You have just found this page, because you would like to make your own vegan chocolate with coconut sugar. Welcome!
You are either…
- totally new to making vegan chocolate, in which case, read on for all the best advice for simple homemade vegan chocolate making
- or you’ve tried making it before and want more tips on how to stop your coconut sugar from sinking to the bottom.
Using coconut sugar to make vegan chocolate
Coconut sugar is the best! I’ve shared plenty of homemade vegan chocolate recipes using coconut sugar before. However, one of the most common problems is that people find that their coconut sugar…
- doesn’t ‘dissolve’ properly
- sinks to the bottom
- can be a bit crystally or crunchy
It’s true this can happen.
In this post, we are going to solve all of that so that you can make sure your coconut sugar dissipates evenly throughout your homemade chocolate every time.
I’ll share an easy recipe too, with only 4 simple ingredients. Please find that below.
First of all, let’s have a little chat about coconut sugar first and get this mystery sorted!
What actually is coconut sugar?
Coconut sugar is produced from coconut flower blossoms.
According to Wikipedia coconut sugar is produced with a two-step process. “It starts with harvesting or “tapping” the flower bud stem of a coconut tree. Farmers make a cut on the spadix and the sap starts to flow from the cut into bamboo containers. The sap collected is then transferred into large woks and placed over moderate heat to evaporate the moisture content of the sap. The sap is translucent and is about 80% water. At this point it is known as coconut neera or nira (Indonesia), and as coconut toddy (Sri Lanka), maprau (Thailand), or lagbi (North Africa). As the water evaporates, it starts to transform into a thick sap syrup. From this form, it may or may not be further reduced to crystal, block or soft paste form.”
Coconut sugar has a gentle caramel-like flavour and is lower on the glycemic index than regular sugar.
To source the most ethical brands, be sure to find organic and fairly traded coconut sugar.
Why use coconut sugar in homemade vegan chocolate?
I prefer to use coconut sugar in my homemade vegan chocolate, rather than a healthy sweet syrup like maple syrup.
Coconut sugar it helps keep the chocolate firmer. Whereas it would be softer with syrup.
Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index than regular refined white or brown sugar. This means it has less chance of spiking your blood sugar levels.
So let’s get on to the best way to use coconut sugar in chocolate.
Why does coconut sugar sometimes sink to the bottom of chocolate?
Whether or not coconut sugar sinks to the bottom when making chocolate has a lot to do with the viscosity of the cacao butter.
The higher you heat your cacao butter, the thinner the viscosity (big word I know!!!). In basic terms, viscosity means how thick or thin a liquid is. Viscosity is a measure of fluidity. For example, oil is more viscose than water.
Coconut sugar granules are heavy
Coconut sugar granules are heavy. This means that if the viscosity of the cacao butter is too thin during the melting process, then the coconut sugar will drop to the bottom of the chocolate. In essence, the higher that you heat the cacao butter, the thinner the viscosity.
The thinner the viscosity, the more likely your coconut sugar is to sink to the bottom of the butter/oil.
How to stop your coconut sugar from sinking to the bottom of your chocolate?
It’s easy!
My trick for years has been to just heat the cacao butter enough to melt it and not anymore. That keeps it just thick enough to minimise the sinking down of the heavier coconut sugar granules.
That works for me a treat and is a good method which I recommend.
Grind down your coconut sugar to stop it from sinking during vegan chocolate making
The other way I discovered is grinding down my coconut sugar! Simple magic!
I worked this out after feeling perplexed as to how the raw vegan chocolate in the store was super smooth. And the coconut sugar was always perfectly and evenly distributed throughout.
I figured they must have a magical grinding process that gets everything so finely ground down to ensure even dissipation.
“Hmmmmmmmmm,” I thought to myself…
“I wonder what happens if I pop my coconut sugar in my nut mill”.
So I did. I ground the coconut sugar granules down
It worked!
The nut mill ground the granules down, not quite to a powder, but much finer than they originally were. I popped them into my homemade vegan chocolate as I made it as per usual. Then, like a magical dream, for the first time ever, I had effortless, even coconut sugar distribution.
You can use any blender, bullet blender or nut mill to do this. You can even use a coffee grinder if you don’t mind a hint of coffee flavour on your coconut sugar.
Have a look at my quick video here for more…
So grind your coconut sugar! You can use a nut mill, nutribullet, food processor or anything that grinds stuff down.
And then here’s a super fast video to show you how to make the chocolate…
Do I need a chocolate mould to make homemade vegan chocolate?
It’s up to you. If you are wondering about chocolate-making moulds then please know that you can find them easily on eBay or in a cooks shop.
It’s also easy to make chocolate without a chocolate-making mould. I did it for years without.
Using parchment paper works well if you don’t have a chocolate-making mould. Simply get any container and line it with parchment paper. Then pour your chocolate into that.
