Learn how to make vegan white chocolate at home in minutes with just 5 ingredients! Creamy, buttery, smooth and rich.
Before I went vegan over 10 years ago, I was the white chocolate queen. White chocolate mochas, white chocolate chip cookies, cookies and cream candy bars; you get the idea. I preferred white chocolate over milk or dark, but I had to give up the obsession when I stopped consuming dairy.
There are a few brands of dairy free white chocolate chips out there, but I’ve never tried them. They are expensive and hard to find, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in a real store. So I’ve been on a mission to make my own at home. And you know what? It’s pretty dang easy and SO tasty.
The first several batches I made tasted great but they were rather grainy in texture, but I finally found the easiest solution that I’ll share with you. Then you can have super creamy, smooth vegan white chocolate, too!
Ingredients you need
- Cacao butter – This stuff is magic and it smells SO GOOD. It’s essential for making white chocolate, and can not be substituted. It’s easy enough to order online if you can’t find it in a store, and one bag will last you a very long time, probably six recipes worth of white chocolate. It’s actually the fat separated from a cocoa bean.
- Vegetable shortening – Since cacao butter is rather rich, adding some shortening helps tame this a bit, plus it’s more stable at room temperature than coconut oil, which you could use instead, but it will melt quicker and won’t hold up well in cookies.
- Powdered sugar – For sweetening our white chocolate, of course. It also helps stabilize the chocolate. I haven’t tested it with any other sweetener, so substitute at your own risk.
- Coconut milk powder – This is your main stabilizer. Rice milk powder works as well, but I used coconut.
- Vanilla extract – Use quality pure vanilla extract for the best taste.
- Salt – Just a tiny pinch, optional.
How to make vegan white chocolate
(This is an overview with photos, scroll down for the complete, printable recipe.)
- If you have a double broiler, use it. If you’re like me and don’t have one, place a heat safe bowl over a small-medium sized pot with a few inches of simmering water. Add the cacao butter and shortening to the bowl.
- Let it melt, stirring frequently. This usually takes about 10 minutes.
- Once melted, add the powdered sugar, coconut milk powder, vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt, if using. Whisk until fairly smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Transfer the white chocolate to a blender and blend for a few minutes to make it very smooth. The coconut milk powder is rather grainy, plus blending will smooth out any chunks from the powdered sugar. Pour into chocolate molds (you could also use a small pan, or muffin trays perhaps with liners). Place in the refrigerator or freezer to harden, which only takes about 30 minutes.
Remove from the molds and store in a covered container in the refrigerator (or freezer). You will get about 3 large chocolate bars, or several smaller, it just depends on your chocolate molds.
Variations
- Cookies and Cream – Stir in a little bit of crushed oreo cookie crumbs for cookies and cream candy bars.
- Fruity – Fold in a little crushed freeze dried raspberries or strawberries.
- Peppermint – Instead of vanilla, use peppermint extract for peppermint white chocolate. Or some candy cane pieces, chopped small.
- Nutty – Add some chopped nuts, like hazelnuts, almonds, etc.
Tips for using in recipes
- You can chop up the white chocolate into chunks and use in cookies, but for best results chop into chunks, freeze for 15-20 minutes, then fold into cookie dough and bake immediately. This will help them not melt while they bake.
- If you find they are melting in a recipe, simply bake the cookies, then while still warm stick chunks on top of the cookies instead of baking in the oven. How stable it is in baking largely depends on the brand of cacao butter you use.
- White Hot Chocolate – I haven’t tested it yet, but I think you could make my Vegan Hot Chocolate but omit the cocoa powder and use white chocolate chunks instead of dark for a delicious warm beverage.
Vegan White Chocolate
Learn how to make vegan white chocolate at home in minutes with just 5 ingredients! Creamy, buttery, smooth and rich.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces raw cacao butter (3/4 cup chopped small)
- 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut milk powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- tiny pinch of salt, optional (1/8th tsp)
Instructions
- If your cacao butter comes in large chunks, chop them a bit smaller so they will melt more quickly.
- In a heat safe bowl, add the cacao butter and shortening. Place the bowl on top of a small-medium sized pot with a few inches of simmering water. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water. Let it melt, stirring frequently. This will take about 10 minutes, and it will look like oil.
