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Making your own chocolate syrup is a simple process of combining five basic ingredients that most people have in their pantry. Let’s briefly talk about the benefits of making our own, take a look at the recipe, calculate how much we save by making our own, then watch a video of how simple it is!
Why make your own chocolate syrup?
You may have your own reasons, but this is why we do it:
- It increases our sustainability and self-reliance skills.
- It saves us money
- It allows us to regain control over the taste and ingredients (no high fructose corn syrup!)
- It serves as another loving homemade gift that we can give others.
- It makes us feel good!
All of these factors come together to create an awesome feeling whether you’re eating the chocolate syrup on your ice cream, giving it away as a gift, or sharing the recipe with others.
Recipe for homemade chocolate syrup
All you’ll need to make your own are these five basic ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar (we use organic cane sugar)
- 1/2 cup cocoa (packed)
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (our homemade recipe)
- 1/8 tsp salt (we use sea salt)
Don’t be afraid to adjust these amounts to your liking!
Pour water into a saucepan and stir in cocoa (until dissolved) over medium heat. Add sugar and continue stirring. BE VERY CAREFUL to continually stir and watch the mixture as it heats because it can easily boil over if you turn away even for a few seconds (it happened to Betsy once!) Once mixture is boiling reduce heat to medium-low, continue stirring, and set timer for 8-10 minutes (the longer you cook the thicker it gets.) Once your timer goes off remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and salt and let cool. As the chocolate syrup cools it will thicken more, so if it is already thick enough then bottle it, seal it, and stick it in the fridge. You can store the syrup in a pint mason jar, an old store bought chocolate syrup container, or any other creative container you can think of.
This recipe will yield approximately 10 ounces of syrup depending on how long you reduce the mixture over the heat.
Cost savings vs. store bought chocolate syrup
This is a rough calculation based on our costs… yours may differ so plug in your numbers for precise savings. To reduce our costs we buy organic cane sugar in bulk, make our own vanilla extract, and only buy cocoa – in bulk – when on sale.
- 1 cup of sugar = $0.25
- 1/2 cup cocoa = $0.40
- 1/4 vanilla extract = $0.04
- 1/8 tsp sea salt = $0.01
This puts our total cost of production at $0.70 for 10 ounces or $0.07/ounce. Comparing that against an 18.5 ounce bottle of Hershey’s for $2.95 at $0.16/ounce gives us a net savings of $0.09/ounce. Plus we feel really, really good about making it ourselves… and you can’t put a price on that!
Please enjoy this video of Betsy and I making our own batch of homemade chocolate syrup using this exact recipe!
Homemade chocolate syrup video
(If you cannot see this video in your email you can click this link to watch.)
** (UPDATE: We now only boil the mixture for about 4-5 minutes. This results in a more syrupy consistency…not so fudge-like. We also began mixing in about 1/4 tsp. of baking soda while the mixture is cooling. This prevents sugars from crystallizing if the syrup is going to be stored in the fridge for more than a few weeks. It will foam a bit at first, but returns to normal during refrigeration.)
Questions and comments
Share any questions, additions, subtractions, and encouragement in the comments below and be sure to spread the love and empower others in sustainability by sharing this link on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and any other social media platform you can think of!
God bless,
- Matt and Betsy
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Great job on the video Besty! You too Matt
My mother used to make a similar chocolate syrup as a kid and I loved it.
The only question I have is, when are you going to invite me over for a ice cream sundae!
Just in time! About to break out my ice cream maker for the summer. I’m guessing this will get put to memory before too long. Georgia summers are impossibly hot.
Great job Betsy! looking forward to more DIY videos!!
Tim
I swear your stove is the exact same as the one in my last house.
Great video – I might have to try this.
Thanks, you guys rock. Definitely try the recipe soon and let us know what you think.
Can’t wait to try this in my protein shakes. Great info. Thanks!
Sweet Rod, good idea… let us know how it turns out.
Wow! Betsy is star material! Great first effort! And that is a GREAT looking stove you are using in there!
I loved the last shot of the ice cream sundaes! That really motivated me to make my own chocolate syrup just so I could have a sundae! Love you both!
Isn’t she though.
Yeah, that stove has been such a blessing to us – thanks again for the gift mother. I love you!
That stuff looks great Matt & Betsy, and I dont even care for chocolate syrup all that much. I’ll have to give this a try, I’m sure my girlfriend will appreciate being able to drink more chocolate milk.
