Homemade chocolate peanut butter spread - this is a decadent yet healthy chocolate nut butter.
Forget any other chocolate spreads you've had for breakfast. This chocolate peanut butter spread is the best!
It's pure chocolate and nut taste, slightly sweetened, creamy, and unctuous. Just 1-2 teaspoons, and you're in heaven. I've never tasted anything better in a chocolate spread.
Plus, it's healthy! Made with pure ingredients like dark chocolate with little or no sugar, pure nut butter, a bit of coconut oil, and a touch of a healthier sweetener like stevia or xylitol.
It’s not low in calories—no nut butter is—but it’s definitely lower in calories than store-bought spreads. You probably won’t eat more than 1-2 tablespoons at a time, though you might want to because it's so good!
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For more chocolate and nuts combinations, have a look at this no-bake peanut butter pie, this chocolate traybake, this breadcrumb chocolate cake, or this chocolate cherry cake with hazelnuts.
Recipe ingredients
Nut butter: You can make the spread with pure peanut butter or a nut mix butter of choice. I use homemade peanut butter most of the time.
However, to make good nut butter at home, you will need a little time and a very good and strong food processor. If you don't have those, just buy a peanut or nut butter jar. When buying peanut or nut butter, make sure you buy pure nut butter with nothing else but nuts inside. NO SUGAR!
If I make peanut butter, I buy the peanuts, usually slightly salted and roasted, or I roast peanuts for peanut butter myself.
Chocolate: Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. This recipe has only a few ingredients, so quality matters. Avoid baking chocolate or cheap chocolate chips. Choose a chocolate you enjoy eating on its own.
I recommend dark chocolate with 72% to 90% cocoa. The darker the chocolate, the better, as it contains significantly less sugar than milk chocolate.
Coconut oil: You will need a small amount of coconut oil as well; it will make the chocolate nut spread creamier and dip-able.
What about the sweeteners?
I have successfully made homemade chocolate nut butter with stevia and xylitol. You can use powdered sugar if you like, but then the chocolate spread will be less healthy.
Stevia is a zero-calorie sweetener derived from the plant Stevia rebaudiana. This plant grows in Brazil and Paraguay, and its leaves have been used to sweeten foods for hundreds of years.
- Stevia is 200 times sweeter than sugar, so pay attention to what you buy and how much of it you are using.
- I buy a kind of stevia that looks like sugar and can be used just as sugar, so I take about 2-3 teaspoons of it for this chocolate nut butter.
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol (not the kind of alcohol that makes you drunk; it is safe for people with alcohol addiction) derived from trees like birch or from a plant fiber called xylan. It looks and tastes like sugar but has fewer calories than sugar and, like stevia, doesn't raise blood sugar levels either.
Powdered sugar can be used instead. Don't use granulated sugar; it will remain grainy, and your homemade chocolate spread will not be nice and smooth.
How to make peanut butter?
Making homemade nut butter is super easy; all you need is the nuts and a good food processor.
How to roast nuts
- If using raw nuts, roasting them first is a good idea, as that will increase their flavor.
- Roast in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-15 minutes, mixing twice in between and keeping a close eye on them; you don't want them to get too dark.
- They should be slightly underdone as they will continue to cook when removed from the oven.
- It is probably best to roast different kinds of nuts separately, as their sizes can differ greatly; for instance, cashews are normally larger than peanuts.
- Leave the roasted nuts to cool.
- If roasting smaller batches of nuts, you can do it in a pan without adding fat.
- Roast the nuts, shaking the pan regularly, until golden and fragrant. Don't leave the pan unattended, as the nuts can burn very easily. Immediately transfer the roasted nuts to a plate and leave to cool.
Tips for making nut butter
Use a strong food processor, like a Thermomix. I always make a larger quantity of nut butter because it tastes great, and the Thermomix handles larger batches better. Smaller batches require frequent scraping, but with larger batches, scraping is almost unnecessary.
