Easy Homemade Healthy Hot Chocolate Squares

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Every now and then (or every 5 minutes!), I get a chocolate craving! I love chocolate, and even though there are antioxidants in real dark chocolate, it’s still high in sugar. Sugar creates lots of inflammation in the body.

I have been trying to come up with some recipes that satisfy the sweet tooth, provide the antioxidant levels of dark chocolate, and have lower sugar content. So I threw together this recipe with cocoa powder and honey! Plus, you also get the medicinal benefits of raw honey.

The coconut oil is full of healthy fats and the gelatin is good for your hair, nails, and gut lining. I think this recipe sounds pretty darn healthy! Don’t you? Just try not to eat the whole pan right away! I named them healthy hot chocolate squares because they seriously taste like hot chocolate! 

Healthy Hot Chocolate Squares

Kate
I have been trying to come up with some recipes that satisfy the sweet tooth, provide the antioxidant levels of dark chocolate, and have lower sugar content. So I threw together this recipe with cocoa powder and honey! Plus, you also get the medicinal benefits of raw honey.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Desserts
Cuisine Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¼ cup boiling water
  • 3 Tbsp gelatin
  • ½ cup cold water
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ cup coconut milk powder
  • 1 cup coconut oil
  • ⅓ cup raw honey
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch sea salt
  • Additional coconut oil for greasing baking dish
  • Optional: sometimes I like to give my chocolate treats a mocha flavor. When I do this I just add one packet of my favorite coffee to the mix. This stuff is a super healthy mushroom coffee, so it makes the chocolate treat a healthy mocha treat!

Instructions
 

  • 1. Grease a glass baking dish with coconut oil and set aside.
  • 2. In a small saucepan, boil 1 1/4 cups water.
  • 3. Then, in a high-powered blender, add the gelatin and 1/2 cold water.
  • 4. Allow it to sit and "bloom" for a few minutes — that’s fancy talk for allowing it to gel.
  • 5. Next, add the rest of the ingredients to the blender (including the boiling water).
  • 6. Note: I LOVE coconut milk powder and think these are the most delicious with half coconut milk powder and half cocoa powder. If you would like, you can use only cocoa powder for a really chocolatey hot chocolate square. I add the coconut first and top off with the cocoa…
  • 7. Blend until liquefied.
  • 8. Pour into your greased baking dish.
  • 9. Place into your fridge until set.
  • 10. Slice into cubes and enjoy your Healthy Hot Chocolate Squares.
  • 11. I store mine cut up in a plastic bag for easy access, they last up to one week in the fridge.

Notes

If you purchase from Four Sigmatic, you can use the coupon code “REALFOODRN” to get 10% off your order.
If you purchase from Perfect Supplements, use coupon code REALFOOD10 for 10% off your entire order!
Keyword dairy free Hot Chocolate Squares, gluten free Hot Chocolate Squares, Healthy Hot Chocolate Squares

Watch the video recipe below.

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Easy Homemade Healthy Hot Chocolate Squares | Real Food RN

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Hi, my name is Kate.

I love food. Real food. We eat all of the things that nursing school taught me were bad for you: butter, eggs, bacon, and raw milk.

I am a Nurse, a Mom, and a Real Food loving blogger. Just trying to save the world.

5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




85 Comments

  2. Sounds delicious!
    I have 2 questions, if you have a moment …
    1) I have everything on hand but the coconut milk powder. Do you suppose I could substitute coconut milk plus ground coconut or coconut cream, maybe?
    2) What size is your baking dish? Your hyperlink goes to an 8×8 dish, but yours appears to be rectangular- maybe 8×11?
    Thanks!
    Can’t wait to make these!

    Reply

  3. These look wonderful. I assume that you sprinkled them with cocoa powder before serving.
    One question: do you use these to make hot cocoa, or do you just eat them? Never mind, I just read the other comments!
    Yummy!

    Reply

  4. I’ve made something like these before (using coconut milk instead of the powder) and they were AMAZING! I have to make them again – this time I’m popping them in some hot cocoa! I love gelatin – it’s magical!

    Reply

  6. I made them & just pulled them out of the fridge – so excited for fun, delicious, & healthy recipes like this! Thank you!! They are fantastic!! I was a little nervous, b/c I realized after the fact that I added 1 1/2 cups of boiling water instead of 1 1/4. I added a little extra gelatin in the blender hoping they would still be okay! They were, & I’m excited to follow it exactly next time! I also took your recommendation on 1 c. of cacao, as I don’t have coconut milk powder. Thanks again! My kids will also be overjoyed for this treat – that makes my day!! 😀

    Reply

  9. These look wonderful and I would love to give them a try!!
    I do have a question if you have a second!! – I noticed that one of the ingredients on the coconut milk power is Maltodextrin – I try my hardest to stay away from this because it is another form of MSG a terrible toxin – is this the same thing?? I have heard some try to explain that there are different forms of maltodextrin not all are a form of MSG yet I have been unable to confirm this completely – might you have any ideas? Thank you for your time!! 😉

    Reply

    1. Julie, you can just use cocoa powder in place of the coconut milk powder. You will get really chocolatey squares that way 🙂

      Reply

  10. Man, I needed this recipe before the holidays were over! Dropping them into a cup of hot almond/coconut milk sounds delicious…

    Reply

  16. Could you substitute some coconut milk for boiling water if you don’t have coconut milk powder? Like make a total of 1.5 c boiling liquid using part water part coconut milk?

