I will admit it, I am a bit of a chocolate addict. I love all things chocolate! This homemade milk chocolate recipe is no exception, it is so yummy!
One thing I love about this homemade milk chocolate is that it only requires 4 ingredients. And the process is nearly identical to this 3 ingredient homemade dark chocolate recipe.
While this doesn’t taste exactly like store-bought mass produced chocolate, it is nice to know all the ingredients that are put into it. Also, mass produced chocolate uses cacao beans/cocoa nibs and special machines which produce a silky smooth chocolate, something that is hard to replicate at home.
So be warned, if you make this homemade milk chocolate recipe and expect it to taste just like store-bought chocolate, you will be disappointed. But homemade milk chocolate using cocoa powder is fun and easy to make and still tastes great. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Gather the ingredients
In order to make homemade milk chocolate you need just 4 simple ingredients:
- Cocoa/Cacao Butter – Or you can use coconut oil as I did in that other chocolate recipe, but cocoa butter makes better tasting chocolate. It can be found online or at stores like Whole Foods.
- Whole Milk Powder – This is how we get homemade milk chocolate. DO NOT use actual milk the water in it, will ruin the chocolate. It is found online or at the supermarket.
- Cocoa powder – Use unsweetened cocoa powder, like the Hershey’s brand.
- Powdered sugar – Also known as icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar. This is the sweetener.
Tools
- Pot with water
- Large bowl (pyrex or metal)
- Spatula
- Chocolate bar mold or even an ice cube tray will work
Step 2: How to make homemade milk chocolate with cocoa powder
Place a pot filled a third of the way with water on a burner. Set the heat to medium-high. Place a large pyrex or metal bowl on top of the pot. This is a basic double boiler.
Make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. The way this works is as the water heats the steam hits the bottom of the bowl warming it gently and evenly which melts the contents of the bowl.
Add the cocoa/cacao butter or coconut oil to the bowl and stir occasionally until melted.
Once the cocoa butter is melted, turn the heat down to medium-low. Make sure to sift the cocoa powder before putting it into the bowl of melted cocoa butter. This helps prevent any lumps. Then mix it in with your spatula.
After the cocoa powder is mixed in, turn the heat completely off. Then add in the milk powder and stir until completely incorporated.
Next, add the powdered sugar a third of it at a time until all incorporated. If you want it less sweet don’t add in as much, or if you want it completely sugar-free, leave it out altogether.
Once all the ingredients are combined and the heat is off, keep stirring for about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Stir and pour the chocolate into a mold
Take the bowl off the pot of hot water and set it somewhere like a counter or table with a hot pad under it. Keep stirring for another 5 minutes. This helps to create as smooth of a texture as possible and cool the chocolate down slowly, creating a better texture for the chocolate.
I am not going to actually temper this chocolate, I will do a whole different recipe post on how to temper chocolate.
NOTE: Chocolate manufacturers do a process called “conching” which involves the liquid chocolate being poured into a big drum with cement-like thick wheels that turn and press and crush and smooth the chocolate. Kind of like a rock tumbler but for chocolate.
They will leave it in there for several hours sometimes even days. We can’t really replicate that very well at home, so this is the best we can do. Another reason why homemade chocolate won’t be as smooth or as good as store-bought.
If you plan on making homemade chocolate quite a bit, it might be worth investing in something like this chocolate refiner/melanger which is pretty much a mini conching machine. And it will produce much smoother chocolate.
Once done stirring, pour the chocolate into your chosen mold, or even ice cube trays. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then it can go in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
NOTE: Don’t put it in the fridge right away, if it chills too quickly, sometimes it will cause some of the cocoa butter solids to separate and produces an unappetizing chalky look to the top of the chocolate.
Step 4: Eat the homemade milk chocolate!
Once the chocolate sets, you can eat it. Remove it from the mold and give it a taste. It will probably have a little bit of the “grainy” texture/taste. You really can’t get rid of that with this type of homemade chocolate, again no commercial “conching” machine and we used cocoa powder instead of the actual cocoa bean/cocoa nibs.
