I have a deep and meaningful love for chocolate. When my oldest son was diagnosed with a milk allergy, it quickly became apparent that most chocolate bought in the regular old grocery store contains milk or is made on shared lines with milk. Although my son has never had a cross contamination reaction and we have not eliminated milk from our home, I feel uncomfortable buying him chocolate made on shared lines with milk chocolate because I figure, it’s all chocolate, would the factory really clean in between? Our local grocery store carries dairy free chocolate chips and a few very expensive chocolate treats. The thing is, when it comes to the holidays, there are no cute little chocolate hearts, bunnies, Frankensteins, or Santas readily available. So I learned how to make them myself! It is way cheaper than the online options and I make different flavors which is fun! I have been wanting to write this post for a long time, because every holiday, someone else in the Deliciously Dairy Free Facebook group always asks about making chocolates! I hope this post inspires you to make your own chocolates for someone special (or for yourself!) Once you get the hang of tempering the chocolate the possibilities are endless!

The first thing you need is a thermometer. You can use a real candy thermometer, but I’ve also used a meat thermometer with success. The second thing you need is chocolate! I buy Pascha brand 55% cacao chocolate chips. They are dairy free and have a really nice flavor. I know many people use Enjoy Life chocolate chips to make chocolate, also. Milk-lovers can use whatever other kinds of chocolate chips you like! Just be careful as some have a wax coating that won’t temper as nicely. I like either Baker’s chocolate or Ghirardelli. Next, you need a double boiler, or a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of gently boiling water. Then you need some kind of mold. I may or may not have a problem saying NO to a variety of cute molds and cookie cutters. The most versatile, however, is a silicone mini-muffin pan. You can make a several different items in it, the chocolate pops right out, and they are easy to find. If you want to up the fun factor, I like the Silikomart molds or the Cybrtrayd molds. Amazon has them with so many cool shapes. The last items needed are some freezer bags and a good spatula. Optional items to go in the chocolates: peanut butter filling, truffle filling, almond butter filling, raisins, Rice Krispies, coconut flakes, and nuts. At Easter, I also buy little foil wrappers so I can put the chocolates in my son’s basket. I usually buy them with a coupon at Michael’s.

STEP ONE: Assemble ingredients. You will need at least 8 oz of chocolate chips. I usually use two full bags which are 8.8 oz each. If you are making filled cups, make the filling first. In a stand mixer place: 2/3 cup peanut/almond butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons softened butter (or DF margarine/coconut oil), and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix well until you can roll or smush into a ball. I usually fiddle with it and add a little more butter or powdered sugar to get the right consistency. You can also make my chocolate truffle filling. (Note, the chocolate truffle filling should be stored in the fridge.) Grab anything else you may want to add and set it out so that it’s ready to put in your chocolate!

STEP TWO: Melt about half of your chocolate chips over gently boiling water.

You want the chocolate to reach between 114°F and 118°F. (If it goes higher, it will seize (burn), thicken, and you won’t be able to pour into a mold. I have definitely had this happen and it is majorly heartbreaking.) Then REMOVE from the heat and add the rest of your chocolate and use a spatula to stir around and around and back and forth to temper the chocolate until it reaches 88°F-89°F. The fresh chocolate chips will melt into the chocolate and bring the temperature down. If you need to heat it back up a little to get them all to melt, that’s fine, but don’t let the temperature go over 90°F.

Now it is ready to use! It seems ridiculous, I get it. Tempering the chocolate this way is what gives the chocolate that nice snap when you bite into it. If you mess it up, it will still taste good, because, hello, it’s chocolate. The texture and look won’t be as nice, that’s all.

STEP THREE: To fill the chocolates, I have success using a ladle to put the melted chocolate into a freezer bag, zipping the top and cutting a tiny hole in the corner. (If you pour directly from the pan into a bag/bowl, make sure the bottom of your pan is dry! If the condensation from sitting over the boiling water gets into your chocolate it will seize AKA be ruined and you will cry. Yes, this has happened to me.)

Pastry bags are obviously better, but I ran out of those months ago. To make a basic chocolate, fill each candy mold to the top. Then gently shake the mold back and forth on the counter/table to release any bubbles. If you are using a mini-muffin pan, I would only fill those about halfway. Set in the refrigerator for about 8 minutes. To make filled cups: pour chocolate into each muffin mold enough to coat the bottom and up the sides a bit.

(Here I used herb freezing trays because they pop out a little easier, but its just about the same size.) Turn the mold around gently in your hands to get the chocolate to creep up the sides. Set in the fridge. Remove from fridge and put desired filling in each cup, pressing it down a bit.

Then fill the rest with chocolate, shake gently to get rid of any bubbles, and set in fridge. To add fun mixings in: I fill the bottom with a little chocolate, set it in the fridge to have a nice smooth top/bottom.

Then I add the raisins/krispies/coconut flakes/nuts, and finally, fill the rest of the way with the chocolate, shake out bubbles, and set in fridge.

Here are my final products from my latest cooking session with my oldest! I was supposed to get a heart shaped mold that I wanted to use for this post. It isn’t arriving until March! So I used some Pascha dairy free white chocolate baking chips to give these some pink hearts. I just melted the chips in the microwave gently, added some red food coloring and made a tiny heart in the bottom of the mold and set it in the fridge. Once you gain a little confidence, you can have fun being creative with it!