Honey Sweetened Chocolate Recipe (paleo, GAPS) - Solid at room temp! (2024)

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by Victoria 78 Comments

Chocolate made with honey is not only possible, it's downright easy! Honey sweetened chocolate still has the same sheen and snap of chocolate made with sugar, but you get the benefits of honey instead!

With just 4 simple ingredients you will be making your own chocolate at home in just a few minutes!

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Recipe (paleo, GAPS) - Solid at room temp! (1)

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Making your own dark chocolate at home is actually very fast once you know what you're doing! With this recipe creating chocolate without sugar (using only natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, coconut sugar, or stevia) is simple!

And like all well tempered chocolates, this homemade chocolate will harden in less than 3 minutes (thin layer), has a sharp snap and beautiful sheen, and is solid at room temperature!

No need to store this chocolate in the fridge or freezer, keep it in the pantry for up to 3 years without any issues!

Whether it's a few chocolate chips in pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, or even just a nice piece of homemade peppermint bark... we enjoy chocolate around here!

But when we started doing the GAPS diet for healing, I knew we needed to eliminate sugar.

And while the amount of sugar carbs in a tablespoon of organic chocolate chips is pretty low, it's not just about carbs when you're doing a gut healing diet.

So I started looking into honey sweetened chocolate options and found that there was only one organic honey chocolate option out there, and it was pretty expensive for me to want to buy on a regular basis!

I decided it would be better to attempt to make my own, and thankfully, making your own chocolate with honey is really easy!!

Here are a few ways we love to use this honey chocolate!

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Chips

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Coins

How to Make Honey Sweetened Chocolate

This super simple recipe calls for just 4 ingredients and produces and chocolate that is just as hard, shiny, and versatile and sugar sweetened chocolate.

It's tempered so it's shelf-stable and can be used in homemade candies without needing to be refrigerated like most homemade chocolates that use coconut oil!

We've used this in our homemade chocolate bars with all sorts of fillings, in these adorable Harry Potter Chocolate Frogs, and more!

Whatever you would normally use "regular" chocolate for, you can use this chocolate for instead!

It's also a great option for Paleo Honey Chocolate and Primal Honey Chocolate!

Step One:

Gather your ingredients: Cocoa Butter, Cacao (cocoa works too), Honey, and Vanilla Extract.

In a double boiler, melt cocoa butter. A glass bowl works best!

Step Two:

Remove glass bowl from heat and stir melted cocoa butter with a spoon or spatula for 2 minutes. You want to stir quickly enough to emulsify the cocoa fats, but not fast enough to introduce a ton of air into the mixture.

Step Three:

Transfer melted cocoa butter into a room temperature glass bowl. That part is optional, but it does cut WAY down on your stirring time!

Either way, continue stirring until cocoa butter is 90°. At this stage the temperature is low enough you still have the benefits of using honey! We use raw honey in our honey chocolate and since there is no high heat at this stage, none of the beneficial aspects are destroyed!

Reaching 90° while stirring constantly also serves to temper the chocolate, which is what allows it to remain solid and crisp at room temperature.

Otherwise it would be chalky in texture and would develop a white "bloom" after a few hours. This happens with all poorly tempered chocolates, not just honey chocolate.

Step Four:

Add cacao and honey, stir until well combined. Again, be careful not to add a lot of air to the mix. Add vanilla extract and switch to a whisk to get the mixture smooth.

Step Five:

Once mixture is nice and smooth, transfer your completely honey chocolate into whatever chocolate mold you want to use!

Here are a few we like:

Break Apart Chocolate Bar Mold
Mini Candy Bar Mold (perfect for homemade chocolate bars with filling)
Chocolate Frogs (super fun for this Harry Potter recipe!)
and many more!

And of course, these beautiful homemade kisses!

Step Six:

Wait until chocolate is completely solid before removing from molds. This wait time will vary based on how thick the chocolate is.

DO NOT place it in the fridge, or the chocolate will "bloom" and get white scale on it (still edible, but not as pretty).

