Oh, hey there, sexy stream of (naturally sweetened) vegan chocolate syrup on my ice cream. How do you do?
Do I need an excuse to make chocolate syrup? I think not, hence the reason I devised a plan to make a simple, homemade, healthier version in just 7 minutes with 5 ingredients in 1 pot. Hooray!
This isn’t just any chocolate sauce. It’s naturally sweetened thanks to maple syrup (or stevia), and cocoa butter in place of dark chocolate. The result is a perfectly sweet, slightly creamy, ultra chocolatey sauce that’s so much better than storebought.
I LOVE this sauce and I hope you do, too! It’s:
Creamy
Chocolaty
Rich
Simple
Naturally sweet
& Seriously delicious
This is the perfect homemade alternative to chocolate syrup, and is perfect for topping ice cream and cakes, adding to shakes and almond milk, and more!
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #minimalistbaker on Instagram. We’d LOVE to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
7-minute Vegan Chocolate Syrup
Ingredients
- 1/2 heaping cup water
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup (plus more to taste // or sub stevia to taste)
- 1/2 heaping cup unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder
- 2 Tbsp minced cocoa butter* (or chopped vegan bittersweet/dark chocolate)
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add water, maple syrup, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and salt to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Whisk to combine.
- Reduce heat slightly and cook on a rolling simmer (~medium / medium-low heat) for 5 minutes until thickened, whisking occasionally. Then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more maple syrup for sweetness, saltiness for flavor balance, or cocoa powder for more intense chocolate flavor.
- Use immediately as a hot chocolate sauce, or let cool completely and then store in a jar. It will thicken slightly in the refrigerator, which you can thin by adding in 1 Tbsp (15 ml) water or dairy-free milk at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Store covered in the fridge up to 2 weeks, sometimes longer. Perfect for topping ice cream and cakes and adding to shakes, and DIY almond milk!
Video
Notes
*Recipe adapted from Food 52.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
prashanthi atluri says
Did you make a video for this?
Yes, it is available here.
Nicole says
This was amazing over vanilla ice cream. I used vanilla oat milk instead of water, and dark chocolate chips instead of cocoa butter as I’m not vegan. I found it much more bitter and much less sweet than I was aiming for to satisfy my sweet tooth so I added a fair bit extra maple syrup and it turned out well. Next time I’ll do less cocoa powder so I don’t have to compensate so much, but it’s lovely that the recipe is flexible and forgivable.
Thank you for sharing, Nicole!
serena says
I second this comment. It actually turned out a to be a great thickness but I did find it wasn’t sweet enough. Next time I will cut the cocoa powder. But agree, the recipe is very forgiving and it’s gonna taste amazing on the banana split tomorrow. I will absolutely use this recipe again with a few personalised adjustments :)
Thank you for sharing, Serena!
Supriya Thukral says
Yes, that does work for me but it does indeed change the flavour and I usually only turn to low percentage chocolate for when I make it for others who really don’t have the taste for anything darker. I guess I’ll just have to keep experimenting until I find something that works. Maybe just adding more chocolate or using an emulsifier of some sort? Let’s see.
Thanks for such a quick response and your advice!
Supriya Thukral says
This has been my go to (using dark chocolate in place of cacao butter) and adjusting sweetener etc. depending on what I have on hand and who I’m making it for. Works a treat every damn time. By the way, it works perfectly using a microwave on a low setting too!
I was inspired to make a quick ‘cheat thick fudgey sauce’ recipe for myself for whenever the craving hits and I want 30 second thick sauce. I basically switched up your recipe a little and it still worked so well!
The question I do have however is if I use 40%-50% cacao chocolate (no milk), then because of the sugar content, thickening has always been an issue. Any idea how I could go about it without the use of cacao butter?
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing your experience, Supriya! Are you having an issue with it being too thick or too thin? If it’s too thick, maybe a little coconut oil to thin it!
Supriya Thukral says
Oh no, too thin. I want to know how to thicken the sauce without cacao butter in case I’m using 45-55% cacao chocolate. Like really mild dark chocolate with no milk but of course, it does contain more sugar and a lower percentage of cacao so the sauce stays too runny.
Hi Supriya, cooking longer should help it thicken more. We’re not sure about what you could add without impacting the flavor. Cocoa powder would thicken, but would make it more chocolatey.
