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Get It NowI’ve always had a weak spot for white chocolate. I even have fond childhood memories of picking through the (wrapped) candy bowl in search of the white Lindor truffles that may be buried in there. I’m not a white chocolate snob though – I’ll totally eat a plain white chocolate bar just as happily. And now, thanks to my new recipe, that can be low carb sugar-free white chocolate.
Purists might complain that white chocolate is not “real” chocolate since it doesn’t include cocoa powder, but I’d have to respectfully disagree. It’s still made with cocoa butter, so I say that totally counts.
Unfortunately, I have yet to find a good sugar-free white chocolate bar on the market. I wish I could buy them ready-to-eat, the way I do my beloved milk chocolate bars at Trader Joe’s, but they don’t make a white chocolate version.
That could only mean one thing – it was time to make my own!
When I first set out to make my own sugar-free white chocolate, I pored through ingredient lists for white chocolate bars I liked to find the common ground. I figured that would point me in the right direction of how to make my sugar-free white chocolate.
Of course, they were all made with sugar, cocoa butter, milk, vanilla (or unfortunately synthetic vanilla flavor called vanillin), and often lecithin as a stabilizer. This list was far from ideal, but I had to start somewhere.
It was time to make some ingredient replacements. I’d previously heard somewhere (wish I remembered where!) that the milk listed on chocolate bars was actually milk powder to avoid introducing excess liquid, so I knew that was what I had to use.
Originally I made this sugar-free white chocolate recipe with whole milk powder. After a reader suggested heavy cream powder, I changed it to that instead to lower carbs more. And, it tastes better.
Otherwise, I made the natural swaps of erythritol for sugar and real vanilla extract for vanillin. Make sure to use powdered Besti, so that your sugar-free white chocolate is not grainy.
I skipped the stabilizer in my original recipe. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake. The low carb white chocolate recipe ended up causing problems for people. Sure enough, when I tried to make it again, the chocolate didn’t emulsify properly.
As a result, I modified the steps to include sunflower lecithin. I figured that would help since most commercial chocolate bars contain soy lecithin. I opted for the sunflower kind to avoid soy. Just a teeny-tiny bit worked wonders!
I threw in a pinch of sea salt for depth, but you can skip it if you’d like.
Once I had the ingredient list figured out, it was simply a matter of testing out different ingredient ratios, primarily the relationship between cocoa butter and heavy cream powder. Both contribute to the unique flavor we know and love in white chocolate.
I settled at a ratio of one tablespoon of powder per ounce of cocoa butter – a wonderful combination of smoothness and white-chocolatiness. In addition, my revised sugar-free white chocolate recipe includes a tablespoon of coconut oil. I found that this helped to make it creamier.
So, are you ready to make your own sugar-free white chocolate bars? With the holidays coming up, having a sugar-free, healthier option for white chocolate is much-needed. I’ll bet these keto white chocolates and keto chocolate bars would be so cute wrapped up as little gifts, too.
Tools To Make Sugar-free White Chocolate
Tap the links below to see the items used to make this recipe.
- Double boiler – For melting the cocoa butter and coconut oil. Highly, highly recommend this, otherwise there’s a good chance the chocolate will burn or separate.
- Chocolate bar molds – I like this pack because it’s 4 for one low price. And, the chocolates pop out effortless because they are food-grade silicone.
- Chocolate chip molds – If you want white chocolate chips, this mold makes the same shape as real store-bought ones!
- Sunflower lecithin – Many people aren’t sure where to get this, so I wanted to point it out here. This is the one I use. It’s a must to stabilize the sugar-free white chocolate and help keep it smooth.
- Heavy cream powder – This is harder to find in stores. I buy it here online for making low carb white chocolate. Plus, you can reconstitute it with water to use as actual heavy cream in recipes.
Sugar Free White Chocolate
By
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Cut the cocoa butter into small pieces, no larger than 1/2 in (1.3 cm) in any direction. This important to prevent overheating the outside when melting.
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Place the cocoa butter, coconut oil, and sunflower lecithin into a small saucepan. Melt on the stove over VERY low heat. Do not allow it to simmer or boil. (Even better, use a double boiler if you can.) Remove from heat once melted.
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Stir in Besti, until dissolved. Stir in the cream powder, vanilla extract, and sea salt, until smooth.
