White chocolate is basically cocoa butter and sugar, but it also contains non-vegan ingredients like butter or milk. So here’s an easy recipe to make your vegan-friendly white chocolate at home.
Is White Chocolate Vegan?
The vast majority of commercial white chocolate brands include dairy products in their products. This is the same reason why many dark chocolates aren’t vegan. In theory, manufacturing white chocolate could be done with only cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and sugar. But it actually contains milk solids most of the time to add a touch of creaminess, making them not vegan-friendly. Let’s have a look at some of the most common brands:
Ghirardelli‘s White Baking Chocolate is made with dry milk and milk fat. So it’s not vegan. Nestle‘s Toll House White Chocolate Chips also contain milk and nonfat milk. They are not vegan either. Merckens Coating Melting White Chocolate Buttons contain nonfat dry milk. They aren’t vegan. OliveNation‘s Callebaut White Chocolate Chunks are made with whole milk powder, nonfat dry milk, and milkfat. They’re not vegan.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Raw Cocoa Butter – that’s the main ingredient of any homemade chocolate recipe. Refined Coconut Oil – or melted vegan butter. If you use coconut oil, use a refined option to avoid the coconut flavor in your chocolate. Melted vegan butter tastes very good, and the chocolate colors come out gold white, which is beautiful. Sweetener – read more below on choosing the best sweetener, but my preference goes for maple syrup, rice syrup, or coconut nectar. Cashew Butter or coconut butter – the color of your chocolate will be darker with the second option, but the first option also adds a coconut flavor, so it’s up to you to choose your favorite option. Vanilla Extract
Sweetener Choice
When it comes to homemade chocolate, the sweetener can be tricky to pick. Let me explain. I tested the recipe with both:
liquid sweeteners powdered sweeteners
My preference goes to maple syrup or any liquid sweetener you like. In fact, powder sweeter won’t dissolve into the melted cocoa butter. As a result, anytime you use a powder sweetener, it will accumulate in one spot of the chocolate bar and won’t spread evenly. Some areas won’t be sweet, others too sweet, and the powder will obviously let a grainy texture. So I highly recommend a liquid sweetener except if you need to make sugar-free white chocolate.
Add-Ons
You can flavor this vegan white chocolate by adding some of the following ingredients.
Peppermint extract Crushed candy cane Chopped nuts Cocoa nibs Desiccated coconut
How To Make Vegan White Chocolate
Luckily, it’s ridiculously easy to make white chocolate at home.
Storage
This chocolate must be stored in the fridge or freezer for an intense crunch. It will melt at room temperature.
Usage
You can use this vegan white chocolate for eating straight out of the mold or for many baking recipes. Chop it and add it to muffins, cupcakes, cake batter, or even to make chocolate bark. It’s also delicious melted on top of a chocolate cake or strawberry muffins.
More Recipes With Vegan Chocolate
If you like simple staple recipes, you’ll love these:
