Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it straight to your inbox. And you’ll get new recipes & tips each week.
Shall we bring back a bit of nostalgia this morning?
Maybe it’s the DIY facial serum at work? Bringing me back to the youthful years of 1992. I promise, we’ll skip the overalls and tie-dyed shirts. Everyone take a deep sigh of relief.
I grew up with everything the late 80’s and early 90’s had to offer– the good, the bad, and the “What in the world were we thinking??”. Overalls and tie-dyed shirts that flowed down well-past the knees definitely qualify for the latter category. If you thought overalls were the bomb-diggity (it’s the 90’s coming out), just keep reading. No hard feelings. I’m sure you pulled off the overall look much better than I did.
One of my fondest memories as a child, besides cooking with my mom, was a magical bottle of dark chocolate syrup kept in the door of our almond-colored fridge. The 90’s aren’t exactly known as the age of health food, so the thought of chocolate syrup and mystery ingredients never came into question. All I knew was that the big bottle of chocolate syrup took my milk from a plain white drink to a heaven-sent glass of chocolatey-satisfaction.
My heaven-sent chocolate milk experiences were not an everyday event. The bottle of magical chocolate syrup only came out on special occasions, much like fast food and chips.
Fast forward to 2015 and real food.
Oh don’t worry, I’m not about to take away the nostalgia of chocolate milk! No, no…
When people hear, read, or notice (“Umm…Your fridge is a tad bit different than mine. You have half a cow in your freezer…what?!”) that we enjoy real food, the first reaction is often, “So do you eat a lot of salads and quinoa?” My reply usually includes a line about butter, steak, bacon, and homemade ice cream. Oh, and my utter distain for quinoa, until recently. Remember? We made up and became friends!
The good news is that we are not thriving on salads and quinoa alone. Yes, I make both. I’m a huge fan of a hearty homemade salad, like my Probiotic Chicken Caesar Salad, but that doesn’t mean salads make-up our entire real food existence. In fact, because of our real food lifestyle, we don’t have to worry about an ingredient list, calorie counts, or trans fat. We enjoy homemade treats with great pleasure–homemade ice cream, pastured bacon, brownies (!!!), and even chocolate milk.
Amazing, right?
We enjoy these treats and find pleasure in the taste and wholesome ingredients.
Let’s get to the syrup…shall we?
Homemade chocolate syrup is seriously one of the easiest homemade treats to make in the kitchen. Homemade chocolate syrup is made with just a few basic ingredients: cocoa powder (the chocolate punch), water, pure maple syrup (the sweetness), vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. The simple ingredients come together in just minutes to create a decadent chocolate syrup that can be stored in the fridge for several months. Stir homemade chocolate syrup in a tall glass of whole milk or drizzle over homemade vanilla bean ice cream. You can also enjoy this syrup straight from the spoon…hey, I won’t judge.
DIY Homemade Chocolate Milk Syrup (Refined Sugar Free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- In a medium-size saucepan, over medium-high heat, whisk together the water and maple syrup. Bring the water/syrup mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Whisk the cocoa powder into the water/syrup mixture until the powder is fully dissolved. Simmer for 2 minutes. This is just the right amount of time needed for the syrup to thicken. If the syrup simmers for longer, the cocoa powder may burn resulting in a burnt flavor (yuck!).
- Remove the chocolate syrup from the heat. Stir the vanilla extract and pinch of salt into the syrup.
- Store the syrup in a container in the fridge for several months.
Notes
Nutrition
REFRESHING RECIPES TO MAKE ON A HOT DAY
Take the Guess Work OUt of meal planning
Free 64 Rotational Meals Ideas Cheat Sheet
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack recipes to rotate week after week. Put healthy meals on auto-pilot.
Thank You….. Was looking for a way to get chocolate flavor in my milk kefir. This should work great.
Thank you for the recipe!
I switched from Organic Valley Chocolate milk to DIY “Nesquik” Powder and back again. The DIY stuff had an insane amount of sugar. So for the past month the one child that liked chocolate milk (my youngest doesn’t like to eat sweets, only hold them…nice problem to have!) has been living without chocolate milk. Organic Chocolate milk is crazy-expensive and in our house, we’ve only liked one brand that was easily available at Publix (no Whole foods by us). This will make her little happy heart more sunshiny! Thank you.
Yay, I’m glad the recipe will be helpful, Julia! Enjoy!!
Hi Kristin!
