Homemade Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips, Chunks, or Candy

These low carb, sugar-free chocolate chips only save me about ten cents compared to an equal amount of the cheapest sugar-free chips in town, but—no maltitol! And they’re as much as two dollars less than what I’m finding online.

The chips hold their shape in a cookie well enough, but they do “leak” chocolate a little. (On the other hand, I have yet to find a homemade chocolate chip that doesn’t!)

The basic recipe also makes a great candy base. As you can see, I switch up the sweeteners a little on the candy version; I find that slows down the hardening process, giving me more time to work with the candy.

Recipe adapted from this one, which contains honey.

Homemade Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips, Chunks, or Candy

Ingredients

For chocolate chips or chunks	For candy
3/4 cup butter 16 packets stevia/erythritol blend (2/3 cup SEq) 1/2 tsp liquid stevia (1/2 cup SEq) 1 cup cocoa powder	3/4 cup butter 12 packets stevia/erythritol blend (1/2 cup SEq) 3/4 tsp liquid stevia (3/4 cup SEq) 1 cup cocoa powder

Directions

1. Place the butter in a small saucepan and melt it over medium-low heat.
2. As soon as enough butter has melted to hide the bottom of the pan and give you room to stir, start adding the s/e blend. Once the butter is completely melted add the liquid stevia, and whisk the whole thing with a fork.
3. Remove from heat, add the cocoa powder, and stir/whisk well.
4. To make chocolate chips: place the mixture in a pastry bag, or a plastic bag with a tip cut off. Set a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper out on the counter, and squeeze out chips. Allow to solidify at room temperature, then transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze to finish hardening.
5. To make chocolate chunks: Line an 8″ square pan with parchment paper. Spread out the mixture on the parchment paper. Allow to semi-harden at room temperature. “Cut” into small chunks with a table knife while the mixture is still soft. Leave in pan, cover, and place in freezer to finish hardening.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups (enough for 24-32 cookies).

To use: Regardless what your recipe says, add these to the cookie dough last–especially if the recipe calls for melted butter, and especially if you’ve taken the trouble to make the chip form! Adding the chocolate chips last will help ensure that most of them hold their shape during baking. (As I noted earlier, some seepage of the chocolate will occur.)

Nutritional Information: One batch contains about 46.8 g carbohydrates, 28.5 g fiber, 18.3 net carbs, 18.3 g protein, 149.3 g fat, and 1412 calories. (Looks scary until you divide it by 24 cookies, doesn’t it?)