Healthy Homemade Milk Chocolate (To Celebrate My 3rd Blogiversary!)
Healthy Homemade Milk Chocolate without the heavy cream, refined white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings and preservatives!
Chocolate addicts, BEWARE. This guilt-free DIY chocolate is sweet, creamy, rich, satisfying and as close as you can get to Hershey’s while staying au naturel!
I think this is the best recipe to celebrate my blog’s 3rd birthday. If you’ve been following Desserts With Benefits for a while, then you know allll about my dessert addiction. And chocolate addiction. And coffee addiction.
While Dark Chocolate is all fine and dandy, seriously now, it’s nothing like Milk Chocolate. Milk Chocolate doesn’t “snap” like the dark varieties, it’s soft and melts in your mouth. It’s creamy, it’s super sweet, and it’s totally addicting. Unfortunately, storebought milk chocolate isn’t good for you. Oh, but this one? This Homemade Milk Chocolate is:
Sooo I should need to tell you something. I’m not gonna lie to you or sugar-coat the truth. This recipe is weird. But in a good way, you know? You see, this chocolate is, well, seized.
Did I just hear you gasp? I bet the chocolatiers and professional cooks out there will now think of me as some amateur baker (I’m not gonna sugar-coat that either, I totally am an amateur), but trust me, even though you have to seize the chocolate in the chocolate-making process, you will still end up with a creamy and dreamy, delicious and nutritious, good-for-you and good-for-your-taste-buds chocolate.
CHOMP!
See how soft and fudgy it is? It doesn’t “snap” like dark chocolate, it melts in your mouth. Just like how ALL milk chocolate should 🙂
One bite and you’ll have a hard timing believing this Healthy Homemade Milk Chocolate is all natural, sugar free, dairy free and vegan.
No butter, milk or heavy cream, no soy lecithin, no preservatives, no artificial “vanillin” flavoring, no PGPR — just pure and natural goodness. Tastes like storebought chocolate, but this one’s actually good for you!
Indulge… sinfully sinlessly!
Healthy Homemade Milk Chocolate
Ingredients
- 4 oz Unsweetened Chocolate (broken into chunks)
- 128g (½ cup) Natural Almond Butter (or any other neutral flavored nut butter)
- ½ cup Powdered Erythritol
- tiny pinch of Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor (this is all natural and vegan)
- ½ tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
Instructions
- In a double boiler, add the unsweetened chocolate and almond butter. Place over medium-low heat and stir occasionally until completely melted.
- While the chocolate/almond butter is melting, sift the erythritol and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
- When the chocolate/almond butter is completely melted and smooth, stir in the vanilla paste, butter flavor and stevia extract.
- Toss in the sifted erythritol and stir together (the chocolate will seize, that's totally fine). Keep the mixture over the heat for a couple more minutes while stirring/folding. Make sure all the erythritol is dissolved and incorporated thoroughly. It should look like the picture down below.
- Remove from the heat and scoop the mixture into the chocolate molds of your choosing (I used a Hershey Kiss mold, a chocolate bar mold and a chocolate diet pill mold.
- Chill in the refrigerator until hardened (a couple hours or so), then remove from the molds and wrap in thin tin foil or cellophane wrapping. To store, keep tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.
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Recipe Notes
This Healthy Homemade Milk Chocolate is nutritionally balanced with a good amount of healthy fats, filling fiber and satiating protein. Unlike storebought chocolate, which has a whopping 30g of sugar (equivalent to 7.5 teaspoons of sugar), my chocolate doesn’t have any added sugar whatsoever. Supposedly chocolate companies have been making their chocolate lower in fat by using that strange “PGPR” additive. No thank you. Homemade is totally the way to go (plus it’s got more protein and fiber)!
To be quite honest, I was never really a fan of Hershey Kisses. Wanna know why? Because that darn foil was just a hindrance to shoving sugar in my face. But I’ve learned to be patient…
Just kidding. I still hate that foil. It’s evidence of our shove-chocolate-in-face sessions.
