"Spekulatius-Flavored" Homemade Christmas Chocolate

What Do I Need To Make Chocolate At Home?

From an equipment and ingredient point of view, very little is needed. You can even substitute the chocolate moulds with parchment paper and a baking tin. Simply pour the melted chocolate on the covered baking tin and wait until cooled. Then break the chocolate into bite-size pieces. Et voila - you got your own, deliciously healthy homemade chocolate. If however, you want to go "pro" in the chocolate game, here are the chocolate moulds I used in the recipe (alternative with more shapes). 

Ingredient-wise I highly recommend you to use high-quality ingredients as you will taste the difference. Chocolate is made of such few ingredients that you really taste what you put in. Hence a high-quality and cacao butter and cacao powder make a huge difference flavor-wise. I used the following organic ingredients:

1. Cacao Butter 

2. Raw Cacao Powder

3. Nut Butter (You can use any organic nut butter brand. My favorite nut butters for chocolate bars are hazelnut and white almond butter)

4. Honey (Use any local raw honey you can find at a nearby farmer's market.)

How To Make Homemade Chocolate Bars

Homemade Chocolate is prepped in a very easy process. Basically what you do is melt the cacao butter, which is solid at room temperate, very slowly. The raw cacao butter shouldn't get too hot and never cook or burn. I love to melt the chocolate in my dehydrator or in the oven at around 50*C. 

Another "Pro Tip" when making chocolate: Prepare all your decorative toppings beforehand. Depending on your location, room temperature and chocolate bar thickness, the chocolate cools down pretty fast. Hence, be quick when you while decorating. My absolute topping favorites are nuts, red pepper and freeze-dried berries. Edible flowers also look amazing. Yet - depending on the flower you use - the chocolate may have a comparatively intense flavor. 

I Don't Like Chocolate - Are There Christmas Gift Alternatives To Homemade Chocolate Bars?

Of course - tons. One of my favorite alternative to homemade chocolate in the DIY category is Homemade Granola. Besides chocolate and pralines, I absolutely love to give away Granola. Not only is Granola super easy to make, it is also an amazing way to show how easy you can trade in something store-bought for something super healthy and yet beyond delicious. Find my two "go-to" Granola recipes here and here. 

Other ideas are homemade spice mixes, pralines, cookies, homemade soaps, candles face masks and cake mixes. They all make an amazing gift and have never failed from my experience.

Share Your Homemade Christmas Chocolate Love 

I hope you enjoy your first deliciously healthy homemade Spekulatius-spiced chocolate bars as much as I did when I tried it for the first time. Like always, I would love to see your delicious result and repost it on my social channels. So make sure to tag me on Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook. Besides, if you have any feedback for me, questions with regards to the recipe or if you just want to say "hey", comment below or shoot me a personal message through my contact form. 

xx, Karo