Loo Loo says
Thank you so much for creating and sharing your wonderful recipes! 😊I’m SURE you unknowingly helped me win over my fiancé! Lol 😄
Anyway, I made the recipe as written using the really good Trader Joe’s cacao powder that I’m mildly obsessed with and Trader Joe’s new 72% chocolate chips in the gold bag.
I mixed a couple of really heaping tablespoons of your sauce with a shot of espresso from my Nespresso machine and a heaping 1/2 cup of frothed oatly oat milk. Ground a little bit of Himalayan pink salt in it and mixed a couple teaspoons of homemade vegan caramel sauce to boot. Let me tell you…It was the bomb.com!! 😃☕️
Woohoo! And wow, that sound SO good! Thank you for sharing! xo
Diane says
Making it again for the 2nd time this week to have with my vegan coffee icecream! So good and so quick, which I like ;-) I used baking chocolate instead of the cocoa butter so added more syrup. I’m gonna give the cocoa butter a try next just to see the difference .
Thank you for this recipe!!
That sounds like an incredible dessert! Thanks so much for the lovely review, Diane!
Steve says
I’m sorry, what is a “heaping” cup of water? I think only dry goods can be measured by “heaping”
Hi Steve, ~1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp.
Caro says
I am a massive fan of your recipes but this one was way too thick & bitter for me and i’m a lover of 90% chocolate, will happily suck lemons and do not consider myself to have a sweet tooth. I had to chuck in more maple syrup and add soya milk, which luckily brought it to the right consistency and taste. I would definitely halve the amount of cacao powder next time.
Hi Caro, sorry to hear this didn’t work out as expected! Did you serve it over something sweet? If not, that could make a difference!
Kristina says
Looking for a chocolate sauce to use in iced coffee. Would this work for that?
Should work well!
Jesyca says
Thanks…:)You made my chocolate sauce day!
Eve says
Best chocolate sauce ever!!!
I have made this with both dark chocolate and cocoa butter and it’s worked perfectly each time.
Hannah says
I accidentally used coconut butter instead of cocoa butter. Big difference ?definitely needs more maple syrup in the mix. Whoops! Otherwise great consistency and so easy to make!!!
Newbie cook says
Hi, I don’t know what I did wrong but it came out so wrong. I used dark chocolate instead of cocoa butter (which I didn’t have). First, it says in the recipe to cook for 5 minutes on medium/low after coming to a boil. I did so for a maximum of 2 minutes and stopped because it became REALLY thick, almost like a chocolate spread, I added about 5-7 TBSP of soy milk which made it just the right consistency. Second, it was pretty bitter, kind of like 85% dark chocolate, after adding and tasting – about 6 more TBSP of maple syrup fixed it and it turned out sweet enough (not too sweet, though). Like my name states – I’m a newbie when it comes to cooking, could you please tell me what I did wrong? I’m still learning and it feels like I made a huge mistake with a simple recipe… Thanks in advance and have a nice day!
I’d recommend using cocoa butter next time as the recipe calls for.
Jeanne says
I just made this using dark chocolate. It is wonderful! Enjoying it now over a bowl of mocha “nice” cream. Perfectly sweet and satisfying. I will be making this again, thank you so much for this recipe!
Roger Smith says
Chocolate is notorious for burning at anything over 120°F. So how do you get away with boiling (>212°F?) this mixture?
Ruby says
I’ve got cocoa butter at home, but how do I mince it ? Is that just squishing it.. haha
Chop into finely sliced pieces!
Alyssa Koziol says
So delicious!! Have you ever tried canning this recipe?
We haven’t! If you do though, report back on how it goes.
suzi says
I’m wondering if I can use the coconut butter I recently bought in place of Cocoa Butter…I may try as I don’t have time to shop for Cocoa butter which my nearby grocery won’t have….
Sounds delish!
Dina says
I made this tonight. I used homemade unsweetened almond milk in place of the water and served it warm over vanilla bean ice cream with fresh picked strawberries from my garden…..Delicious!! Thanks for a healthy chocolate syrup recipe.
Kayla says
#lifechanging
Seriously. So good.
Nakia says
I’ve made so many dishes from you and I can’t get enough! They always come out great and it’s definitely helping with my vegan diet!
Bailey says
How long should this store in the fridge? Thanks! :)
1-2 weeks!
Denise says
Yum!!! I love all things chocolate! And this sauce looks amazing!!!
Cassie says
Ah, cacao butter! Never tried it before! This chocolate syrup looks absolutely PERFECT.
Sophie says
Oh baby this simple sauce is great. I used Hershey’s “Special Dark” cocoa powder, with a tablespoon extra because I always want darker chocolate. It’s so thick and delicious! Hats off to you, Dana.
Thanks Sophie!
Shirleen says
Hi, my sauce “broke” a little, the cacao butter separated out a bit. Any ideas what went wrong? Maybe add the cacao butter after taking off heat? Thanks for any help, it tasted delicious, use it in a pie (choc cookie crust, choc sauce layer, pint TJs vanilla soy blended with 2 bananas layer, coconut whip).
Hm, did you whisk it enough?
Ruby chino says
Mine separated aswell! Still delicious though?
Miranda | Miranda's Notebook says
This looks so amazing, and I love how fun and colourful your pictures are. Beautiful! Miranda xxx
Thanks Miranda!
Emily says
This is fab! I bet it would go great with some banana nice cream, perfect post cycling treat.
Yes to everything you just said. YES.
Sarah says
So good! Made this the other night and enjoyed it over vegan vanilla ice cream. Will definitely be making it again!
Lovely! Thanks for sharing, Sarah.
Emma says
Where could I find cocoa butter? Also if I can’t find it what could I sub?(p.s I live in Canada) Thanks:)
Hi Emma, you can find cocoa butter on our pantry items list!
Gollaz says
Awesome images. Cool recipe. Stumbled on this blog and will definitely bookmark it.
Elizabeth Hanson says
Wow this looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it. I might hide it from the rest of my family, lol!
HealthyLaura says
So good and simple!
Aleksandra says
Will go great with my new hazelnut ice cream :)
KJ | Om Nom Herbivore says
Ive always just made syrup with coconut oil but it always gets to hard! Good Idea using Cacao butter!! :)
Stephanie says
I so needed this recipe! I can’t wait to make this!!
Maria says
Oh my gosh… This looks amazing. Regardless of the time of year, I am such a sucker for ice-cream sundays!!! I just made this a second ago and waiting until tonight feels so so far away. Gosh, this is making me hungry!!
Rhian Williams says
This is such a clever idea and looks so delicious! Beautiful photos too!
Giselle says
I’m always down for a good drizzle so I’ll definitely give this one a try. Quick question though: is the use of cocoa butter instead of dark chocolate just to avoid added sugar? Or does it affect the recipe in some other way?
Just to avoid sugar! Feel free to sub dark chocolate if you’d like!
Bea says
I am going to make this and keep it in the fridge to sneak out spoonfuls for when I reach that point in the day when I “need” chocolate ;-)
stephanie says
This is the WORST question, but can you leave the cocoa powder or cacao powder out? I have some white chocolate fans.
Hmm, I don’t know about that. I think it would alter the recipe entirely. Sorry!
Natalie says
Oh my gosh I didn’t know that something that looks this tasty could be so simple, and vegan too. Thank you thank you thank you!
– Natalie
Emily @ Robust Recipes says
Thank you so much for making a healthier chocolate syrup recipe! This is really awesome because I can’t handle the store bought stuff, too sweet and artificial tasting to me. BUT I have always loved the idea of using chocolate syrup on my ice cream. Now I have a solutions! You rock! Thanks Dana!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
And this is what we can call a “drinkable” sauce ;)
Laura ~ Raise Your Garden says
It seems like all the chocolate syrup/hot fudge type recipes always call for high fructose corn syrup!!!! And I just can’t do it. It feels so wrong to me. Nothing scary in your ingredient list at all. This type of recipe is always needed to top cakes I find, you know, to add a little something glamorous to the top. Cannot wait to try! Don’t know why I get all weird about healthy recipes that leave out super bad ingredients, they typically turn out better and tastier than the ick ones!!!!
Erin says
Trader Joe’s had a lovely chocolate syrup made with sugar and it was perfect. Unfortunately, they recently changed their recipe and it’s now inedible.
I’m thrilled to try this! One hint: use a Dutch process cocoa powder over ‘unsweetened cocoa powder’. It has a much better, richer flavor.
I purchase from Penzey’s spices. It’s a bit more expensive but the flavor is well worth it.
Thanks for coming up with this!