up, do you think? I used regular molasses, I believe. Is there a big difference between that and blackstrap?
Yes, it is interesting. I would bet it's the viscosity. Blackstrap would be more acidic I would think but perhaps there is no difference. I have had this happen over and over when heating the mixture too much, so that's my only other suggestion.
Hi there! Thanks for recipe, have Hashimoto's and been told to eliminate so many things and miss chocolate like a limb... Tried this now and although I melted my solid coconut oil very slowly on the stove and
then took it off it seperated was it because I then mixed everything else in straight away? When I poured it into the tray to put in the fridge I cld see the oil 'leaking out the sides' am desperate to get this right - please help?
Many thanks Brighid
Hi there! Did you powder the sweetener? What do you mean leaking out of the sides...out of the sides of the pan? Take care!!
I think she meant that the oil was leaking out of the mixture, and was pooling around the sides of the pan.
Yes, you are probably right...I just didn't know if she was using a very shallow pan possibly. Must be that it wasn't blended well enough.
Hello again. I just thought you might be interested in joining my new Healthy Living Community on Facebook. You are welcome to join (we'd love to have you) and you can ask anything you like of other group members--it's a pretty good interactive group though it's still small as of yet. https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
Can I use cocoabutter insted of Coconut oil? My boyfriend has a tree nut allergy and can't have coconut.
Yes! See this recipe! https://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/homemade-chocolate-chips-carob-chips-recipe-revised/
You might be interested in this post as well: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/is-coconut-a-nut/
Thanks for this recipe! I used carob since I'm aip and they are so good! After spreading it in the pan I put it in the freezer for about 5 min. till it's set but still soft enough to cut into small squares then freeze again before putting in a bag. You don't have chocolate (carob) pieces flying all over that way.
Nice tip!!! I'm actually craving these right now!
A "healthy" solid fat is a bit of an oxymoron, but the chips do taste great.
I think that depends on what you read. I have read information on both sides of that argument. Hard to know what to believe.
I can't have anything made from palm trees, soy or cocoa. Does anyone know, will lard work in place of the palm/cocoa oil? If so, will the chips work for baking? Im looking to make carob chip cookies & also energy bites.
Hi Sarah. Hmmm...I would think so if it would taste OK. The chips will be softer since lard is softer at room temp. Palm is pretty soft too. I have the best results with the cocoa butter. I hope that helps a bit!
Chips did not hold up at all.. melted to the bottom of the cookies making a big mess. Not to mention wasting a whole cup of expensive coconut oil. Maybe you foodbloggers should make sure your recipes actually work before you publish them on the net.
Hello Medina. I'm so sorry that you had this problem. It's a conundrum...I have used this recipe and had it work out and so have others. Then a few times, it hasn't. I think it might have to do with the type of cookie. In any case, there is an alternative in the post now for using cocoa butter which makes them hold up better. I hope that is of help to you.
I also would recommend purchasing ingredients like coconut oil in bulk like at Costco or in even larger containers. It really helps so that you don't have to spend as much. Also, I'm sure that the cookies were still edible even though they weren't pretty. They would have been a kind of bar after cooling. Hope that helps and sorry for the delay. Your comment got buried and I'm going back through to address older ones. Hope to see you around again :).
What can be used as an alternative to the vanilla? I'm on AIP diet.
Thanks!
Hi there. Sorry for the delay. I had to look this up b/c I thought vanilla wasn't an issue. So turns out that vanilla was kind of a grey area for awhile. Then the beans weren't allowed but vanilla extract was b/c the alcohol would be cooked off (best for hot preparation dishes) or grain free, sugar free vanilla powder. Also, some on AIP use the vanilla beans scraped from the inside of the pod b/c they can be consumed without chewing them. So.....enjoy!
I believe it's the alcohol in the vanilla that's the issue. There is vanilla without it.
I am pretty sure that the beans were an issue for awhile as well but yes. And here is an alcohol free vanilla :). https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/alcohol-free-vanilla-extract/
Hello, Adrienne!
I want to thank you so much for this recipe. I've recently been diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis (or Painful Bladder Syndrome) and so many foods are off-limits-including chocolate! I've searched everywhere for soy-free carob chips (soy is another no-no) and eventually found your recipe. I made the carob chips (so yummy and they remind me of chocolate) and then made carob-chip cookies. I felt like I was eating a chocolate chip cookie and a little less deprived. I will definitely make a triple batch next time lol.
Thanks again,
Amanda J.
So glad!! Did the chips hold up well for you?