Homemade Chocolate Bars
Rich, smooth and decadent chocolate made from scratch in your Thermomix using just cacao nibs, cocoa butter and sugar.
Pure and Simple: Homemade Chocolate Bar
Crafting your own chocolate bar at home is easier, and more rewarding than you might think. With just three ingredients; cacao nibs, sugar, and cocoa butter. You can create a truly artisanal chocolate experience that’s free from additives, emulsifiers, and preservatives. Grinding down cacao nibs gives you the intensity of real chocolate, while cocoa butter lends that signature creamy snap and melt-in-your-mouth finish. Whether you're after a rich dark slab or a base to personalise with nuts, fruit, or sea salt, this homemade chocolate bar is as close to bean-to-bar as you can get in your own kitchen.
When you see percentages on chocolate bars, like 70%, 60%, or even 85% the percentage refers to the total amount of cacao content, which includes both the cacao nibs (or cocoa mass) and the cocoa butter. The remaining percentage is typically sugar, and in some cases, milk solids or emulsifiers. Here's a simple breakdown:
70% dark chocolate means 70% cacao content (nibs + cocoa butter), and 30% sugar. This is considered a standard for rich, well-balanced dark chocolate—bold but still smooth.
60% dark chocolate is slightly sweeter, with more sugar and less cacao, ideal for those who prefer a softer bitterness.
54% or lower tends to blur the line between dark and dark milk chocolate, especially when milk powder is added. It still has a cocoa kick, but with a creamier, sweeter profile.
Dark milk chocolate usually falls in the 40–50% cacao range, combining the creaminess of milk chocolate with a more pronounced cocoa flavour.
Milk chocolate typically contains 30–40% cacao, plenty of milk solids, and a higher sugar content—making it the smoothest and sweetest of them all.
With homemade chocolate, you get to decide. Want a bittersweet 80% bar with a touch of vanilla? Or a silky 60% with a pinch of salt? You’re in control of both the quality and the balance. Start experimenting, and you’ll never reach for store-bought again.
I like to add cocoa butter as part of the recipe as this gives a better mouth feel, helps the blending process be quite a lot easier and is easy to add as a percentage, reducing the sugar.
For guidance, here are some totals for you to play around with;
70% chocolate with cocoa butter and sugar, you’d use 350g cocoa nibs, 120g sugar, and 30g cocoa butter. Make sense?
85% Chocolate (500g)
425g cocoa nibs and 75g sugar
If using cocoa butter: 425g cocoa nibs + 15g cocoa butter + 60g sugar
95% Chocolate (500g)
475g nibs + 25g sugar
If using cocoa butter: 475g nibs + 20g sugar + 5g cocoa butter
Whilst this is not strictly fermenting it for yourself, let me assure you that chocolate has to be fermented in order to even have any chocolate flavour. Even so called 'raw' chocolate has used fermented beans (which, don't get me started) means that in fact the cacao beans have already reached temperatures above the recommended so called 'raw' threshold of 60°C before they left the plantation.
So get blending and creating. Imagine what you can do with your own chocolate!
Need
- 400 Grams cacao nibs BUY
- 120 Grams coconut sugar
- 30 Grams cacao butter
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste BUY
- optional extras: ground cinnamon, doterra oils such as wild orange or citrus blends, chopped roasted nuts, freeze dried fruits, dried or candied citrus peel, salt flakes, pinch of chilli powder, dried fruits etc
Do
- 1
Roast the cacao nibs on a flat lined tray, in a cold oven set to 150°C for 15 minutes.
- 2
Place the still hot nibs into the Thermomix bowl and blend 10 min/50°C/speed 6.
- 3
Add the sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla bean paste and blend 5 min/speed 10. Allow to cool in the bowl.
- 4
Once the chocolate has cooled sufficiently, (registering around 40°C on the Thermomix) stir 5 min/speed 0.5.
- 5
Pour into a mould and allow to set at room temperature.
- 6
If you are adding flavours or fruit and nuts, add them in step 4.
This recipe can be seen if you sign up for the related course. Join the course to get access!
Gut Instinct Protocol: The Power of Fermented and Cultured Foods
Tenina Holder is a wife, mother of five and grandmother of nine, who started cooking in the olden days before Thermomix was even a thing.
Tenina has become the premium go to source for all Thermomix expertise and of course fresh and easy recipes that work. Her cooking classes and foodie trips are sold out in literally hours, her cookbooks appear on the Australian best seller lists and her social reach is in the millions. Her Insider Club is the most fun you can have with a Thermomix and you really should join her! She believes chocolate, butter and salt are health foods. Her food positivity mantra is, eat everything, just not all at once!