But, it still tastes great and has a good chocolate flavor. I don’t really mind the little bit of “gritty” taste. Again, if you are expecting this to taste exactly like store-bought chocolate, you will be disappointed.
And there you go, fun homemade chocolate that only requires 4 ingredients. Enjoy!
NOTE: Even without tempering, this chocolate stores fine and cooler room temperatures. My home is 70 degrees right now, haha. But if your house is warm, you may want to store it in Tupperware or something in the fridge.
How long does homemade milk chocolate last?
This homemade milk chocolate will last several weeks or even months at room temperature if it isn’t too warm inside like around 70 F. Or store it in the fridge. You can even freeze it if you like where it will last several months as well.
Here are some other recipes you may like:
Chocolate Strawberry Fondant Roses
Homemade Milk Chocolate
Equipment
- pot
- Large bowl (pyrex or metal)
- Spatula
- Chocolate bar mold or even an ice cube tray will work
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cocoa butter or coconut oil 110g
- 3 Tbsp. whole milk powder 24g
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder 35g
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar 90g
Instructions
- Sift the cocoa powder into a small bowl. This helps to prevent lumps.
- Place a pot filled a third of the way with water on a burner and set the heat to medium-high. Place a large pyrex or metal bowl on top. Make sure the water isn't touching the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the cocoa butter or coconut oil to the bowl and stir occasionally until all melted.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low. Then stir in the cocoa powder. Then add in the milk powder and stir until completely incorporated. Follow that up with the powdered sugar which is added a third of it at a time until all incorporated. If you want it less sweet don't add in as much, or if you want it completely sugar-free, leave it out altogether.
- Once all the ingredients are combined turn the heat completely off. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes.
- After the 5 minutes are up, take the bowl off the pot of hot water and set it somewhere like a counter or table with a hot pad. Keep stirring for another 5 minutes.
- Once done, pour the chocolate into your chosen mold, or even ice cube trays. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then it can go in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Once the chocolate sets, you can eat it. Remove it from the mold and give it a taste. It will probably taste a little grainy or gritty. I don't really mind the little bit of "gritty" taste. If you are expecting this to taste exactly like store-bought chocolate, you will be disappointed.And there you go, fun homemade chocolate that only requires 4 ingredients. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Do you like this recipe? Share and Pin it! Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I tried doing something similar but the outcome is grainy, would you know why it happens and do you have any suggestions? Thanks again
You are welcome. Yes, I explained why it is grainy. Did you read the whole article? There is no way to get it smooth without using a special chocolate machine. I talk about it in the article. And you are welcome!
Probably a good idea to sift the sugar and milk powder for better consistency
Not needed, milk powder and powdered sugar don’t clump like cocoa powder (I have already tried many times), which is why I only mentioned sifting the cocoa powder. It will produce the same exact results whether you sift those or not. The only way to get the chocolate super smooth is with a chocolate wet grinder (melanger). But you are welcome to do it, of course!
Thanks for sharing. One question for you, can you double this recipe?
You are welcome! Yes, you can double the recipe. I recommend making it as is first to see if you even like it, before doubling it.
Hi Matt, I was wondering if it is possible to substitute liquid milk . Thank you.
Hi Jody! No liquid milk will not work and it will mess it up. Because liquid milk has a very high water content. And chocolate has nearly zero water in it.
I really enjoy this recipe and I’ve made it several times alongside your white chocolate one. I put slightly less cocoa in my batches because I’m more fond a of lighter cocoa flavor, but it tastes good either way. These recipes were big hits in my culinary class show-in-tell when I incorporated them with my Halloween dirt pudding cups. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
That is awesome! So glad you like it and keep making it. 🙂 🙂 You are very welcome!
Can you tell me the yield of this recipe? X number of x oz bars. I’m going to make a a small group of kids and it would be helpful for planning. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, it entirely depends on the size of your candy bar molds. For the mold I have, the recipe makes 6 1.3 oz bars.
