Making sugar-free chocolate chips is surprisingly easy and takes only simple 5 ingredients. Make these homemade chocolate chips for a great low carb and dairy-free option! Great in all your keto cookies, cakes, and sweet treats. Instructional video included.
If you think you might have seen these before, you have. I’ve done homemade sugar-free chocolate chips before, but this version is better and holds up to all of your low carb baking. They hold their shape perfectly and they have a deep rich semi-sweet chocolate flavor. And they honestly take only a few minutes to whip up.
While there are several good brands of sugar-free chocolate chips on the market, they can be prohibitively expensive. I love Lily’s chocolate chips but I find myself balking at $7.49 a bag. They also aren’t dairy-free and they contain a little soy, which many people don’t like. As a reader recently asked me about whether I had a decent homemade alternative, I decided I had to take matters into my own hands. I can honestly say that I have made vast strides in low carb cooking and baking in the past few years and very often my experiments lead me to new discoveries about how certain ingredients behave. I find myself storing up these little tidbits in my brain for future use. And when the time is right, a whole new idea takes shape in my brain and I can hardly wait to test it out.
How to Make Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
The last time I made chocolate chips, I made them with butter. They were good, to be sure, but definitely a little on the soft side and they needed to be stored in the fridge and then added to the recipe just prior to baking. And although delicious, they didn’t quite live up to that true chocolate-chip flavour I had in my mind. Still, they were a good approximation and I was satisfied. But since that time, I have been playing around with other ingredients in some recipes, including cocoa butter. Unlike butter or coconut oil, cocoa butter stays solid at room temperature and it takes a fair bit of work to make it melt. For a bar of chocolate or a chocolate chip, this is an excellent quality indeed.
I also made sure to thoroughly sift both the powdered Swerve and cocoa powder before adding it to the melted chocolate mixture. This made a significant difference to the end result and the chips were much less grainy. To really sift out all the lumps, simply set a bowl below a fine mesh sieve. Measure your sweetener or cocoa powder into the bowl and use a spoon to stir it around and scrape it through the holes in the sieve.
And now that someone has come along and invented chocolate chip molds, we can even make them chocolate chip shaped! Wooohooo! Heretofore, I had always simply poured the chocolate mixture into chocolate bar molds and then chopped them, making them into low carb chocolate chunks rather than chips. I have also use these honeycomb silicon trivets, which work well and give them a very distinct shape. You can even simply pour the whole mixture into a parchment lined pan and chop them up from there. But obviously the chip mold is fun to have and they look just like the real thing.
Any way you make them, these sugar-free chocolate chips were a huge success. They blew my original attempts out of the water. First, they firmed up perfectly and I found that they didn’t need to be refrigerated after the initial chilling to stay firm. Secondly, they tasted like REAL chocolate. And why shouldn’t they? REAL chocolate is made with cocoa butter and is part of what gives it the deep, intense chocolate flavour. I had a hard time saving any of my first batch for baking with, because I just kept eating a little handful here and a little handful there as I passed through the kitchen.
And these homemade sugar free chocolate chips bake well too, I am pleased to say. I added them to some brownies, and I also baked them up in my Keto Double Chocolate Muffins. They held their shape nicely and didn’t totally liquify and run all over the pan, as I feared they might. They certainly held up about as well as any bar of chopped dark chocolate I’ve ever used.
The low carb chocolate chips melt perfectly into sugar free desserts like my keto chocolate chip cookies and Chocolate Chip Cloud Cookies, and I bet they would be delicious in Kalyn’s flourless low sugar peanut butter chocolate cookies too.
Tips for homemade chocolate chips
- Melt the cocoa butter and unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler. If they are over direct heat, they are more likely to seize.
- Use quality unsweetened chocolate such as Ghirardelli or Scharffenberger. Cheap bakers chocolate tends to seize more and will have a grittier texture.
- Sift your powdered sweetener and your cocoa powder to get out all the lumps.
- Use chocolate chip molds, silicone trivets, or any chocolate mold to shape your chocolate. Be sure to refrigerate until completely firm. After that, they won’t need to stay in the freezer or the fridge.
Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 3 oz cocoa butter
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener sifted
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the cocoa butter and chocolate together until smooth.
- Stir in the sifted powdered erythritol, then stir in the cocoa powder, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour into chocolate molds or spread in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper.
- Refrigerate until set, then remove from the molds or chop into small chunks.
Video
Stacy | Wicked Good Kitchen says
Great recipe, Carolyn. Cocoa butter rules, doesn’t it? As you know (from my most recent post, I order Callebaut brand by the huge tub!). Developed my own version of sugar-free chocolate bars and I cannot wait to share all of my experiments, too. Pinning! xo
Celina says
Hi, I wondered where and what brand of cocoa butter you used? Thanks!
Carolyn says
I used Kakosi organic, I got it on Amazon. I like it because it comes in a bag and in smallish chunks so it’s not hard to weigh it out. You don’t have to chip it out of a container.
Dita MacDonald says
Bravo. Your experiments are wonderful!! Another terrific recipe from you again. We are4 so blessed to have your expertise. Thanks for helping all of us and sharing.