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Pour into chocolate molds (or onto a small parchment lined pan). Refrigerate until hardened. Keep refrigerated for best results.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya's Recipe Notes
- Makes 2 chocolate bars of typical size. A serving is 1/4 of a bar.
- Any powdered sweetener will work. Powdered sugar makes a regular white chocolate version, but I prefer powdered Besti for low carb and sugar-free white chocolate bars.
- The ratios in this recipe were updated in January 2018, and again in September 2018, for better results.
Serving size: 1/4 of a bar
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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How To Make Sugar-Free White Chocolate (Low Carb, Keto)
266 Comments
Karen B Serrano
0Does this chocolate harden like tempered chocolate?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Karen, this chocolate breaks apart easily, but it’s a little bit softer and doesn’t “snap” like regular tempered chocolate.
Kim
0Thanks for taking the time to do this! Question, why use coconut oil? Whats the purpose?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kim, the coconut oil creates a creamier consistency.
Pam
0Hey Maya, I loved that you’ve updated this recipe!
I’m curious: the heavy cream powder looks a little grainy after you stir it, do you think it will work to blend all together (after melting process) in a hand mixer or blender before pouring into the chocolate mold?
Wholesome Yum
0That should work, Pam. Let me know if you try it!
Lea Lawn
0Would powdered sunflower lecithin work ?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Lea, I haven’t tried it. It might work. Let me know how it goes if you try it.
Sita
0Hi! I was hoping you could tell me how long you specifically had to mix the cocoa butter, coconut oil, erythritol and lecithin mixture before the erythritol actually completely dissolved? Or are you left with a slightly gritty texture too? The pictures of your bars seem to show texture in the chocolate. In the video it seems as though you barely mixed both the sugar and milk powder. I made these tonight and although the flavor was lovely there was no way for me to get the sugar to completely dissolve. I used a double boiler and whisked it up for what seemed a very long time and it wasn’t budging. I would love to try to make this again with some success 🙂 Am I whisking for too long? Are you using a special tool to blend them all after melted? magic bullet?? I used now erythritol which i powdered very finely and the same liquid lecithin as you. I’d really appreciate hearing back from you or anyone else that has actually been successful in making smooth sugar free chocolate using erythritol.
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sita, I’m not sure what went wrong here. My powdered erythritol usually dissolves, but I imagine an immersion blender would help combine everything if you’re still getting a gritty consistency.
Elke Betz
0Is there any sub for the soy or sunflower lecithin? I’ve got one family member allergic to soy and one to sunflower! Help!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Elke, I am sorry, I don’t know of an alternative to either of those versions of lecithin.
Leanne
0I have found that not all powdered Erythritol is created equal. There seems to be an enormous difference in the quality of the powder especially if I make it myself from granular. My method to make it is to use my (not used for coffee…coffee grinder) and I make it in small batches and while most of the granular becomes powder there are still some resistant crystals that won’t turn to powder and it creates a slightly grainy texture when making anything that is super silky smooth. However when I purchase the powdered version of Erythritol the entire bag is powder soft and smooth and gives the perfect end result.
I know some are going to comment and say oh well you didn’t grind it long enough in the grinder, well if I kept it in any longer it would have turned into some sort of Erythritol paste or butter…and it goes from a powder to an almost flake type consistency and the powder becomes compressed. Anyway I’ve tried to get it a consistent powder by making smaller batches but I find if I don’t have enough then it becomes almost impossible to grind. Perhaps a high speed ninja blender with the multiple tornado style blade (closest I’ve found to a vita mix at only a third or less of the cost)would work better? I’ve not tried that if anyone has please let me know if it provides a more consistent powder throughout?
By the way THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS HOW TO TUTORIAL VIDEO AND THE RECIPE COMPLETE WITH EXACTLY WHAT YOU USED! I haven’t tried it yet I’m waiting for all the items to be shipped from Amazon.ca. I’m soooo happy I’ll be able to make keto macadamia nut cookies and blondies for my sweetie, he will be soooo thrilled. We are new to Keto and are desperately trying to reverse his type 2 diabetes but it’s so important that he doesn’t feel deprived or it could lead to not being able to stick with it. This will seal the deal for sure! God Bless and thank you so much!!!