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I just want to say that I am so blessed to have you guys in my life. Sometimes I stress myself out and focus too much on the recipes, the baking, the photographing (or at least, trying to take decent pictures), the responding to comments and emails, and so on, that I forget to tell you how much I truly appreciate you. This post, this recipe, the rest of my recipes, this ENTIRE BLOG, actually… it’s all here because of you. I am so grateful for you. Without this blog, I truly have no clue as to what I would be doing in my life. Throughout the years, a lot of people have asked me to share more about my life on the blog. I guess I’m not as open as some other bloggers out there, but I’m trying! So here’s a start:
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10 Things That You Probably Didn’t Know About Jessica, the Blogger Behind Desserts with Benefits:
1. Every morning I wake up, I immediately think of breakfast. Like, the moment I open my eyes and lift my head off the pillow. Seriously, HOW did I ever skip breakfast back in my teenage years?!? To me, breakfast is just as important as coffee. And that’s pretty freaking important.
2. I’m not shy, I’m just reserved. I won’t walk up to you to start a conversation, but if you start one with me you probably won’t be able to get me to shut up (especially with a drink or two in me)
3. I suffer from chronic bitch face syndrome.
4. I get overwhelmed easily. Usually by the sheer amount of emails I get. I get soooo many from all you lovelies! And while I absolutely love reading them (they make me smile, they brighten up my gloomy days, they make me over-the-moon happy to do what I do here at Desserts With Benefits), sometimes I just can’t find the time to sit down and respond to them all in a timely manner. The reason I may not respond right away is because I will never ever ever rush an email just to get it out of my hair. You took the time to write to me, so in turn, I will take the time to write you back.
5. Most girls like to hang out at the mall to shop for clothes. I go straight to kitchen-related stores like Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table and Crate & Barrel, and look at (totally unnecessary) baking pans of all shapes and sizes. Seriously, who the hell needs mini heart-shaped cupcake tins, seven different bundt pans and cake pans in four sizes?? Apparently I do.
6. I cringe when I make spelling errors like its/it’s and their/there/they’re. Its terrible. JUST KIDDING, it’s terrible! Almost cried for a second there, phew!
7. I’m suuuper good at cleaning, organizing and budgeting (despite said vices in #5). I’m frugal and proud of it.
8. I started a new tradition in 2014 to donate 10-12″ of my hair every year. I’ve done it twice so far and I can’t wait until the next time I get to chop it off. My hair grows pretty fast, and since I don’t heat or process my hair at all, I never get split ends and everyone always says my hair is super soft and smooth.
9. Even though I’m so close to graduating, I still have no idea what I want to do after college (help!). Write a cookbook? Get a food truck? Keep blogging in my super comfy pajamas? Or, dare I say it, get a job? In all seriousness, though, I’m lost. Even though I’m studying Nutrition, I really don’t want to become a Registered Dietician anymore. And this is stressing me out. EDIT: I have graduated, I’m still blogging, and I got a job at a local gluten free/vegan/organic/local bakery. I have specific business plans now, but I just need to get my bearings before I take those big steps (and risks).
10. I’m really impressed by you reading all the way to #10! But really now, I appreciate you guys SO MUCH. I don’t really express my (virtual) love for you guys, but I need to. You make me so happy I want to cry! Tears of joy, of course. For now, here’s a (virtual) high five — DON’T HIT YOUR COMPUTER, bad things will happen — and a (virtual) hug. Just be glad this is virtual, because then you can skip witnessing my resting bitch face (see #3).
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
I would make a creamy and delicious butternut squash soup! And healthy nutella!!
I’d make Homemade milk chocolate for sure!!! it looks DE-LISH!
I’d make one of everything on this site!! I can’t wait to try each recipe.
I would definitely make nut butters or nut milk because buying them every couple of weeks is so expensive.
BTW this is awesome of you to give away and your blog is amazing.
a thick cold chocolate shake!
The first thing I’d make with this Blendtec is some nut butter! Then I’d use it to make a smoothie!
Where do I begin…
i would make a smoothie!
The first thing I would make with the Blendtec would be ice cream, hands down.
I think I’d start with either a smoothie or some homemade nut butters.
This chocolate looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. As for a blender that blends marbles?! I bet it would have no issue blending up dates for my protein bites, which is my biggest blending issue. 😀 I need one of these babies!
Milk Choc. my little one loves it but I won’t let her have store bought to often.
I’m so excited to try making this chocolate! The first thing I would make in my new blendtec blender would probably be a peanut butter and banana smoothie/shake. My fav!
Are you Kidding? I’d take the fresh strawberries coming into markets in the Northeast and make my first smoothie of the season.
Congrats on your 3rd year blog anniversary!