Stacy says
Carolyn – what other things will make it seize? I have tried making frostings with unsweetened chocolate and found that “Just Like Sugar” made it a goopy, thick mess, I was wondering about cream or milk powder, would that make it seize? Maybe it would make it smooth out a little and allay the graininess? I also have sunflower lecithin since I do not do soy. Perhaps that would help a little.
Carolyn says
A little cream would absolutely make it seize as unsweetened chocolate doesn’t like liquid. You can rescue seized chocolate with a little heat (on low) and the addition of even more liquid, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring constantly. But then it’s quite soft so it wouldn’t work for chocolate bars or chocolate chips. And hey, where do you get sunflower lecithin…I’d really like to try that!!!
Stacy says
Carolyn – I get the sunflower lecithin here, as I try to avoid soy: http://www.shamansmarket.com/love-raw-foods-sunflower-lecithin-raw-16-oz.html?gdftrk=gdfV25511_a_7c1921_a_7c7153_a_7cbm05&gclid=CMOThbCqjrcCFYHc4AodBmYAPQ
Also, would milk powder make it seize, since it would not be a liquid? Thank you.
Carolyn says
I don’t know but I find milk powder doesn’t dissolve well into the chocolate mixture and it ends up a bit grainy.
Stacy says
I wonder how you would make a homemade sugar free milk chocolate then? In any case, since we are mostly dark chocolate fans, I think I should just go with what works. Thank you for this recipe.
Carolyn says
I am sure there is a good way to make milk chocolate when you have better equipment and can really work the sweetener and milk powder in!
Mariam says
Good to have this recipe! Thanks, Carolyn. In the past, I’ve found Sunspire Unsweetened Carob Chips to be a fairly good substitute when I haven’t had a source of sugar-free chocolate chips handy. The ingredients are nonfat milk powder, carob powder, palm kernel oil, and soy lecithin. So perhaps not the best either, but an option for some.
Carolyn says
I’ve had those too, not bad in flavour but definitely higher in carbs than my homemade version.
Kalyn says
Love this idea; thanks for experimenting!
Gerri says
Amazing timing to get this recipe when an order of cocoa butter arrived. Can’t wait to make this. Not thrilled with grainy erythritol texture, but use it anyway.
Carolyn says
It feels much more grainy when it’s still melted. Once it hardens, I found I really didn’t notice it that much.
Barbara says
powder it in a coffee grinder
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
You have a real knack for finding a way to make anything low-carb, great idea!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
These are so great! This is such a good recipe to have on hand as these could go in so many recipes!
Kim says
Thank you for addressing the question seizing! Chocolate can be tricky, now I understand the need for the “extra” cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Love your willingness to share your knowledge:-)
Kim says
OOPS, the question of seizing.
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
So incredible, Carolyn! I will be trying this for sure!
Pansy says
Looks like this would really be good and as a soapmaker I have a 10 pound box of cocoa butter in the freezer, just have to chip some off the block! Thanks!
Carolyn says
As long as it’s food grade, you’re good to go!
Sandra says
Thank you ever so much for all your time and effort in creating these wonderful recipes for us low carbers. My 27 year old son was recently diagnosed with diabetes, type 1. I am trying to help him by making your recipes. He is not a veggie eater (meat, potatoes, and pasta) so he is really struggling. Thank you again for your wonderful recipes. 🙂
Carolyn says
I wish you the best for your son. That’s tough on a kid!
Anne @The Cooking Campaign says
I’m always so impressed by anyone that attempts gluten-free baking! YUM!
Jeanette says
I always love reading about your experiments Carolyn – sounds like these sugar-free chocolate chips turned out great – now you just to market them!
Karl Barndt says
The trickiest parts of making real chocolate with cocoa butter are tempering and conching. If not tempered (the process whereby cocoa butter crystallizes), the chocolate will be gummy at room temperature. There’s also conching, which makes chocolate smooth through a many-hours long process of grinding and blending. That’s how sugar (or erythritol) is incorporated into the chocolate smoothly. For baking chips it’s less than critical for the chocolate to be tempered and conched.
As for chocolate made with erythritol, Wilbur Chocolate of Lititz, PA, once made a dark sugar-free chocolate called Apollo with a blend of erythritol, inulin, Ace-K and sucralose. It was good for chocolate enrobing and making chocolates. Unfortunately, it had a tendency to produce erythritol crystals when you used it in any recipe where the chocolate was blended with liquids containing water (as in making ganache with heavy cream).
I know some people wish to avoid artificial sweeteners, but a blend of sweeteners does tend to improve the overall sweetness profile. Have you tried using a quality powdered Stevia in your chocolate, along with the erythritol?
Carolyn says
Yeah, until I get a conching machine, I’m pretty happy with my homemade version. 😉 But you’re not ever going to convince me to use sucralose or Ace K. Blech! Stevia, yes, I’ve done some. But Swerve worked well and the chocolate did not become gummy at room temp, even without tempering, which is, quite frankly, more work than I have time for!