Just wondering if you think this would still work with raw cacao powder as opposed to the cocoa powder? It’s all I have on hand right now and want to try this recipe out asap as my son has just discovered his love of chocolate milk!
Thanks!:)
Hey Kristin, Yes, I believe so :)!
Gonna try this with raw honey, almost out of the homemade made with lots of sugar. something to think about if using raw honey add this after the mixture has cooled down but still warm, (if you want to keep all the goodies raw honey has to offer) that is!
Perfect timing, Bev! Let me know how it goes.
Wow! This stuff is amazing!!!
It makes a super chocolatey chocolate milk, but does not add a whole lot of sweet, perfect! I used raw honey, and can’t even taste it!
Awesome, Bev! I’m so glad you like it!!
Hi Kristin , I’m wondering if you ever did try this recipe with honey ?…and if so would it go with raw honey? Thanks in advance
Hey Hela, Yes, I did :). The honey produced a much sweeter syrup with a strong honey taste, but it still tasted good.
I am in love with your site. I too was wondering if you could use honey only because maple syrup has such a flavor of it’s own. If someone tries it post the results. Keep up the good work you’re inspiring.
Thank you so much, Cristie. I may try out the honey this weekend. I need to make more chocolate syrup :).
I made this today and was surprised how similar the taste is to the store-bought powder (you know the one!). I also liked how easy it was to incorporate into the milk. Thanks for posting.
Awesome, Marie! I’m so glad you like it. I just made more syrup today, too :).
I just made this and it is already gone!
My family absolutely loves it. Plus it’s so simple. Thanks!
Woohoo, Megan! I’m so glad everyone loved the syrup! Thank you so much for sharing.
Delicious! Thank you! Made this tonight for the first time. I’ve always made my own chocolate syrup, but it called for 3 cups white sugar. 🙂 My son definitely realized this was “dark” chocolate syrup, but he likes it.
Awesome, Kari! I’m so glad he likes it!!
Just found your blog and am loving it! I am working at getting rid of some of the unhealthier things in my young family’s diet. My little girls don’t like to drink milk plain and lately have been asking for chocolate milk. I hated the thought of buying another bottle of chocolate syrup and knew I needed to try this recipe when I found it. I made it yesterday and they all loved it! Now I just need to buy a cute glass jar to permanently be our chocolate syrup jar! thanks!
Hey Regina, Welcome to Live Simply!! I’m so glad you’re here. My son isn’t really into milk these days either, but he loves chocolate milk…there’s something extra special about homemade chocolate milk, too. I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the syrup. A cute bottle is a must ;).
This is really good! Will make again! 🙂
I’m so glad you like it, Grace. You’re welcome :).
This turned out yummy thank you! Just in case anyone wants to know; I didn’t cook it, cuz I was in a hurry and didn’t read the directions and I forgot to add the vanilla. It turned out really runny but tasted just like store-bought to me, only fresher. Next time I’ll have to try it the right way. Teehee *blush*
Awesome, Bethany! I’m so glad it was delicious even without the cooking step :).
thanks!! I’m on a mission to get my hubby healthy.. But I must be sneaky about it 😉 I’ll be trying this. Hoping he doesn’t notice unless to say it’s better tasting! He eats so much “crap”. Next will be milk.. Finding one that doesn’t have so many hormone issues, then the chips, pop, cookies!
Awesome, Dona! Let me know how it goes. You’re a great wife :).
Just made this recipe and it is so good! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Marcia :). I’m so glad you like it! Enjoy!
Just made this and my daughter and I love it. Tastes great and so much better then the “chocolate flavored syrup” from the store. Thank you.
Hey Christina, I’m so glad you guys like it! I agree…so much better than the store-bought flavored syrup. Thank you for sharing. Enjoy!!!
Oh, I need to try this!
You’ll love it, Nicole!! Enjoy!
This looks awesome! Could you use honey instead of maple syrup?
Thank you, Jennifer. I haven’t tried honey out of fear that it may make the syrup too sweet, but I think it would work. You may need to the decrease the amount used by a few tablespoons, depending on the sweetness desired.
Healthy chocolate syrup? I’m in. Thanks.
Lol, JoAnn, right?! Me too!
Wow, yummy! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I can’t wait to try it.
You’re very welcome. It’s delicious and addicting…good thing it’s “healthy” ;). Enjoy!!
Love this recipe and your blog. Your pictures are beautiful, and your recipes are wonderful. Thanks!
Thank you so much, Mandy!