- Now add the powdered sugar, powdered coconut milk, vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt. Whisk until fairly smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Carefully, using hot pads, transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Pour into chocolate molds (I used these silicone molds). TIP! Place the molds on a flat surface like a baking sheet and move very carefully so they liquid chocolate doesn't spill out before it has a chance to harden.
- Refrigerate until solid, about 30 minutes. You can also stick them in the freezer to speed this up. Enjoy! Store white chocolate in a covered container in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
- If you prefer, you can substitute coconut oil for the vegetable shortening, but just know your white chocolate will melt faster at room temperature, and will likely melt into baked goods.
- Use another sweetener at your own risk, as I haven't tried anything but powdered sugar!
- Variations: Oreo cookie crumbs for cookies and cream, freeze dried raspberries or strawberries, chopped nuts, peppermint extract and/or chopped candy cane pieces.
Nutrition
Serving: 1of 6 serving | Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Sodium: 40mg | Sugar: 17g
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
Can I dye this white chocolate for chocolate christmas candy? With jell colors?
Yeah for sure. Enjoy!
Hi Nora, can i use coconut flour instead of coconut milk powder
thank you
No, sorry, that won’t work the same.
Hi, I was wondering if I could use this recipe for coating/dipping strawberries, pretzels and other treats?
Sure!
Hi Nora. Can you caramelize this? Wanted to try a Ginger caramelized white chocolate cookie recipe but not sure if white chocolate can be caramelized.thanks!
I’ve never tried it so I’m honestly not sure. That sounds incredible though.
Hi Nora! I always love your recipes. This has a great flavor, but mine came out quite gritty. I blended it in my vitamix for over two minutes. Do you have any other suggestions? Are you able to get it very smooth/silky?
Perhaps try a different brand of cacao butter or coconut milk powder? Either of those could be the culprit. Yes, I would say it’s quite smooth and silky, not gritty.
Good lord, is there anything Nora can’t do!? This recipe is fantastic! I am vegan and my mom avoids sugar, so between the two of us it’s impossible to find a white chocolate we can both eat. I set out to make one for myself. I followed this recipe with no substitutions except I used Swerve powdered sugar substitute (erythritol) and only used 1/2c because even though the bag says its a 1:1 sub for sugar, I knew 3/4c would be way too much based on previous experiments. I used LorAnn flavors to flavor half the batch cake batter and half the batch raspberry with crushed freeze dried raspberry inclusions! It came out delicious! I think I didn’t blend long enough as the texture isn’t quite perfect, but that’s totally on me. This recipe is bomb dot com. I had tried a different white chocolate recipe that just fell totally short for me and I was losing hope. This recipe made my white chocolate dreams come true! I can’t wait to experiment further! Thank you Nora!
I’m thrilled you loved the recipe, Jack! Cake batter and raspberry-flavored white chocolate sounds soo delicious!
Hi, Nora. This is going to sound odd, but I didn’t have any coconut milk powder, so I used to beet powder. The chocolate is almost brown it’s a rich red and it looks like a brown chocolate but it’s a white chocolate, and it’s delicious!
Hi Tracy. That sounds beautiful! I’m glad it’s delicious! Thank you for sharing!
OMG !This is Amazing ! I can’t eat dairy and had given up on white chocolate.
This stuff is super simple to make .
I followed the recipe exactly and it was fabulous.
The second batch I added a couple of big spoons of raw cashew butter and rice milk chocolate chips .
The first batch. I made candy bars with crushed peppermint .
This is a new favorite! Thank you so much .
I’m so glad you are able to eat white chocolate again! Your creations sound delicious! I appreciate your great feedback, and wish you happy cooking!
Hi there! I wonder if I could use this recipe for a vegan white chocolate frosting and ganache? If so, can you recommend any brand of cacao powder and shortening please. I’ve been searching for ever for a good vegan white chocolate and it’s been hard! I’d really appreciate if you help me with this questions.
Hi Mariela. I haven’t tried using it for ganache or frosting, but I think it would work better for ganache (melted down with coconut cream perhaps). My shortening of choice is by Nutiva and I use Terrasoul raw cacao butter for this recipe (both are linked in the recipe card). I hope this helps!
OK thank you! I’ll make both ganache and frosting to see how it works out and keep you post!
You are welcome! Enjoy!
Did you ever make this for ganache and how did it turn out? I am wanting to make this as well for a ganache.
Thanks in advance
hello,
do you think I could use an electric milk frother instead of a blender? my blender is really low quality
thanks!