Once chocolate has been removed from the mold, store at room temperature indefinitely. We have stored them for up to 3 years without issues and without any change in taste or texture!

See the entire process in this video, and get the full recipe below that! Enjoy!

UPDATE: This recipe has been updated to include weight measurements and nutritional information.

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Recipe (paleo, GAPS) - Solid at room temp! (5)

Honey Sweetened Chocolate

Make your own dark chocolate at home using honey! This tempered chocolate is solid at room temperature, has a great snap and sheen, and can be used in any chocolate mold!

4.88 from 33 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: GAPS Chocolate, Homemade Chocolate Recipe, Homemade Dark Chocolate, Honey Chocolate, How to Make Chocolate At Home, Organic Honey Chocolate, Paleo Chocolate

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 5 ounces

Ingredients

Instructions

  • In glass bowl, melt cocoa butter (double boiler works best). Remove from heat and stir with a spoon or spatula for 2 minutes.

  • Transfer to a room temperature glass bowl. Stir for 2 minutes or until mixture is 90°.

  • Add cacao and honey. Stir well.

  • Add vanilla extract and stir with a whisk until smooth.

  • Pour into chocolate mold and allow to sit at room temperature until hardened.

  • Remove chocolate from mold and store at room temperature for up to 6 months!

Notes

To keep it to one page, this is a brief outline of the steps. For the full reasoning behind each step of the process, please refer to the post details.

* If you'd like to use maple syrup, maple sugar, coconut sugar, or stevia instead, it will work just fine with this recipe.

You would need to adjust for taste and don't go over 2 tbsp of liquid as it will cause the recipe to be too runny to harden properly.

If you use maple or coconut sugar, add it right away when transferring to a new bowl. It will need the additional heat to mix well (unlike the liquid sweeteners).

Homemade Honey Chocolate Nutritional Facts

This label assumes you used honey as the sweetener (2 tbsp)
Honey Sweetened Chocolate Recipe (paleo, GAPS) - Solid at room temp! (6)

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Honey Sweetened Chocolate Recipe (paleo, GAPS) - Solid at room temp! (7)

More Naturally Sweetened Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Paleo Coconut Flour Vanilla Cupcakes

Honey Sweetened Dark Chocolate Recipe

Homemade Marshmallows

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Kisses

Previous Post: « Easy Paleo Chocolate Fudge

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kyle says

    Thank you for the recipe! I was a bit confused with the cacao powder, since 1/3 of a cup was only 30g. I’m guessing it’s maybe 2/3 of a cup?

    Reply

    • Victoria says

      Hi Kyle! It’s a 1/3 cup when I measure it, but not everyone measures the same, so that’s why I put the grams too :-) definitely go by the grams!

      Reply

  2. Matthew says

    I tried this today, and it seems weird. There’s like little oil bubbles in the chocolate. Not sure what I did wrong.

    Reply

    • Victoria says

      Hi Matthew, are they oil bubbles or honey bubbles? If oil, then I would double check how you were mixing – were you using a whisk during the oil beating phase? That would incorporate air and might cause bubbles.

      If they are honey bubbles, then you likely used just a touch too much honey. When I eyeball the honey I often get honey droplets throughout the chocolate. It doesn’t bother me, so I don’t worry about it, but if you want a really smooth chocolate you’ll want to measure the honey really accurately.

      I hope that helps!

      Reply

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Honey Sweetened Chocolate Recipe (paleo, GAPS) - Solid at room temp! (2024)

FAQs

How to harden chocolate without a fridge? ›

Assuming you live in a country with a hot climate, your best bet is to seal the chocolate mold into a freezer bag and leave it in a cool place, perhaps a bathroom. So long as you have sealed the bag properly you could even put it in a bowl of cold water.

What to add to chocolate to make it harden? ›

You don't add ingredients to chocolate to make it harden, you temper it by heating it to a specific temperature, cooling it to another temperature, then heating it again. This causes the chocolate to crystalize in a way that leaves it hard and shiny. The temperatures are different for different kinds of chocolate.