I had gastric sleeve surgery this past January so I would use it to make protein shakes, soups and maybe even frozen yogurt. Thanks for having the giveaway.
Smoothie
Oh my gosh, if I won I would start making green smoothies and my healthy brownie mix straightaway!!!
ICE CREAAAAM
Definitely a smoothie recipe, like your chocolate pb oat, yum!
Thank you for the giveaway!!
Ahhhhh I’d love to make some homemade coconut butter!!!
I’d finally try out all the recipes my blender is too weak to make. Coconut milk, nut butters, green smoothies, the list goes on! It’d be tough to pick which would be first…
I long for the ability to first make smoothies with ICE!! After that…the possibilities are endless!
This recipe flung a major craving on me! It looks so good!
Smoothies, definitely!!
I would make smoothies daily! And of course ice cream 🙂
I think I would make a kale detox smoothie first! 🙂
I would try making coconut butter because I never manage to manage to make it with my current blender!
This looks wonderful! I love your blog. 🙂
The first thing I would make is a smoothie for my fiancé and I. I haven’t had a blender in a long time and the only one I had was a cheapo that didn’t quite cut it. Thanks for the opportunity.
I would make a smoothie – they are my favorite breakfast!
Homemade milk chocolate!!! And then ice cream (: Yum!
I would make a smoothies! I make one every morning but my current blender has trouble blending things such as greens, nuts, and fruits with seeds.
I would make my own almond butter!
I would try to make the chocolate!
I’d make ice cream (:
1) The first thing I’d make in the Blendtec is nut flour.
2) Why don’t you want to be a registered nutritionist anymore?
Sophie-
1) Great idea! I’ve always wanted to make my own almond flour (buying it is so expensive, and I don’t know how fresh it is)
2) Oh, so many reasons. First, being a Registered Dietician is very similar to counseling. People share their life stories, you help them with their physical/emotional issues, and you will be in delicate situations on a daily basis (stubborn patients who do not want to change their eating habits, body image issues, eating disorders, etc). I’ve worked/volunteered in areas like this and find it difficult for me… I’m a good listener but I don’t like being in emotional situations (especially on a daily basis). Second, in order to be qualified as an RD you must complete 1200 hours of a dietetic internship — something I don’t really want to do. Third, most RD’s work in hospitals or have their own private practice — neither of which feels right for me. Hopefully I figure this all out soon! 🙂
-Jess
mmmmm tomato soup with this season’s first juicy ones….
I would make a healthy green smoothie packed with bananas, spinach, and berries! Mmm 🙂
The list is long!! probably a smoothie first because it would be a quick “test run” of my new blender. Then salsa, a soup, nut butter, and ice cream.
I would make ice cream!!
If you can make ice cream with that thing then ice cream I shall make!
Or I’ll be lazy and just whip up a smoothie 🙂
Hi Jessica! I’m so making these sometime in the near future! What a great idea. I decided I’d also register for the blender… I think I would make something sweet, or maybe do a sweet potato purée with cinnamon and nutmeg. I’m a fitness competitor so I’m limited as to what I can make during my on season, but come off season I’m making ice cream, and candy, and cake, and oh, you get the point! Thanks for the recipe and the giveaway chance. 🙂
The first thing I would make would be a smoothie!
The first thing I’d make with this blender is creamy and delicious hummus! (: yumm
Definitely smoothie! I love it for breakfast 🙂
The first thing I would make is peanut butter or maybe cashew butter. It would be so awesome to win!!
Congrats on a huge milestone! You must be so proud of what you’ve managed to accomplish in just a few years!
I’d try and make my own almond milk! Just almonds and water; can’t get much healthier than that!
Thank you for sharing top 10 things we may not know about you 🙂 Quite funny to read.
If I were to win the blender, I would make a strawberry-banana-kale smoothie. They are delicious.
I have always wanted a Blentec, just can’t afford it! Womp womp. If I won this, I’d probably make banana ice cream all day every day with so many different varieties. 🙂
This would be great for homemade nut butters! And pesto, sauce, salad dressings…
I am the same way! I love cooking! If I was lucky enough to win the Blendtec, the first thing I would make is this recipe for the yummy milk chocolate! It looks delicious! Then I would probably make healthy cookie dough and contemplate which other recipe from your fabulous blog I should try next!
Happy blog birthday!
Nut butters!!