Cindy Love
0Would this recipe be good for using with chocolate molds? & would food coloring change anything? I like using chocolate decor on my cakes & cupcakes. Thanks for this!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Cindy, Yes, it’s great for molds. I haven’t tried adding food coloring so am not sure about that one.
Katrina
0Hi there! I really love your dark chocolate. I made it and came out so good. Thank you so much! I’m now ready to try white chocolate this time. I noticed that if I use items in liquid form the more the chocolate easily melts and doesn’t hold the shape, so for this recipe can I use the powdered form or the lecithin? And powdered form of vanilla? Also can you please share if you have a coffee or peanut butter chocolate recipe?
Wholesome Yum L
0Hi Katrina, I haven’t tried making the recipe with the powdered ingredients so I’m not sure. You might like to try this recipe: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/low-carb-keto-chocolate-bar-recipe/.
Jahmila D
0I made your white chocolate recipe and loved it. I used the powder version of the organic sunflower lecithin. I made a salted hazelnut version. Soo delicious
Sarah
0Is there a reason why the recipe calls for heavy cream powder instead of regular heavy cream? I’ve tried a similar recipe to this (the one I used didn’t include sunflower lecithin or coconut oil) and the texture was too grainy for me. I was hoping for a creamy smooth texture but it turned out not so.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sarah, Yes, you need heavy cream powder. Regular heavy cream will just make a liquid instead of a solid chocolate bar.
Chris
0So you’re saying that if I substitute heavy whipping cream powder for the liquid I can make a syrup/sauce? I recently switched over to a ketogenic lifestyle but I miss my white chocolate mochas from Starbucks! Lol. The world would love you (well at least I would!) if you could make whatever alterations required to make this a syrup/sauce that can be refrigerated and then used as a coffee sweetener or maybe even a desert drizzle or topping!! Pretty please, with white chocolate on top?!?! Lol
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Chris, I haven’t tried it, but yes, I think you’d end up with a white chocolate sauce if you use liquid heavy cream instead of the powder. That sounds delicious over coffee!
DuneUnit
0Just a thought… Use Allulose as your natural, no/low-carb sweetener. It works remarkably well… I made caramel with it and still can’t believe how accurately it mimics the real thing.
Robin
0Hello!
I made this recipe without the lecithin, and I also used coconut milk powder instead of heavy cream powder. (I found that easily in stores, Grace brand).
I microwaved my cocoa butter and coconut oil instead of stove top, 1 min, stir, then 30 seconds at a time, stir, until completely melted. I melted my coconut oil first actually, in order to measure better.
The end result separated slightly with the coconut oil on top and the cocoa butter on the bottom, but once it set it wasn’t very noticable at all.
Mine were very very sweet, but I believe now it’s because I used Swerve powdered, which is 100% as sweet as sugar vs powdered erythritol which is 70% as sweet. I do think that the other commenters saying something similar about sweetness made the same mistake. Perhaps you could make a note on the recipe?
Despite using coconut milk powder and coconut oil (the kind that actually tastes like coconut) I don’t find the results are too coconuty, although maybe a little. Not unpleasantly so.
They aren’t too hard to bite into either. Even when coming out of the fridge, they have a light consistency, like soft milk chocolate.
Overall I’m very pleased, next time I’ll cut on the Swerve though. If you used 1/4 cup of powdered erythritol for the original recipe, I would guess I should use about 3tbsp Swerve or 3/4 as much. (60ml at 70% sweetness would be 42ml at 100% sweetness).
Despite all those changes, I’ll give the recipe 5*, lol even though I don’t like it when people do that on other recipes.
Janis Nordmeyer
0Robin, thank you so much for sharing this method “with out” using lecithin! We have listened and learned so much from Dr Ken D Berry, MD, author pf best selling “Lies My Doctor Told Me”!!! His medical insight to chemical additives have opened our eyes! I look forward to making this WITH OIT…any lecithin! I’d appreciate any other healthy tips!
Rita
0These came out perfect. Followed your recipe exact until I poured it. I put it in little molds to make fat bombs. I added cacao nibs to some, macadamia nuts to others and left some plain. I am so excited they turned out so good. Thank you so much! Love that they have coconut oil. The flavor isn’t pronounced and it’s added benefits are wonderful.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yum, that sounds delicious, Rita! Thanks for sharing!