Karl Barndt says
It sounds like you got lucky with the tempering. Years back I got into making chocolates and went a little nuts. I made sugar-free and regular chocolates — hand dipped and molded. Tempering became second nature. I melted chocolate with the microwave and tempered over a bowl of warm water to maintain the right temp until I could add in my “seed” chocolate to temper. In this case you’d be using finely chopped cocoa butter to seed. Doesn’t take much time to do, as long as you have a good digital thermometer.
Christy Scott says
Thank you for the lovely recipe! I’m new to low-carb dieting, and haven’t made chocolate other than the frozen kind made with coconut oil. My question was, why not just sweeten the unsweetened chocolate and add the vanilla? Wouldn’t the cocoa butter and powdered cocoa combined just be the same as unsweetened chocolate? I just wanted to ask before I order some of the cocoa butter. Thank you, and I’m glad I found your website!!
Carolyn says
Good question. Because although you could melt plain unsweetened chocolate and stir in some sweetener, it would likely seize like crazy. There’s no way, with something like erythritol, that you could get it to mix in, without getting a goopy, thick mess. If you wanted to use a liquid sweetener, like sucralose, maybe but I don’t like sucralose. And if you have to use a significant amount of the liquid sweetener, your chocolate will again seize. It’s very tempermental stuff. An additional oil, like cocoa butter, helps it smooth out and allows it to mix nicely with the sweeteners. And cocoa butter is so hard at room temp, it’s a good choice because it will firm up properly, rather than need to be refrigerated.
Jennifer says
Not sure if it would make a difference here, but a technique I learned making candies is to melt your chocolate on a heating pad (I use a ziplock to contain it), which doesn’t break the temper. That way you can coat candies without getting a hard/sweaty result) Just one of those ten dollar cheapos from walgreens. You can get a ‘cheap’ tempering vat thingy from king arthur, but they run about 200 bucks so you’d have to be really committed!
Edith Thurman says
I’ve made chocolate bars with your recipe quite a few times, and ever took one on a 20 hour round trip car ride to see my daughter for Christmas! I’ve never had a problem with the texture that he’s talking about either! I can tell some times when I make a large batch like 2-3 times your recipe that the sweetener tends to settle in the bars! Even after I’ve powdered and sifted it! Which is actually what I’m researching now, what temp it actually melts at! I love your recipe as is! It is great! You are also right about there being a huge need for sugar free chocolate chips! I’ve only found one on Amazon and its pricy and I’m not to sure about it! I’m not diabetic, but I have auto immune disorders that are effected by sugar in the same way, so I use how blood levels are effected the same way! Thanks for the great recipe I love it!
Carolyn says
So glad you’ve found it useful!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
Oh the chocolate!! I bet these are fantastic!
Sharon says
If I click on the cocoa butter link in your recipe, does that take me to your affiliate link on Amazon? I want to support you since I love and use your recipes! But, I couldn’t tell if that link was connected to you ?
Carolyn says
I think that’s the right link! It’s been a while so I can’t say for sure.
Eva says
Do you think powdered xylitol would behave the same as powdered erythritol? Just curious–is there a particular reason why you don’t use xylitol, other than it being higher on the glycemic index than erythritol? Also, do you have a favorite source for cocoa butter? Thanks for the recipe!
Judy says
I had the same question, but about subbing “Just Like Sugar,” because it’s my favorite sweetener (except for the price). I was concerned because sometimes the chicory root acts as a thickener so didn’t know if that would mess it up. LOVE your recipes, btw!
Carolyn says
I think you could try the just like sugar. Swerve has oligosaccharides which are also a fiber so I bet Just Like Sugar would work. If it seems too thick, add some more cocoa butter and a bit of unsweetened chocolate to thin it out.
Carolyn says
Hi Eva, erythritol has a lot less gastro-intestinal issues than xylitol, because it’s absorbed in the small intestine, so it causes a lot less tummy trouble. Also Xylitol definitely has more of an affect on my blood glucose.
I bought some really great cocoa butter from Amazon.com recently. It’s organic and it comes in chunks in a bag, so you don’t have to try to scoop rock hard cocoa butter out of a jar. It’s called Kakosi.
Jennifer says
Thanks for explaining about erythritol. I can’t tolerate it, but I do well with xylitol. I always wondered why. My gastrointestinal issues are in small intestine. Maybe that is why erythritol makes me sick.
Jan says
Xylitol is toxic to dogs so I won’t even have it in my house because my dog can hear a pin drop from the other room! I’ve heard it tastes fabulous though.
PW says
Chocolate is toxic to dogs as well.
Jamie says
Yes, but xylitol only takes a minuscule amount to be lethal to a dog. Plus, others who eat your baked goods might not know you used xylitol before sharing a bite with their canine friend, whereas it’s usually obvious if something contains chocolate. I’m with Jan. I won’t bake with xylitol and even try to avoid buying gum that contains it. (Which is increasingly difficult, by the way.)
Jan says
I don’t know about Carolyn, but I won’t have xylitol in the house because it’s toxic to dogs.
Alice B says
You are amazing, Carolyn!
Thank you so much.
Alice
Carolyn says
What kind of unsweetened chocolate
Should I use?
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
wow too fabulous!!!
Julia says
Can you tell me what the recipe for the images of the cookies on this page is called?