Keto Black Chocolate Hearts

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Halloween has always been know as the unofficial beginning of the holiday festive season, and with sugar laden candy lurking at every corner it's also been known as the diet breaker.

But it doesn't have to be! With so many low-carb foods available it's easy to make your own sugar-free treats that are totally guilt-free and keto approved.

To make these keto chocolate hearts, I used my Homemade Chocolate recipe and modified it for a Halloween inspired treat. I used cacao butter in these although virgin coconut oil will work too. If you do use coconut oil, make sure to keep it in the fridge as otherwise it would melt at room temperature.

How to Make Black Desserts

Apart from the regular food dyes which I avoid, there are natural alternatives such as black cocoa powder, activated charcoal and squid ink. While activated charcoal can be used in several sweet and savoury recipes, I wouldn't recommend it for making keto chocolate because it would make it gritty. Squid ink is more suitable for savoury dishes so I don't use it in desserts.

This Halloween I experimented with black cocoa powder. I only used black cacao powder for maximum colour effect but you could easily substitute half of the black cocoa powder with Dutch process cocoa powder, or use raw cacao powder which has the best taste and more nutritional benefits.

Which Sweetener is Best for Making Low-Carb Chocolate?

This keto chocolate uses a low-carb sweetener called Allulose. Compared to other sweeteners like Erythritol or Swerve, Allulose makes homemade chocolate smoother and less gritty with no cooling effect and no aftertaste. It simply tastes just like sugar! If you can't find Allulose, use any powdered low-carb sweeteners from this list. I like pure Erythritol, Swerve or any sweetener blend made with Erythritol and monk fruit.

What is Sunflower Lecithin Used For?

If you plan to bake with this homemade keto chocolate, add a pinch of sunflower lecithin. Sunflower lecithin acts as a stabiliser and will keep the chocolate from separating if you plan to use it for baking. This means that it won't melt into a puddle of fat.

Looking for More Black Halloween Treats?

I created this Keto Chocolate & Mint Cheesecake Fluff — which looks impressive for such an easy keto dessert — and then these Spooky Chocolate Keto Chaffles that so much fun to make with the kids and again they are super easy.

There's more! Our recipe developer Dearna made these scary Green Cheesecake Brownies, and last year Naomi made these beautifully frightening Black Heart Cupcakes that are filled with bright red sugar-free berry jam.

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Nutritional values (per serving, 1 mini heart)

Ingredients (makes about 26 mini hearts)

• 85 g cacao butter (3 oz)
• 6 tbsp black cacao powder (57 g/ 2 oz) or use half black, half Dutch process cocoa powder
• ¹/₄ cup powdered Allulose, Erythritol or Swerve (40 g/ 1.4 oz)
• ¹/₄ tsp vanilla powder or ¹/₂ tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• Optional: stevia drops, to taste
• Optional: ¹/₃ tsp sunflower lecithin powder if you plan to bake with it

Instructions

1. Prepare all of the ingredients by measuring out or weighing.
2. Melt the cacao butter in a double boiler, or heat-proof bowl placed over a small saucepan filled with 1 cup of water, over medium heat. Make sure the water doesn't touch the glass bowl — it should only be heated through the steam.
3. If you have a candy thermometer, the temperature of the cacao butter should not be over 46 °C/ 115 °F when you add the remaining ingredients. When you reach 46 °C/ 115 °F, remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Add cocoa powder, powdered sweetener (allulose or erythritol), vanilla, and salt.
   Notes: If you plan to bake with this chocolate, add ¹/₃ tsp of sunflower lecithin. For a sweeter taste, add a few drops of stevia.
5. Stir using a spatula until smooth and creamy. Once combined, use the spatula stir the chocolate around the edges until the chocolate reaches about room temperature. This will temper the chocolate and you'll get a smooth result with no fat separation os sweetener crystals developing on the surface.
6. Use a spoon to pour the chocolate into a candy mold. You can use any shapes or use a chocolate bar mold (if you use a small candy mold like I did, one chocolate will be about 7 g/ 0.25 oz). If the chocolate hardens too quick, place back on the saucepan and let it soften for a few seconds. Place in the fridge to set for a few minutes.
7. Once set, pop out of the mold and place in an airtight container.
8. Store at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, 1 mini heart)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Cocoa butter, organic (cacao butter)
0 g	0 g	3.3 g	29 kcal
Cocoa powder, black, unsweetened
0.5 g	0.4 g	0.3 g	5 kcal
Allulose, natural low-carb sweetener
0.1 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Vanilla extract, powder (vanilla bean)
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Salt, sea salt
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Total per serving, 1 mini heart
0.5 g	0.4 g	3.6 g	34 kcal

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