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    Home » Dairy Free Keto » Homemade Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips

    Published: Jun 6, 2018 · Modified: Feb 17, 2021 by Carolyn

    Homemade Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips

    This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    12.2K shares
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    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.

    Homemade sugar-free chocolate chips in a small white bowl

    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.

    Low carb chocolate chips with keto brownies in a pan

    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.

    A small bowl of sugar-free chocolate chips with two low carb brownies

    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.
    Homemade sugar-free chocolate chips in a small white bowl

    Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips

    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.
    4.54 from 26 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Dessert
    Keyword: sugar-free chocolate chips
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Chill Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes
    Servings: 14 servings (about 1 ¾ cups)
    Calories: 83kcal

    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

    Nutrition Facts
    Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
    Amount Per Serving (2 tablespoons)
    Calories 83 Calories from Fat 76
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 8.4g13%
    Carbohydrates 3.6g1%
    Fiber 1.8g7%
    Protein 1.33g3%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Supplies Needed to Make your own Chocolate Chips

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    Nutritional Disclaimer

    Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Cici says

      April 07, 2021 at 8:02 am

      I’ve made these before & they’re great. Do you have a white chocolate chip recipe? I have been unable to source Lilly’s butterscotch chips for your magic bars & I wanted to try to make my own.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        April 07, 2021 at 11:21 am

        They won’t hold up in baking at all so I don’t recommend. No matter how hard I have tried, they also don’t really taste like white chocolate.

        Reply
    2. Anna says

      January 16, 2021 at 11:27 am

      5 stars
      I’ve been baking Keto dessert recipes for the past three years and this is hands down the best brownie recipe I’ve tried, and believe me, I’ve tried lots. I didn’t even make a frosting for them nor did I add the chocolate chips. I just took them out of the oven at 15 minutes and let them cool. You’re right, the gelatin is certainly responsible for the great crumb. For the sweetener, I used 3/4 cup allulose and 1/4 cup Swerve by the way. Fabulous! Thank you.

      Reply
    3. Mila says

      December 02, 2020 at 8:15 am

      Hello! I cannot get unsweetened baking chocolate anywhere, we only have sweetened. Was wondering can I use cocoa mass/ chocolate liquor instead?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        December 02, 2020 at 10:00 am

        There is a way to sub cocoa powder and oil (preferably cocoa butter). I think you can google that ratio. Not sure it will make the best chips, though.

        Reply
    4. Teresa A Powell says

      August 22, 2020 at 3:50 pm

      If a recipe calls for melted chocolate chips, can I do that with these?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        August 22, 2020 at 6:27 pm

        Yes but melt them with care as they can seize more easily. Double boiler style is best.

        Reply
    5. Baker Judy says

      July 28, 2020 at 11:00 pm

      I can’t thank you enough, Carolyn! Although the Lily’s is considered vegan, the package certification says it’s dairy. See the U with a circle around it near the recipe on the back. that’s the certification of the Orthodox Union. They have a D next to it, which means dairy.

      I need a dairy free, sugar free kosher chocolate chip. Which is why I was so dissappointed that I couldn’t make a chocolate chip dessert last week. I will make these chips.

      We loved eating the Swerve brownies at a recent Sabbath dinner, but can’t spend $14 a mix. So I’m on the hunt for a chocolate replacement.

      Reply
      • Baker Judy says

        October 25, 2020 at 12:37 am

        Still working on this. I called Baker’s unsweetened chocolate. That label says it may have milk. Definitely why the dairy certification. I called the kosher certifying agency.

        I checked the Lily’s label more closely. It’s labeled dairy because it’s made on machinery that may have had dairy products made on it. I need to consider this.

        Part of the reason I checked back here is because I wanted to see if I called the kosher certifying organization for Lily’s. Maybe I didn’t.

        I’ve made quite an investment in cocoa butter and the molds, so I hope to make this!

        Thank you for all your great recipes.

        Reply
    6. Elizabeth L. says

      June 06, 2020 at 5:16 am

      I forgot to mention in my earlier rave review of this recipe that I used good old-fashioned Baker’s chocolate and it turned out perfectly! Just remember to melt your chocolates using a double boiler. For me that means a glass bowl over pot of boiling water. So easy!

      Reply
    7. Elizabeth L. says

      June 06, 2020 at 5:13 am

      5 stars
      Thank you! This recipe is a game-changer! I can make almost the same amount of chocolate for less than half the price of Lily’s chocolate chips! The first time I made this I forgot to use the double boiler so my chocolate seized but it was still pretty good. Just very thick. The second time was almost perfect but I forgot to sift my powdered sweetener. The texture and taste were spot-on, just a little bit gritty due to my lack of sifting the sweetener. So incredibly creamy! The third time should literally be the charm, haha! My non-keto husband loves the recipes of yours that I make because they are indistinguishable from sugar-sweetened recipes. You truly have a gift for sugar-free baking! Thank you again!

