Homemade Dark Chocolate Candy for Your Valentine! 💘 Shh…it’s healthy!

Homemade Dark Chocolate Candy for your Sweetheart

What could be better than a hand-crafted candy to give to your Sweetie? I’ll tell—almost nothing!

What if I told you it’s sugar free?

To some that’ll be a turn-off, but for me, it’s what makes the deal on this homemade dark chocolate candy.

I simply cannot tolerate a bunch of sugar.

But, I do like candy! And my family knows it!

My dear sweet husband bought me some sugar-free (only stevia-sweetened) candy for our anniversary. My little indulgence.

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As good as those are, they still contain some milk, so I prefer not to eat them all of the time. The dark chocolate doesn’t contain much. But still…

I wanted to try my own.

So I did.

My version of this homemade dark chocolate candy has no sugar, only stevia, and is completely dairy free. It also uses healthy fats from coconut oil, and nut butters. It’s super rich, so it obviously is a treat, but I will tell you that it’s very easy and very, very satisfying.

I’m also including two options. You can make this even healthier by using carob powder in place of cocoa, and to me, it might be even better! You take your pick, I don’t care! I made mine with carob, and my husband had to ask twice if it was chocolate or carob!

Why bother using carob?

• Carob is naturally sweet, not bitter like cocoa, so you can use way less sweetener.
• Carob had some natural health benefits, but then, so does cacao, so you choose!
• Chocolate contains some caffeine and theobromine, and carob does not.
• Carob is lower in fat, higher in protein, and contains more vitamins.
• More differences are discussed in the post Carob vs Chocolate

You can choose. Either will actually work.

I made this and played around with the ingredients.

• The coconut cream adds to the texture in your mouth. It also adds a substantial amount of fat. It makes the candy softer, so If you want it for be more soft (think Lindt truffles) keep it. If you want your candy to be hard (think candy bar) then just leave it out.
• Almond butter. Roasted nut butters really deepen the flavor of the carob. It also pairs well with cocoa. I like pure almond butter, but even more, I love the Mixed Nut Butter from Costco. It’s just yummy and I like the crunch of the chia and flax. I use either interchangeably.
• Stevia. Stevia is my no-sugar sweetener of choice when I don’t want to raise blood sugar. If I didn’t mind that, I’d use maple syrup, honey, or Morena. I use the bulk stevia powder that I get on Amazon.com made by CCNature. It’s the most concentrated, non-bitter, and best tasting that I’ve used.
• Bulk roasted carob powder—I get mine at either at our local bulk food store or at Amazon.com in bulk.
• Raw cacao powder. Use either the carob, or the cacao, or a mixture of the two.
• Coconut oil. I like the unrefined, because I really love the flavor of the coconuts! And the smell is heavenly!
• Add-ins. Totally optional, but I like to add in random things. Raisins, coconut, walnuts, chopped sesame crunch bars, anything you’d like in your dark chocolate candy. I made a variety of options in ours!

Here’s the recipe: Homemade Dark Chocolate Candy 

Homemade Dark Chocolate Candy

Totally plant based and 100% sugar-free

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course candy, Dessert

Cuisine American

Equipment

• 1 Double boiler
• Silicone candy molds

Ingredients

  

• 1 Cup coconut oil
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup almond butter or other nut butter
• 1/4 Cup Ccoonut cream skim off top of coconut milk can
• 2 Tsp pure vanilla
• 3/4 Cup roasted carob powder, OR 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 10 Scoops Stevia powder (roughly 1/4 tsp). You will have to add stevia to taste, since all brands vary so much in sweetness!

  If using cacao powder, more will be needed. Start by doubling amount, then adjust as desired.

Instructions

 

• Place all ingredients into the top of a double boiler pan. (Or make your own double boiler like I did)
  
• (Scoop the cream off the top of the coconut milk)
  
• 
• Stir together and cook over medium heat until warmed and smooth.
  
• Add in nuts, raisins, coconut flakes, whatever you like! Place add-ins in the bottom of molds.
  
• 
• Pour melted sauce over add-ins
  
• Place in freezer to set.
  
• Serve when firm.
  
• Enjoy!
  

Notes

I picked up these cute heart molds at the DollarTree. 💘

The beauty of these candies is that you can customize them however you like!  

 

Keyword candy,, carob, coconut, dark chocolate

We took these out for our dinner out and smuggled them in for our dessert!  It was totally worth it!  

Let me know what you think!