When making a big batch, use what you need for the chocolate spread and refrigerate or freeze the rest. Making nut butter in the Thermomix takes less than 5 minutes, but it might take longer in other processors. Be patient; the nuts will turn into nut butter eventually.
The mixture will get hot, so if it gets too hot, stop and let it cool for a few minutes. The nut butter might seem runny at first, but it will set as it cools.
How to make chocolate peanut butter?
- Step #1: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or bain-marie.
- Step #2: Add the coconut oil and stir until incorporated.
- Step #3: Add the nut butter, vanilla extract, salt, and sweetener to taste. Mix thoroughly and transfer to jars.
The chocolate nut butter is runnier than shop-bought spreads. That is how it should be; don't assume that the recipe went wrong. It is still set enough for you to spread it but also runny enough to use as a dip.
How to store?
- Keep at room temperature. If kept in the fridge, the spread will harden, and you must let it come to room temperature before serving.
- The homemade chocolate spread will last about 2 weeks at room temperature, but it never lasted so long in our house.
- If you make several jars, keep the unopened ones in the fridge and let them come to room temperature before serving. The jars of chocolate spread will keep for 3-4 weeks in the fridge.
- You can also freeze the jars for a couple of months.
How to serve?
- The homemade chocolate spread is delicious on spelt bread, overnight bread rolls, muffins, toast, or crackers for breakfast or brunch.
- You can also serve it as a dip for sliced fruit. Apples and strawberries are great, and crispy pears are even better, which is my favorite combination at the moment.
Other breakfast spread recipes
Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut or mixed nut butter 9 oz/ 250 g, Notes 1, 2
- scant ½ cup dark chocolate chopped, 3 oz/ 80 g, 70 % cocoa
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sweetener of choice and to taste, Note 3
- a pinch of salt if the nut butter is unsalted
Instructions
Melt the chocolate
- Chop the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler or bain-marie. Find a pan that fits this bowl and fill it with some water, ensuring the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Fit the bowl on top of the pan, heat the water on medium-low heat, and let the chocolate melt while stirring occasionally. Don't let the water start to boil, if it does, turn off the heat and stir the chocolate until completely melted.scant ½ cup dark chocolate/ 80 g
Combine:
- Add the coconut oil and stir until incorporated.1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, salt, and sweetener to taste. Mix very thoroughly.1 cup peanut or mixed nut butter/ 250 g + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + sweetener of choice + a pinch of salt
- Pour the chocolate peanut spread into a jar and let it cool, and set for several hours before serving.
- Store at room temperature. Keeping the spread in the fridge will cause it to harden, so let it come to room temperature before serving (Note 4).
Notes
- Nut butter: You can make the spread with pure peanut butter or mixed nut butter.
- The best is homemade peanut or nut butter; see the blog post for instructions on how to make homemade nut butter. Alternatively, use bought pure nut butter with no sugar in it.
- Sweetener: I used both stevia and xylitol over the years; both are perfect. Use to taste, not too much; the chocolate nut spread should not be too sweet. Icing sugar can be used instead. Don't use granulated sugar, as it will not dissolve, and the spread will be grainy.
- Consistency: The chocolate peanut butter has a runnier consistency than bought chocolate nut butter. That is the way it is supposed to be; don't assume that the recipe went wrong. It is still set enough for you to spread it but also runny enough to use as a dip.
- The nutrition is calculated for the whole jar.
MayBe says
Do you think I can use monk fruit with erythritol? If I can, which one, granulated or powdered. This is the sweetener I use for baking low carb, sugar free dessert.
Thank you.
Adina says
I am sorry, I have never used that, but if it worked before, it should be ok. Maybe powdered is better; the granulated tends to remain a bit gritty.
Ruthie Lindeman says
Xylitol is extremely toxic for dogs. A small amount can be lethal. Totally ok for humans though.
Adina says
Yes, I know, but I would never advise feeding this or anything sweet or with chocolate to dogs!
angiesrecipes says
Homemade is so much better than the sugar loaded store bought one!