This is a great recipe! I made it today and it turned out great.
Glad you liked it!!
Super easy and good! Just make sure to constantly scrape down the sides or your chocolate will burn!!!
Thanks! Yes, that was mentioned in the recipe. 🙂
I don’t make it but i like and am interested in it.
Thanks
Mine turned into a lump guess I added to much milk powder to fast If it does turn into a lump is it still useable?? Since it kinda comes out like Play-Doh?
Yeah it sounds like you added too much milk powder. Sure it is still useable, but won’t be as good.
Can you make white chocolate as well?
In the milk chocolate can you add flavoring? (Such as mint extract?)
I cant wait to try this recipe.
Hello, Raylene! Yes! Here is my white chocolate recipe. 🙂 https://www.inthekitchenwithmatt.com/how-to-make-white-chocolate-with-3-ingredients. And yep you can add mint extract to the chocolate.
I’m interested in trying this recipe but it’s quite difficult when not a single measurement for any of the ‘four simple ingredients’ is given. I could try to replicate the amounts you’ve got in your bowls in the pics, but how am i even to know that THOSE are measured out as opposed to just photographed? What if it’s all just a lie???!!!
Seriously tho, put quantities otherwise it’s more a poorly articulated story than a recipe.
Hey i can’t figure out how to erase review so i had to just type this out in shame. My phone took entirely too long to load the first time and i was far too quick to get mad. Haha. Oh well. I’d delete the orig review if they’d let me I’m trying to give 5 stars to kinda offset i apologize. Whoops.
hahaha no worries and thanks!
umm you need to scroll all the way down on the recipe to the printable recipe which has all the amounts and ingredients. Ahh just saw your other comment where you found it. 🙂
Hello
I made milk chocolate several times. But when I add milk powder, it turns into a lump.
please guide me.
Thanks
Hi there, only add the milk powder a little at a time then mix it in. It is possible you are adding a bit too much milk powder. Only add it until it is still in liquid form. It may be easier to tell in the video. Here is the video for reference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax2xAq0ldpg&t=1s
Hi! Thanks for this! My toddler is chocolate obsessed right now and I’m looking for a healthier alternative to store bought. Can you suggest a “healthier” sweetener and the appropriate amount for your recipe here? Thank you!!
You are welcome! I haven’t tried this with a different sweetener. So I can’t say for certain what will work better. You can try Stevia or Xylitol or Erythritol or Monk Fruit. You will just need to experiment with it, the recipe is super easy. Start with the same amounts as the sugar and then go from there. Good luck!
Very tasty, flavor is somewhere between milk and dark. I’d love to make something really milky, like cadbury dairy milk style. any advice?
Hi Hope, to make really good chocolate you need to use actual cacao beans/nibs and a chocolate melanger, you just can’t produce the same kind of chocolate with cocoa powder. But cocoa powder works great for quick homemade chocolate.
Wonderful recipe. It’s very clean explanation. Making chocolate at home is more hygiene. I recommend all the mothers to use this easy to make milk chocolate for your kids.
Pics also came out so good.
Will try it in our kitchen.
Thank you
Srikanth
You are welcome! Glad you liked it 🙂 🙂
From my own experiences at home, the texture of homemade chocolate can be greatly improved by putting the chocolate in a high speed blender before pouring it into the molds. It’s still not the same texture as store-bought, but it’s definitely improved.
Yep, that can certainly help, it kind of mimics the professional conching machines. Although if you were going to make homemade chocolate regularly a mini conching/refining machine like this would help get smooth chocolate. https://amzn.to/3u9PHfk
My daughter is going to love this recipe! Can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
Awesome, Beth! Let me know how it turns out, once you try it. 🙂
What a great flavor! So easy to make too. I love that it’s different from store bought milk chocolate. A delicious new treat.
So glad you like it! 🙂
Homemade milk chocolate is the best! Love this so much!
Thank you, Lori!
This sounds like a great way to make dipping chocolate for fruit, candies, and cookies!
For sure! 🙂