      Reply
      • Julie C says

        August 30, 2021 at 6:06 pm

        5 stars
        Such a great review Elizabeth!! My first try the kids said too much like dark chocolate, so trying to figure out how to make it less ‘bitter’. Tried adding more powdered sweetener, but that didn’t work… any ideas? Thank you! Julie C.

        Reply
    8. Denise Freitas says

      May 25, 2020 at 11:00 pm

      5 stars
      I made a recipe of these tonight and am absolutely delighted. I don’t eat a lot of Keto treats, but I will make a recipe of chocolate chip cookie dough to freeze and bake as needed. These were easy and so much less than purchasing them from the store. I got 9 1/8 oz out of the recipe. I found the molds on sale at Amazon and will use them for years to come. Thanks!

      Reply
    9. Joanne says

      May 22, 2020 at 2:13 pm

      What can I use to replace unsweetened chocolate? They don’t sell that here in my country..

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        May 23, 2020 at 9:02 am

        I’m sorry… this recipe requires it.

        Reply
    10. Beth says

      April 18, 2020 at 12:29 pm

      Hi, I am hoping to try this recipe as I cannot get good choclate chips where I live here in Peru, much less sugar free ones! I also cannot get cocoa butter – could you tell me how you used butter instead? I can get good unsweetened 100% cacao bars to use, and cocoa powder. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        April 18, 2020 at 10:19 pm

        Sorry but cocoa butter is vital to this recipe because it’s solid at room temperature, whereas butter is not.

        Reply
    11. Vivian says

      April 08, 2020 at 8:46 am

      What would be the difference if I used dark chocolate cocoa instead of regular?

      Reply
    12. Vivian says

      April 07, 2020 at 12:23 pm

      Can I use dark cocoa instead of regular?

      Reply
    13. Sarah says

      March 04, 2020 at 3:27 pm

      Are the ounces in this recipe volume or weight?

      Thanks!

      Reply
    14. Sharon says

      January 27, 2020 at 2:24 am

      Is it possible to use just cocoa butter and bar baking chocolate instead of adding the powdered chocolate as well?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        February 04, 2020 at 5:16 pm

        It doesn’t thicken enough.

        Reply
    15. Leslie says

      November 19, 2019 at 8:22 am

      I LOVE these! I swap the cocoa and swerve amounts so they are less bitter and more sweet. (1/2 cup cocoa and 2/3 cup powdered swerve). I roll them thin between parchment paper. After being in the frig for 10 minutes i score/cut them into tiny squares. Back into the frig for 20 minutes. They are then very manageable to break up and store. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!

      Reply
    16. Nancy Gray says

      September 08, 2019 at 7:53 pm

      I’m so happy!!
      Lily’s chips DO NOT agree with my GI track and I thought I’d have to give up chocolate. Joy! Joy!

      Reply
    17. Jin B says

      July 28, 2019 at 7:42 am

      This may be a dumb question, but you list 3 oz. cocoa butter and 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped. Are these amounts by weight or by volume?

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        July 28, 2019 at 9:00 am

        Weight.

        Reply
    18. shannon says

      July 21, 2019 at 12:57 pm

      Hi, a couple of questions… Why cocoa butter and cocoa powder AND unsweetened chocolate? I’m no expert but that seems a little redundant.

      Also, do these turn out just like Lilys? I find Lilys don’t have quite the same texture as regular chocolate chips. They are a bit crunchier and go back to that state when they are cooled after baking (not quite as crunchy but more so than regular ones.

      I was thinking of trying allulose and swerve combined. I wonder if that might solve the texture issue.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        July 22, 2019 at 4:38 pm

        Why? Because it works. I experimented a lot on this. No, it’s not redundant, it simply works. They are darker than Lily’s in flavour and colour.

        Reply
    19. Dee Gee says

      June 20, 2019 at 3:47 pm

      5 stars
      My husband, who is not low carb, says your sugar free chocolate beats the pants off Lilly’s

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        June 20, 2019 at 8:53 pm

        That’s a lovely compliment!

        Reply
    20. Mary says

      June 16, 2019 at 1:56 pm

      Thanks for the recipe: I’ve been trying to make chocolate bars with unsweetened chocolate and can’t get the bitter taste out of it. I can’t use any of the alcohol sweeteners, because they just don’t agree with me. so I tried just straight monk fruit powder and stevia, no matter how much I kept adding I could not get rid of the bitterness, lessened it somewhat, but not quite enough for my taste. I’ll try it using the cocoa butter and powder in this recipe. I usually keep reg chocolate cookies on hand for my friend but when I get a craving for chocolate I cheat. lol not too often. However, even once makes me feel guilty.

      Reply
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