This recipe is for you if you're looking for healthy white chocolate not stuffed with processed milk, unhealthy oils, and too much sugar? Instead, this white chocolate recipe leans on the original main ingredient from white chocolate: raw cocoa butter.
The only other two ingredients in the white chocolate are maca root powder and coconut butter. Mixed with melted dark chocolate and hardened in sun and moon molds, these make an awesome and healthier sweet snack.
🥘 Ingredients: What Makes White Chocolate?
The main ingredient is cacao butter. Typically it is also mixed with milk and sugar but in this case, we use healthier ingredients of coconut butter and maca root and skip the sugar. Optionally add cardamom for a little extra flavor.
Cacao Butter
Raw cacao butter comes from the cacao plant. It is extracted from the cacao bean or cacao nib and separated from the non-fat cacao solid. The butter is used to make chocolate as well as other beauty products like moisturizers.
Separating the cacao butter allows you to have more control over the bitter cacao to fat ratio in chocolate products.
Cacao butter is solid at room temperature and melts at body temperature, so it makes the perfect melt-in-your-mouth candy. It also means when cooking the white chocolates we can use very low temperatures.
Coconut Butter
Coconut butter is pureed coconut flesh, like the coconut version of peanut butter. Unlike coconut oil, which is an oil that has been extracted from the coconut, coconut butter remains solid at room temperature.
Coconut butter replaces the dairy in traditional white chocolate recipes. It adds creaminess without dairy. And it's melt point allows the finished product to remain solid at room temperature.
Maca Root Powder
Most white chocolate recipes call for milk powder. The dry ingredient thickens the chocolate, reduces the liquid, and gives that chocolate consistency you know and love.
Because this is dairy-free, I needed a powder that did not include lactose or milk. That's why maca root joins the list of ingredients.
According to this article, maca can increase libido, improve fertility, boost mood, memory, and energy, and protect skin against ultraviolet radiation. In other words, this ingredient turns your white chocolate into a borderline medicinal super snack.
Cardamom
A little bit of cardamom adds just a touch of delicious sweet flavor and depth to the recipe. It works well because it is light in color and it is in powdered form. A liquid would offset the texture.
🔪 Instructions: Making the White Chocolate
Making homemade white chocolate is incredibly simple. All you have to do is melt the ingredients together over low heat and whisk until mixed.
It is important to use very low heat and not overcook the mixture as it will burn quickly. Turn off the heat and let it cool for about half a minute before pouring into the molds.
🍽 Equipment: Turning the Chocolate into Beautiful Suns and Moons
Making gorgeous chocolates is all about the molds. I saw these silicone moon molds and had to have all the varieties. They are so adorable. Who doesn't want dark and white chocolate suns and moons?
I used a combination of all three of these molds: sun and moon, a baby sitting on the moon, and the sun and stars together.
💭 Top tip: Start with the White Chocolate
The first step is to pour the freshly made white chocolate into the molds. Pouring the white chocolate first will mean that white chocolate is the top layer on the finished chocolates.
Once the white chocolate is combined and cooled to the touch, pour a little bit into the molds. You will want to make sure that you can still see the bottom of some of the molds so that the second layer of dark chocolate will still show through.
Place the molds with white chocolate into the fridge to set for about 10 minutes.
Finish with the Dark Chocolate
While the white chocolate is hardening in the fridge, melt the dark chocolate. You'll want to choose high-quality dark chocolate, ideally with more than 80 to 85% chocolate. That will balance out the white chocolate.
My favorite is Theo's 85% dark chocolate bars.
Melt in a double-broiler or in the microwave in short 20 second intervals, making sure to stir constantly or between each microwave interval. You want to stir the chocolate to spread out the heat and use the already melted chocolate to melt the rest of it.
Be careful not to overcook the chocolate. The best way to get the perfect chocolate consistency and temperature is to use the warm chocolate to melt the remaining unmelted chunks by stirring it. In other words, don't heat the chocolate to the point where the chocolate is fully melted or bubbling.
Remove the molds with hardened white chocolate from the fridge. Pour the melted dark chocolate on top to the level you want the finished chocolate, about 1/3 of an inch thick. Then place the molds with both types of chocolate in the fridge to harden for about 20 minutes.
Remove the chocolate from the molds, serve, and enjoy!
♻️ Variations
You can make different colors! Alter the white chocolate for multiple holiday occasions.
- Blue: use butterfly pea flower powder instead of maca root
- Green: use moringa instead of maca root
- Red: Use beet powder instead of maca root
Layer the multiple colors
I think this works best when you split the white chocolate in half, coloring one half and then using the remaining white as is.
- Colored White Chocolate
- White Chocolate
- Dark Chocolate
📖 Substitutions
Maca and cardamom are optional here.
The maca adds a little extra structure. The cardamom has a little bit of flavor and also gives some structure.
If you prefer you can omit or substitute with other pale powders like coconut milk powder.
🥗 Pairings
These moons go great on top of mini cheesecakes. They work almost like a frosting and add such great texture!
Try the pumpkin cheesecakes with these on top for an amazing fall treat.
White + Dark Chocolate Moons
Equipment
- Sun and Moon Silicone Molds (Any silicone molds will work!
- Whisk
Ingredients
Homemade Healthier White Chocolate
- 1/2 cup raw cacao butter
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
- 1 tsp maca root
- dash cardamom
Dark Chocolate
- 3 oz 85% Dark Chocolate I used Theos
Instructions
- Melt all white chocolate ingredients in a pot on the stovetop on very low heat
- Whisk white chocolate ingredients together until combined, making sure not to overheat or burn the mixture. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes
- Pour a thin layer of white chocolate into the deepest parts of the molds. Set the molds in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to harden
- Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler or for 2 minutes in 25-30 second increments, stirring in between.
- Pour dark chocolate into a thin layer on top of the white chocolate in the molds. It should cover the bottom surface area of the molds.
- Place molds in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes or until the chocolates set
Notes
This nutrition information does not tell the whole story of food's nutritional value! Make sure to use your gut intuition on what your body needs, eat your veggies and get 30 plants a week for optimal gut health. This nutritional data is calculated based on above values and standard brands. This information may vary.
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