Pat
0I would like to up the flavor on this recipe but have no idea how. I do plan on reducing the sweetness a bit. However, the white chocolate taste just wasn’t as flavorful as I’d like. Please help!!! It’s definitely a very well thought out recipe!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Pat, You could replace some of the coconut oil with more cocoa butter for a stronger flavor.
Diego
0Hi there,
Many thanks for sharing this great recipe. However, I cannot yet put it into practice since I didn’t find heavy powder cream in France. And I don’t want to use milk powder since I’m really strict regarding carbs counting. Is this really necessary? Would coconut hardened butter or coconut cream make it instead?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Diego, Sorry, you need either heavy cream powder, milk powder, or coconut cream powder. I have a link to the one I use on the recipe card above, in case you might want to have it shipped. Whole milk powder would be some carbs but less than skim or 2%. Coconut cream would not set unfortunately. I haven’t tried with coconut butter, so you could try that but not sure if it would set and have the right flavor.
Liz
0First I think this recipe is great, but I would up the sweetener…maybe a 3rd of a cup and a whole tsp of vanilla. I got the candy molds for it, and it spilled a little in the freezer. The little chunk I got seemed to not have much flavor at all. I might melt it down and add the extra to it. It’s rich and I like that, just needs more vanilla and a bit more sweetener
Thanks.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you for the feedback, Liz! Sweetness is definitely a bit subjective so feel free to add more if you like more. Sometimes the sweetener doesn’t dissolve enough and that can cause uneven sweetness also.
Liz
0Made this last night with Xanthan gum in place of the lecithin (I’m on Plant Paradox so soy and sunflowers are both out) and it turned out fine. I made one batch with only that one substitution and the flavor was just okay but perfect for baking which is what I made it for. I made another batch and replaced the vanilla extract with peppermint extract to try for a more peppermint bark taste and WOW! So happy I found this recipe because I’ve been missing having peppermint bark this year and now I don’t have to miss it as much! Thank you!
Kristina
0Hi, is it at all possible to use psyllium husk, xanthan gum, or some other thing for this recipe? Also do you have any other things I could use with the sunflower lecithin? because if I buy it then I’ll have a huge thing of it and obviously I can’t just make a ton of chocolate.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kristina, This recipe doesn’t call for those things, is there a specific reason you are looking to put them in? Sunflower lecithin is necessary to stabilize the chocolate, and fortunately it lasts a long time. 🙂
Kristina
0Hi sorry for not getting back to you I for some reason didn’t get an email that you wrote back just when other people wrote comments but anyway yeah I was hoping to use 1 of those things INSTEAD of the sunflower lecithin since I’ve heard that they’re thickeners but since you said that it’s a stabilizer (not a thickener) I’m not sure if any of those would work but please let me know if you think they would.
Thanks in advance,
Kristina
P.S. sorry I should have been more descriptive in my first message
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Sorry, I don’t think they would work to stabilize instead of the lecithin. You could try without it but my trials have been hit or miss. At least half the time, omitting the lecithin results in the chocolate “splitting” or “breaking”. So, I recommend just getting the lecithin. 🙂
Cecilia
0Hi there. I found this recipe while looking for sugar free white chocolate to use as a coating for low-carb pumpkin truffles. This looks promising. Do you think this chocolate will adhere to the truffles and harden? I’d keep the truffles in the fridge before serving, but am concerned that as chocolate coating reaches room temperature it may begin to soften and separate from the truffles. Do you have any experience using the white chocolate as a coating? Thanks so much. Looking forward to trying your recipe.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Cecilia, I haven’t tried that, but think it would work. Please let me know how it goes if you try it!
Mary Manello
0Thank you for your diligent work! I want to make a white chocolate ganache, to frost a cake. Will your white chocolate work the same? (Typically, I chop dark chocolate and add to boiling cream to make a ganache). I’d love your advice on this! Being a keto girl, I really miss white chocolate, too!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Mary, I haven’t tried that, but would think it should work. Let me know if it does!
Meg McWhirter
0Can you use food coloring and pipe it into shapes. Would it stay together, like a pumpkin?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Meg, It’s too liquid to pipe into shapes, but you could do shapes if you have silicone molds.
Dawna Pryor
0Did you use powder or liquid lecithin?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Dawna, I used this lecithin.