“My chocolate-making moulds drying on the washing line outside”
Homemade vegan chocolate recipes with coconut sugar are abundant in my kitchen. This is a nice recipe that works well…
Vegan chocolate with coconut sugar ingredients and instructions
- 6 tablespoons cacao butter (chopped)
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 5 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Grind your coconut sugar down to a finer consistency (this ‘finer’ nature will allow it to dissipate evenly through the chocolate, ensuring that it doesn’t sink to the bottom whilst the chocolate is setting).
- Chop your cacao butter into fine pieces (this makes the process of melting much easier). You might also have cacao butter drops (in which case use heaped tablespoons to measure).
- Get a saucepan and add about an inch of water. Place a heatproof glass bowl on top of the pan (see the video above for a demo) and then heat the water on low to medium heat.
- Melt the cacao butter in the glass bowl, adding the coconut sugar and vanilla. Mix in regularly over the next few minutes.
- When the cacao butter has melted add the cacao powder and mix in thoroughly.
- Pour into a chocolate mould or a parchment paper-lined container.
- Set in the freezer (quickest) or in the fridge.
- Pop-out of your moulds when set and enjoy!
and then set in the fridge or freezer before popping out…
Homemade vegan chocolate (and how to stop coconut sugar sinking)
A delicious, easy vegan chocolate recipe made with coconut sugar to sweeten.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons cacao butter (chopped)
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 5 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grind your coconut sugar down to a finer consistency (this 'finer' nature will allow it to dissipate evenly through the chocolate, ensuring that it doesn't sink to the bottom whilst the chocolate is setting).
- Chop your cacao butter into fine pieces (this makes the process of melting much easier). You might also have cacao butter drops (in which case use heaped tablespoons to measure).
- Get a saucepan and add about an inch of water. Place a heatproof glass bowl on top of the pan (see the video above for a demo) and then heat the water on a low to medium heat.
- Melt the cacao butter in the glass bowl, adding the coconut sugar and vanilla. Mix in regularly over the next few minutes.
- When the cacao butter has melted add the cacao powder and mix in thoroughly.
- Pour into a chocolate mould or a parchment paper lined container.
- Set in the freezer (quickest) or in the fridge.
- Pop out of your moulds when set and enjoy!
Vegan Easter chocolate recipe ideas…
Pin homemade vegan chocolate with coconut sugar for later…
Raw chocolate covered walnut truffles…
Homemade vegan fruit n’ nut chocolate with coconut sugar…
Hi Ursula. Was the taste to your liking? Or was it too bitter? It should be really delicious to be fair.
I am wondering perhaps if it has to do with the ingredients that you used or if the ratios were a little different at all? Without seeing your ingredients up close and trying the recipe myself with them, it is probably impossible to say. You could list the brands and I could check them out, although you may be in a country where I don’t have access to the same brands.
Kind wishes x
I found it very dark, too. You could always add in some powdered coconut milk or milk and add a little more sweetener.
Yes coconut milk powder is a good option – has a different effect and texture but lovely taste.
Would it be possible to have this recipe in grams? I find cups and tablespoons not very precise and in chocolate making especially it can make a big difference. Thanks for the coconut sugar tips.
Do you use raw cacao butter? unrefined, or refined?
Either is fine.
Hi Anastasia,
I’m interested in trying your recipe, but I’m surprised there’s no plant milk powder, as all I’ve seen seem to need it. Do you know if it’s possible to use raw sugar instead, or does the coconut sugar add to the creaminess?
Hi Ariane,
I am not sure what you are asking, this recipe doesn’t require plant milk powder.
Yes, that’s what I mean. I’m wondering how it looks so milky since it doesn’t have a plant milk powder. I’ve tried and it’s very dark, how did you get it so light?
Good point.
I think chocolate ingredients can vary in lightness. It might also be the camera lighting.
Can I use coconut oil instead of cocoa butter?
You could use coconut oil instead of cocoa butter, although you are best serving the chocolate right out of the fridge or freezer in that case. Cocoa butter needs a higher than normal room temperature to melt, where as coconut butter will melt if the house is too warm. I hope that makes sense. Good luck Arrie!
I have tried making this recipe, hoping for some nice milk chocolate but this recipe with the exact measurements make really really dark bitter chocolate, what can I do to make it more like milk chocolate?
I made a batch of this and it tastes wonderful ! I didn’t have cocoa butter so I used coconut oil , I ended up adding more coconut sugar and cacao powder and some himalayan salt and my god it’s delicious . I ground up the sugar in my coffee grinder like you said but it’s still really granulated, which I find I love and adds a nice taste and texture. I had a little skull skeleton mold so I’m excited for my little skull chocolates. Thank you for sharing your recipe. =]