📝 What's In White Chocolate?
Traditional white chocolate doesn't contain cacao solids or cacao liquor, but it must contain at least 20% cocoa butter to be considered real "white chocolate". The main taste in white chocolate usually comes from added sugar, dairy products (usually milk solids), and vanilla flavoring.
It can be pretty tough to get high-quality dairy-free white chocolate. A lot of store-bought vegan white chocolate bars I've tried can be overly sweet and not great for melting or baking.
This homemade version is heavily based on real cocoa butter and balanced with creamy flavors of cashew, coconut, and real vanilla bean.
If white chocolate isn't your thing, try this vegan milk chocolate recipe!
🧾 Ingredients needed
As promised, this homemade white chocolate recipe comes together with just a handful of ingredients and some optional add-ins. Here’s everything you need:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Raw Cacao Butter: The main ingredient for homemade white chocolate, is the fat derived from the cocoa bean. Make sure you buy food-grade cocoa!
- Coconut Butter: This is sometimes labeled as "raw coconut" or "coconut manna" and usually comes in a jar. It's practically the same as creamed coconut, which comes in block form and can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets. You can easily make your own coconut butter from scratch at home.
- Cashew Butter: Adds depth of flavor and a creamy taste, and prevents the chocolate from setting too hard. It also gives a lovely slight nutty flavor to non-dairy chocolate.
- Powdered Sugar: It's important to use powdered sugar for this recipe for a smooth texture.
- Vanilla: The best way to add vanilla to chocolate is with a vanilla pod or vanilla powder. I don't recommend adding vanilla extract as this adds unwanted liquid. Plus, real vanilla will also give you those lovely vanilla specs!
- Sea Salt: I highly recommend this as it helps balance out the sweetness and enhances the flavor of your dairy-free white chocolate.
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🥣 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make your own vegan white chocolate. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
1: Prepare the ingredients. Add the cacao butter, coconut butter, and cashew butter to a large heat-resistant bowl and place it on top of a saucepan with simmering water (known as a bain-marie or double boiler).
2: Melt the ingredients. Ensure the water does not touch the bowl but allow the steam to rise and gently melt the ingredients. Gently heat until all of the ingredients have melted and whisk until smooth.
3: Add sweetener. Remove the bowl from the water bath and add the sifted powdered sugar. Whisk well until the sugar has been incorporated into the chocolate mixture.
4: Flavor the chocolate. Add the vanilla and salt and whisk again until the ingredients are evenly mixed.
5: Mold and set. Divide the melted chocolate into 5 silicone chocolate molds and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes. If adding nuts or fruit add these on top of the chocolate before going into the fridge to set.
💭 Recipe Tips
Prepare your equipment and ingredients ahead of time: The process of making this homemade chocolate is pretty easy but it requires some care. I always recommend preparing everything in advance of making a recipe so that you find yourself stopping halfway through to look for equipment etc.
Avoid water and liquids. Traditional chocolate recipes are based on fats. If you add liquid, it will cause the chocolate to seize, go dull, clump together, and seize. So the most important thing when creating a chocolate bar recipe is to avoid liquids getting into the mixture.
Use powdered sugars. Avoid using a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or agave. The key is to use sugar with a fine powder consistency such as icing sugar. Using granulated sugar will give your chocolate a gritty texture, as sugar crystals need water to dissolve (which we’re avoiding in this chocolate recipe as noted above!).
🔪 Optional Variations
As much as I love this easy recipe just as it's written, there is lots of room for you to add your own flair:
- White Chocolate With Berries: Add freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries or dried fruit such as cranberries or blueberries.
- Nutty White Chocolate: Add chopped or whole nuts such as pistachios, roasted hazelnuts, flaked almonds, and macadamia nuts.
- Caramel White Chocolate: Add 1-2 tablespoons of lucuma powder or maca powder when adding the icing sugar and mix well. This adds a wonderful slight caramel flavor to the white chocolate.
- Superfoods: You can add any powders such as matcha (for green white chocolate), or beetroot powder (for pink white chocolate). Use these powders sparingly and make sure you sift them to remove any lumps before mixing them into the melted chocolate.
- Toasted Coconut: Add some toasted coconut or shredded coconut to these bars for a delicious coconut white chocolate bar.
🍽 Ways To Use White Chocolate
There are endless ways to use this homemade dairy-free white chocolate. Here are some ideas:
- This chocolate melts beautifully. You can serve it poured over dairy-free ice cream or other vegan desserts. Or use it for dipping in your chocolate strawberry bouquet.
- Use it to coat ice cream bars such as these blackberry white chocolate magnums.
- Chop the chocolate and add it to baked goods such as these vegan white chocolate raspberry cookies.
- This recipe can be used as the base of vegan white chocolate ganache in recipes like this white chocolate pistachio tart. You can also use it for this raspberry white chocolate mousse.
💬 FAQs
Once set, remove each bar from its silicone mold, wrap it in parchment paper, and place it in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Yes, you can use a natural sweetener such as Erythritol or Steviol Glycosides instead. Please bear in mind that unless the sweetener you use is powdered, you will have little 'sweetener' crystals in the finished product. I also recommend starting with a very small amount of sweetener, tasting, and adding a touch more if and when needed.
Yes, you can skip the cashew butter if you want to make it nut free. To add back that creamy texture, you could swap it for sunflower seed butter or light tahini. Just note that the flavor will be altered.
🍫 More Vegan Chocolate Recipes
📖 Recipe
Easy Homemade Vegan White Chocolate
Equipment
- 5 Silicone chocolate moulds (Mold Size: 8.35 x 4.1 x 0.4 inch. Cavity Size: 6.3 x 3.1 x 0.4 inch. Volume: 3 oz)
Ingredients
- 285 g (1 ¼ cups) cacao butter
- 80 g (½ cup) coconut butter (creamed coconut)
- 2 tablespoons cashew butter
- 80 g (⅔ cup) powdered sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Chopped pistachios, freeze dried raspberries optional
Instructions
- Lay the silicone molds out on trays that you will easily be able to transfer to the fridge later. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife, and set the seeds aside for later. Discard the pod or use it to flavor other recipes.
- Add the cacao butter, coconut butter/creamed coconut, and cashew butter to a large heat-resistant bowl and place on top of a saucepan with simmering water (known as a bain-marie or water bath). Make sure the water does not touch the bowl but allow the steam to rise up and gently melt the ingredients. Be careful that absolutely no water splashes into the bowl as water will cause the chocolate to seize. Whisk until melted and smooth.
- Remove the bowl from the water bath and add the icing sugar. Whisk well until the sugar has been incorporated into the chocolate mixture. Then add the vanilla and salt and whisk again until the ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Divide the chocolate into the silicone molds and place them in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes. If adding nuts or fruit add these on top of the chocolate once it's in the molds. Once set, remove the bars from the molds and wrap them in baking paper, and place it in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Optional Add-Ins: Freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries, dried fruit, toasted coconut, or nuts.
- For colored white chocolate: Add any powders such as matcha (for green white chocolate), or beetroot powder (for pink white chocolate). Use these powders sparingly and make sure you sift them to remove any lumps before mixing them into the melted chocolate.
- Nut-free: Swap the cashew butter for sunflower seed butter or tahini.
- Refined sugar-free: Use Erythritol or Steviol Glycosides. Bear in mind that unless the sweetener you use is powdered, you will have little 'sweetener' crystals in the finished product.
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*This recipe was originally published on March 26th, 2018. The recipe has since been improved and was last updated in March 2023.
