Homemade Vegan Chocolates

These homemade vegan chocolates are a delicious gift for anyone on your list.  Put them in a cute little box and they’re a perfect homemade vegan Christmas gift or to show your love on Valentine’s Day!

You’ll love this recipe because it’s

• dairy-free, gluten-free, and can be made soy and nut-free, too!
• A huge treat for anyone who doesn’t eat dairy and usually never gets a box of chocolates!
• Easy to make.
• Delicious and even for dairy eaters, they love them!
• An inexpensive gift that anyone will love!
• a great vegan wedding or shower favor!

My children and I made these easy vegan chocolates for Christmas gifts for the whole family last year.  We set up an assembly line and quickly made dozens of vegan chocolates filled with peanut butter, raspberry, caramel, and peppermint cream.  We placed them in simple white candy boxes and decorated them with metallic stickers from The Dollar Tree.  They looked beautiful and professional with minimal time or effort.

I like to make these chocolates as a special treat for Valentine’s Day or Easter, too!  They would also make a beautiful homemade vegan wedding or baby shower favor!

Fillings 

You can use almost anything you like inside your chocolates. You only need about 1/2 tsp in each chocolate. These are our favorite fillings:

• Peanut Butter:  Not much tastes better than chocolate and peanut butter.  I also like sprinkling a little kosher salt on these bottoms!
• Jelly or Jam: Raspberry jam is one of my favorite fillings for these homemade chocolates, but you can use any flavor you prefer. Jam makes a delicious, effortless filling for these chocolates, requiring no special preparation.
• Caramel: I love using my salted vegan caramel to fill these chocolates!  It involves making your own caramel, but once you taste it, you’ll be glad that you went through a little extra effort!
• Butterscotch Sauce: If you want the taste of caramel without the hassle of making it.  My vegan butterscotch sauce tastes very similar, and it’s much easier to make.
• Peppermint Cream:  This is like the creamy peppermint filling inside of a peppermint patty.   It’s super easy to make your own with just a few ingredients.
  • To make the peppermint filling, mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 drop of peppermint essential oil or 1/4 tsp peppermint extract, and 4 teaspoons of plant-based milk.  Stir until it forms a thick paste. (about the same consistency as peanut butter).

Decorating each flavor of chocolate

You want to ensure that all your flavors look slightly different, so people know what they are biting into.  I also like to include a little note in the box that says what each flavor looks like.  To make your chocolates look different, you can…

Sprinkle something on the bottom.

When you finish making the chocolate, and it’s still warm and sticky, add some kosher salt, sanding sugar, crushed nuts, or sprinkles to the bottom of the chocolate.  (This will actually be the top of your mold, but the bottom of the chocolate).  (Salt tastes great on your peanut butter or caramel chocolates, and some green sprinkles or colored sugar work well for the peppermint-filled ones).

Note: Most sprinkles and colored sugars contain confectioners’ glaze (this is made from insects).  Look at your natural food store for vegan alternatives, or order vegan sprinkles on Amazon.

You can also buy vegan sanding sugar (dye-free), or make your own by adding 1 drop of food coloring to 1/3 cup of vegan sugar and stirring for a few minutes until evenly colored.

Drizzle over the top

Once your little chocolates have set and you pop them out of the molds, you can drizzle additional chocolate over the top.  I prefer using melted white chocolate for this because it looks attractive, and you can add a drop of food coloring to create any color drizzle you like.  (I like the taste of white chocolate with raspberry or jam-filled chocolates).

Note: If you want vegan white chocolate, the easiest way is to melt vegan white chocolate chips or a vegan white chocolate candy bar in a double boiler, then drizzle it over your chocolates.

How to make chocolate gift boxes

Find a box

I like plain white candy boxes since they are an ideal size for these chocolates.  I find them at my local cake and candy-making store, but you can easily order them online.  Any little box that is about an inch high will work.  You can also find tan boxes on Amazon for a more natural look.

Use candy liners

To make the chocolates look prettier when you open the box, put each chocolate in a tiny cupcake liner.  This also helps protect them from shifting around and breaking while in the box.

Decorate the gift box.

You can decorate the boxes with anything that you like, but I have found these metallic stickers to be perfect!  I find them at Dollar Tree.  They are simple yet elegant enough to feel like a special gift.

Chocolate molds 

You can purchase official chocolate candy molds from your local candy-making store, or you can use silicone ice cube trays.  These ice cube trays work better for me than fancy molds and are easy to find.  (I got this one at Big Lots.)

Tempering chocolate 

Tempering chocolate is a method for making it shiny and smooth after it has been melted and then hardened again.  This is achieved by melting the chocolate slowly to 46 °C, then lowering it to 26°C, then raising it to 32 °C again before placing it in molds.  This helpful video explains the process.

Note:  I never get too technical with these chocolates, and they still come out well.  I’m not a perfectionist, though, so if you want yours to have the absolute perfect shine, you need to temper your chocolate properly.  I have found that by heating the chocolate slowly until smooth and shiny, then allowing it to cool until it’s slightly thick and sticky, the chocolate is sufficiently tempered.

How to make vegan chocolates

• Melt your chocolate.
  1. Method 1: Place 1 cup of chocolate chips and 2 tbsp of coconut oil or shortening in a heat-safe bowl, then microwave for 1 minute and 20 seconds.  (When it comes out it, the oil will be melted, and the chocolate will only look slightly melted).  Stir until smooth.  Heat for an additional 10 seconds if needed to melt completely.
  2. Method 2:  Use a double boiler.  Boil about 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler, then turn to simmer.  Place the chocolate chips and oil in the top bowl and stir frequently until melted.
• Stir with a fork until all the oil and chocolate are mixed and smooth.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes until it firms slightly and begins to stick to the sides of the molds.
• Spoon in about ½ tsp into the bottom of each mold.  (enough to cover the colored silicone bottom).
• Stir each mold with a butter knife, lifting the chocolate up the sides of the candy mold until it covers them.
• Spoon in the filling of choice, like peanut butter, jelly, caramel, or peppermint cream.
• Drop the mold from about an inch above the countertop a few times to flatten the filling. Then add the final layer of chocolate.
• Spoon in more melted chocolate until the molds are completely filled.
• Tap the chocolate mold on the countertop a few times to release any air bubbles and ensure the top is flat and smooth.
• Remove any excess chocolate from the top of the mold.

• Add any sprinkles or garnishes you want to the bottom of the chocolates, like colored sugar, sprinkles, or Kosher salt.
• Freeze your chocolates for ½ hour to make them set.
• Pop the chocolates out by letting them sit at room temperature for a minute or two, then turn the mold upside down and gently push on the silicone part of the mold.
• Drizzle additional chocolate or white chocolate over them if you wish.

• Fill your pretty boxes with chocolates placed in a paper candy cup.
• Store in the freezer. 

Storing vegan chocolates

Keep these chocolates in the freezer until you are ready to give them as gifts.  Especially if you are using a caramel or peppermint filling, your chocolates may start to spoil after a week or so in the refrigerator due to the perishable plant-based milk.  They will stay good for at least 3 months in the freezer.

More homemade treats

• Vegan Creme de Menthe Squares
• Vegan Snickerdoodles 
• Sandbakkels – Vegan Tarts
• Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
• Homemade Vegan Eggnog
• Vegan Candied Nuts
• Vegan Toffee Covered Pretzels

Vegan filled chocolates recipe

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