March 31, 2010

Homemade Chocolate Syrup


Usually, the luxury items of life, cost us the most on our grocery bills. I am not only trying to become more sustainable and more healthy, but I try to keep all of it in a $70 a week budget (actually closer to $65). And in doing that, the "luxury items", either have to be left off the grocery list or we have to pay the price... I also think there is a WONDERFUL third option... Make it yourself! Like chocolate syrup! Mmmm! Chocolate syrup is wonderful in milk or on top of ice cream...

So, I found this recipe, I guess it is originally by the Tightwad Gazette. But you will find people (like me!) re-listing it all over the Internet... The only problem that I have with the recipe (or recipes LIKE this), is there is so much sugar!!! The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, and I also read about 152 lbs a year!!! So, I try to reduce our sugar intake as much as I can. And the thing I try to replace sugar with (in the NEEDED cases!), is honey. We use raw, natural honey. So, in the recipe listed below, I have replaced one cup of sugar with honey...

Chocolate Syrup

1/2 C. cocoa
1 C. water (I reduced the amount of water to 1/2 C. using honey)
2 C. Sugar ( I used 1 C. sugar, 1 C. honey)
1/8 tsp. salt (sea salt!)
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Whisk cocoa into water until dissolved . Heat on high, then add sugar. Stir well while syrup starts to boil. Turn down a little bit, but keep a rolling boil. Boil 3 minutes. Add salt & vanilla. Stir well. Cool and store in refrigerator for several weeks.


Adding this to your milk for chocolate milk, you won't need to add much and you need to stir it a bit more, but oh my!!! It is good! I haven't had it on ice cream but have tasted it on it's own, and hubby says it tastes like fudge! It is a DELICIOUS alternative to the store bought!

Enjoy!

6 comments:

Megan said...

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!!! I love you!!

I hate buying this with the hfcs in it!! Can't wait to try this recipe. Looks soooooo easy!

okay maybe I'm a little toooo excited!

Unknown said...

I'm so glad to see this recipe. I'm finding that so many pre-made chocolate ingredients have GMO's in them including chocolate syrup. But from what I can tell, the cocoa is okay. Thanks for sharing something that we can use instead!

Lynn said...

I have made my own homemade syrup and my family likes it better than the store versions. You are right homemade versions are usually healthier and cheaper than store bought ones.

Paula said...

I think this sounds wonderful!! I'm happy to find your blog and glad you posted your healthier substitute for the store variety. Love it!

:o)

Debbie said...

Sarah, one of my favorite blogs for great nutritious sugar free foods is http://thefrugallyrichlife.wordpress.com/

She recently posted a recipe for chocolate syrup/sauce with no sugar. Let me know what you think. I hope this helps you in reducing the amount of sugar intake in your family and replacing it with "natural" sugars.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU - THIS ONE WILL BE WELL USED!