How to store chocolate so it doesn't melt? ›

The best place to store chocolate is in a cool, dry, and dark environment, like a pantry or cupboard. You'll want to store it away from heat, moisture, and light. Chocolate thrives at room temperature and low humidity levels, ideally between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and less than 55 percent humidity.

How do you solidify homemade chocolate? ›

Tempering involves the process of slowly heating and then cooling chocolate so that the fat molecules crystallise evenly, resulting in a smooth, shiny finish when the chocolate sets. When tempered properly, it should produce a 'snap' when broken, while untempered chocolate will be dull and not break cleanly.

What chocolate hardens at room temperature? ›

Because tempered chocolate remains hard once it sets at room temperature, there is no worry of your confections melting in gift boxes or out on a dessert table (unlike when using melted chocolate chips).

How do you temper chocolate so it doesn't melt at room temperature? ›

Tempering Chocolate Method 1

Place two-thirds of the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler. Heat over hot but not boiling water, stirring constantly, until chocolate reaches 110°–115°F. Place the top pan of the double boiler on a towel. Cool chocolate to 95°–100°F.

How do you keep chocolate soft at room temperature? ›

If you want to know how to keep chocolate from melting without a refrigerator, you should try to store chocolate in a cool, dark, dry place such as a pantry or cupboard where the temperature is consistent and the chocolate is away from the light.

Why is my homemade chocolate not hardening? ›

However, if your chocolate hasn't set, there are a few reasons why this could be. It could be that your room temperature is too high. If the temperature is over 68 F, this can cause problems. The ideal setting temperature is between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Will melted chocolate with coconut oil harden? ›

Not only does coconut oil make your chocolate coating shine, but it also helps the chocolate harden. Have you ever noticed that, if the temperature outside is particularly warm, your coconut oil liquifies right in its jar? Then, if it's cold out, the coconut oil will solidify.

What happens when you add coconut oil to chocolate? ›

Adding a tablespoon of coconut oil or vegetable oil while microwaving helps the chocolate melt more smoothly and makes it the perfect consistency for dipping! The caveat here is that once cool, the chocolate won't set up quite as hard as it did to begin with due to the added fat content.

Why is my chocolate melting at room temperature? ›

Chocolate has a melting point between 86 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Since it melts lower than your body temperature, it will quickly dissolve in your hand or pocket. The low melting point is another reason you may notice melting if you store your chocolate in a warm room or keep it in the car for even a short period.

How do you keep chocolate runny after melting? ›

The most popular method is to add a bit of fat to the chocolate. The fat you use should be flavourless to avoid altering the taste of your chocolate. Cocoa butter is the best option as it's the natural fat present in chocolate. Alternatively, you can use a bit of vegetable oil or shortening.

Does chocolate set at room temperature? ›

Generally, chocolate takes 20-30 minutes to harden and set at room temperature. Using a fridge or freezer can significantly reduce the time it takes for the chocolate to set fully. (Click here if you want to learn how to melt chocolate).

How do you save congealed chocolate? ›

Simply add boiling water to seized chocolate, 1 teaspoon at a time, and stir vigorously after each addition until the chocolate is smooth. The water will dilute the chocolate slightly, so it can no longer reliably be used for baking. Use it instead for making chocolate sauce or hot chocolate or drizzling on cookies.

Will chocolate harden at room temperature? ›

Chocolate typically takes about 20-30 minutes to fully harden and set at room temperature. By placing your melted chocolate in the fridge, you can cut these times in half, speeding up the hardening process.

How do you harden chocolate quickly? ›

Another quicker way of hardening chocolate is by adding fat or oil. This will affect the sheen of the melted chocolate and its hardening ability. Coconut oil is the most effective agent to harden chocolate.

Can you set chocolate at room temperature? ›

Chocolate doesn't need to be piping hot to stay in temper; a mere 86°F will do. Test: Dip a knife, spoon, or spatula into the chocolate and set it down at cool room temperature (65°F to 70°F). If the chocolate is in temper it will harden quite quickly (within 3 to 5 minutes) and become firm and shiny.

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