    Reply

  17. It looks like a great recipe, but I don’t quite like your blurb “Yay, no sugar!”. I mean, it should be Yay, no refined sugar!…

    Honey is a natural sugar, as is maple syrup to a certain extent. 1 Tbsp of honey contains 17g of sugar, and is a combination of Fructose, Glucose, and Maltose. Table sugar is Sucrose, which is a linked molecule of Glucose and Fructose. There is even evidence that Fructose is more harmful than the rest.

    So yes, I love using honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar, but I definitely don’t kid myself- they are all still sugar.

    I look forward to trying your recipe.

    Reply

    1. I second this…certainly hope no one is getting the idea that this is a sugar-free treat! One of my biggest pet-peeves is when folks call their recipes “sugar-free”, but use other sweeteners, even if they are natural. Honey is so good for you (buy raw if you can!), but your body treats the fructose the same as if it came from anything else.

      Reply
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  21. Thanks so much for this recipe! I love it, and it satisfies my daily need for chocolate. I make it with 3/4 cups cocoa powder and 1/4 cup of sfh vanilla whey protein powder. I also use 1/4 cup maple syrup and 5 drops of vanilla creme sweetleaf stevia and they are perfectly sweet enough!

    Reply

    1. Ooh, nice additions. I might have to try some of your tricks! Glad you like them, they are my secret addiction 🙂

      Reply

  23. Hey, I’m just hearing about this recepie now. I was wondering if I should just keep it in the fridge for an hour after I take them out from blender.

    Reply

  25. I just made this. I went and bought coconut milk powder so I could make them, and totally forgot to put it in, but still so good. Actually glad not to have put coconut milk powder as it contains maltodextrin.
    I made it in a 8×8, did you double the recipe? Mine is flatter.

    Reply
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  31. Can you use a natural sugar free sweetener instead of honey?. My Mom is diabetic and I’m watching my sugars also.

    Reply

  32. These looks delicious and I may try them. Just one thing though. Honey IS sugar. So is maple syrup, and fruit. Sugar is sugar in our body regardless of the source. Some of the leaders in the Paleo community have written in depth articles about this. I think it’s important to tell people honey IS sugar, not say these are sugar free.

    Reply
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  37. I made these yesterday. They have a layer of white (coconut oil) on the bottom. Makes them unappetizing. Any idea how to avoid separation? I’d like to try again.

    Reply

  38. I’m just curious if you could sub butter in for some of the coconut oil… I just don’t have enough coconut oil left and really want to try these, I’m not sure if it would change them too much though.

    Reply

      1. Well I’ve made them twice now already. The first recipe I didn’t have quite enough gelatin but they still turned out pretty good.

        After a trip to the store, I made them more to recipe, but still used half butter and half coconut oil and they are SOOOO good. Also instead of boiling water, I used almond milk, and since I had no coconut milk powder I used 1 full cup of cocoa and that second batch is just heavenly.

        Also, they taste AMAZING with some toasted chopped almonds on top. YUM YUM!

        Reply

  40. Hi Kate,
    nice recipe! 🙂 I am from Germany and sometimes your ingredients are unusual to the ones we are using here. So just to make sure: do you mean vanilla extract by writing “vanilla”?
    Cheers,
    Franzi

    Reply

    1. Hi Franzi! I do mean vanilla extract. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for pointing out that it is confusing. I will update the post to be more clear too 🙂

      Reply

  41. These squares are amazing! I live in Asia and don’t have coconut milk powder available (ironically ) but can get fresh squeezed coconut milk? I made them with cocoa only, but next batch I will use hot coconut milk rather than hot water. My kids are hooked on these squares, and they disappear fast! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  43. Just a quick question.. Do these have a strong coconut flavor since you use coconut milk powder and coconut oil? I don’t mind it but my husband doesn’t like the taste of coconut.

    Reply

  44. Hi there

    I love your blog post, Homemade Healthy Hot Chocolate Squares, and we would love to feature it on our website, GreenThickies.com. Would it be OK for me to use one of your photos within my post? I will of course link back to your post.

    Thanks so much

    Myra
    GreenThickies.com

    Reply
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  46. I’ve been making these about once a month for about a year. I just love them! I like to add some cayenne for a little kick 😉 they really help keep my milk production up and keep me going with clean energy! Thank you so much!

    Reply
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  57. It looks like you intended to add a link for how to melt honey and still retain its benefits, but it isn’t there, not on mobile at least. Can’t wait to try these! Thanks!

    Reply

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