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 smoothie – and BTW I just made your healthy chocolate cake last night. It’s for my husband’s birthday today, so haven’t tasted the whole thing yet – tasted the frosting, the cake crumbs and the ganache individually – all good, so we shall see. This is a great resource and I’ll be back for sure. Thanks for this chance to win!
The first thing I would probably make would be almond butter 🙂 I’ve had many other blenders that can’t do the job and I’ve been told Blendtec is awesome for it! Unless my kids were pushing ice cream 🙂
I would start making green smoothies for my family. I never thought to make ice cream, but maybe you need a specialty blender for that? Cool! I’d try that too!
I love love love smoothies so I would probably make a smoothie first, but I do have a huge list of recipes in waiting that call for a super blender! I’m crossing my fingers.
I would make smoothies!
I would absolutely make the most amazing chocolate coconut protein shake. yuuuuuum!
I am so making this recipe! Btw, I don’t think it’s weird at all! :))
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Your blog really stands out in a number of ways; I think you have special talent for it!
I’m posting a comment to say, in relation to your saying you weren’t sure what you want to do after college: Move to Los Angeles into one of the entertainment industry neighborhoods, and start working as a freelance caterer or hook up with one of the bakeries or Craft Services at the studios etc. You will make a fortune with your recipes. People there LOVE sweets but so many of them have to be on strict diets, and others just like adhering to uber healthy eating habits.
Okay I’ll admit I personally hate living in Los Angeles, but some people love it. You can live near the coast say in Santa Monica, which isn’t as bad.
Hapee-
Awww thank you so much! Your comment totally just made my day! I definitely want to get some first-hand experience working in a bakery, then after that I can gauge whether or not owning a bakery is for me. I’m starting my final semester in college this Thursday and I still have no idea where I want to live after I graduate. I was thinking Texas, but California sounds AWESOME too… not sure if I’ll be able to afford it though 😉
I know a few people in Cali and they’re so health-conscious, I love it. Everyone’s so fit there! Thanks so much for your input, I’ll definitely think a little bit more about living in California 🙂
-Jess
Cries! So depressed. Really wanna make this but where I live can’t get at least three of the ingredients needed… sigh. :<
Is there a sub for the erythrotol? I don’t do well maybe natural sugar date or something?
Not sure how to know if you reply…maybe you can comment on my blog? Thanks
I haven’t tried subbing the erythritol for anything but I suppose you can try date sugar or maple sugar or sucanat! 😀
-Jess
What do you mean by butter flavor, and where can I purchase it?
Hi there, is there a healthy alternative to using Lorann emulsion butter, that won’t change the taste too much, I have found (I think) the only place here in New Zealand that sells the Butter Emulsion but they are out of it at the moment. I eat loads of the milk chocolate and I’m not a fan of the dark stuff, and your recipe sounds great. Regards Brian
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Jessica,
Please do not denigrate yourself by using the word bitch on your blog especially in reference to yourself. It cheapens you. For some reason your generation has decided that using the word bitch ALL the time is cool. Its not. Its terrible and immature.
This is an awful word and if someone used it in reference to a woman only a few year ago, it would be the highest insult one could say. Please don’t do that. Make an example for young women and denounce using that word. It really is unfortunate that your generation has normalized that word in reference to women. Thank you Moira
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