I’m sure she will too Jeff! Do it!
I have a recipe almost like this one! Just a quick tip – if you want to make up a bigger amount and store it for a few weeks the sugars can crystallize sometimes, so I have found that adding just a bit of baking soda helps. It makes it foam up a lot though, so I make my chocolate syrup in a pot that’s a bit bigger than you’d expect. I like to store it in a canning jar… easy peasy!
Ahhh… good idea Bethany – I love having you around!
Great job Betsy. You are a natural.
Matt, save some syrup for me. Miss those sundaes, you two make the best.
Ha ha… come over anytime K-man! Betsy said thanks and that she didn’t even have any formal training or anything.
One question, does the syrup need refrigeration?
Yeah, it will keep longer in the fridge but I suppose you can keep it outside of the fridge if you want, we haven’t tried that yet. It’s basically just sugar and cocoa… both of which are normally kept outside the fridge.
Wow, great job!!! You guys make a great team!! Was very impressed with this video! I think I will have to try this recipe out!
Do it Beans, and come back and let us know how it goes!
Here’s a tip for easier blending: stir the sugar & cocoa powder together till evenly blended, then stir in the water and begin to heat. You won’t need a whisk!
Thanks! We’ve updated our recipe and will do that going forward.
I just made this recipe twice. I used raw cacao nibs in a Magic Bullet blender with 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder to help reduce the caking of the ground nibs. It’s SOOOO good! I actually prefer the nibs than using straight-up cocoa powder.
Way to make it your own, I love when people do that – thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for your fantastic at home version of foods, and detergents. I’ve been wanting to try this for some time, but couldn’t find a blog dedicated to it, incase of questions or helpful hints along the way…I’m glad that I ‘accidentally’ found your site! can’t wait to try this! I just ran out of the herseys so its a perfect time to make my own!
Thanks for the great recipe. We just made it, and it turned out swell. One more reason to make our own: we can control where the cocoa comes from. We saw a movie at our church about the slavery conditions under which a lot of chocolate is grown and harvested. Now I always buy fair trade cocoa and feel a lot better about it, but I didn’t know how to make syrup from it until now!
Just one more reason to DIY! God bless.
This recipe is great! I made it today and it was taste tested and approved by my 2 nieces (ages 9 & 3). I LOVE chocolate milk and it certainly passes my test. I look forward to saving money and making something for my family that I know exactly what the contents are. Thanks so much!
Hey! i just made this but im waiting for it to cool down right now :] but i watched you video and i have an idea for you to use or tell people about on the funnel. you can just cut a bottle in half and use the opening as one
it’s what i did! i am making your laundry soap tomorrow (i have an HE washer) i really love this site, ive been looking for one for a long time! thanks for being there.
How long is it good?
Great recipe! I can’t wait to try it. It looks yummy! And I am all for eliminating the corn syrup, too. I was cringing at the use of the non-stick pan, though. I just learned about the extreme dangers of using those and now find my self cringing as I toss my barely used set out while I get new-used ones at the flea market. The dangers are so extreme, it isn’t worth keeping the set I have. I strongly suggest googling the dangers of teflon.
Also, just a hint, when measuring the organic/unprocessed sugar, I have found that it weighs heavier than white sugar. That would explain part of the reason of having to use less. Mine takes approximately 2/3 of a cup to equal, by weight, the same as the weight of 1 cup of white sugar. I would also mix the salt, sugar, and cocoa together, then slowly blend in cold water to form a smooth paste, then very gradually add the water, stirring each time until it is smooth. I mix my hot chocolate like this and it comes out oh so smooth.
You guys rock!! I just so happened upon your website last fall when looking for a homemade laundry soap recipe that my neighbor friend was using. I love making my own products too. The soap works fantastic and is so cheap. Plus I know what is in it. This chocolate syrup looks yummy!! I’m a Type 2 diabetic and was wondering if I could use Stevia in place of the sugar? I think you two are awesome and high fives to you for your self sustainalbe efforts. I love this website and if I ever need a recipe for anything I want to make myself, you’re my “Go To” place. Keep up the fantastic work!
Thanks,
Carla
Thanks Carla, your encouragement means so much to us! We have not tested stevia, but I’m guessing it would be harder to thicken since you have to use so much less of it and it’s not “syrupie.” If you try it let us know how it turns out. God bless and thanks again.