These Raw-Honey Cocoa-Butter Chocolate Bars use four measured ingredients: raw cocoa butter, pure organic cocoa, raw honey and homemade vanilla extract. This bar recipe contains no salt, and it stays separate from the differently measured chocolate-chunk recipe.
The cocoa butter is melted without water, measured after melting, whisked with the other ingredients and chilled in a shallow lined pan. The complete recipe makes eight servings for occasional Later Full GAPS after digestive symptoms are gone and pure organic cocoa is already tolerated.
A Four-Ingredient Chocolate to Make Ahead
With six children and eight places at our table, a shallow pan is more practical than filling individual candy molds. The chocolate can chill as one slab, then be lifted out and divided into eight servings without adding another specialized piece of equipment to the kitchen.
This is not the same formula as the three-cup chocolate chunks. The bars use equal one-cup measures of melted cocoa butter and cocoa with one-third cup honey. The chunk recipe uses less cocoa butter, a different cocoa-to-honey ratio and a pinch of mineral salt.
Keeping them as separate posts makes the choice clear. Make these bars when you want eight plain servings. Use the linked honey-sweetened chocolate chunks when another recipe needs measured pieces.
The long chill also creates a useful stopping point in a busy day. Once the pan is in the refrigerator, the counter can be cleared and the chocolate can stay undisturbed until it is ready to lift and cut. There is no need to stand over it or fill a tray of small molds.
Set aside the eight-serving container before starting. That keeps the finished pieces together as one measured batch and makes it less likely that this no-salt bar is mixed with the salted chunk component.
Set Up the Dry Equipment First
Gather the double-boiler insert, lower saucepan, dry mixing bowl, whisk, liquid measuring cup, shallow pan and parchment before the cocoa butter is melted. Every surface that will touch the cocoa butter should be clean and dry.
Cut the parchment to fit the shallow pan and press it into the corners. Leave enough parchment at the sides to lift the chilled slab. A prepared pan lets the well-mixed chocolate move directly from the bowl to its final shape.
If you use the 200°F oven branch, choose the oven-safe glass or ceramic melting dish before preheating. The remaining bowl, measuring and pan steps stay the same after melting.
Measure the Cocoa Butter After Melting
Start with raw cocoa butter, but do not rely on a cup of solid pieces as the final measurement. Melt it first, then measure exactly one cup, or 218 grams, for this formula.
Solid cocoa-butter pieces leave air spaces in a cup. Measuring the required liquid amount after melting keeps the cocoa butter aligned with the one cup of pure organic cocoa and one-third cup of raw honey.
Prepare the shallow pan and parchment before mixing. Once the melted cocoa butter and honey are combined with cocoa, the finished mixture can go directly into its lined pan without waiting while you cut parchment.
Keep Every Drop of Water Out
Use a water-free upper insert nested securely over a saucepan of simmering water. The water stays below the insert and never touches or enters the cocoa butter.
Dry the upper insert, bowl, whisk and measuring cup before starting. Set the insert into the lower saucepan so its rim is supported evenly and its base does not touch the water.
The lower pan provides the gentle surrounding heat. The upper insert holds only cocoa butter. There is no added water in this formula, and the lid stays off while the cocoa butter melts.
Use the Double Boiler or the Oven Branch
The photographed method uses an uncoated stainless-steel double-boiler insert nested over the registered Le Creuset stainless saucepan. Melt the cocoa butter over simmering water, keeping the setup stable and water-free.
The recipe also has an oven branch. Place the cocoa butter in an oven-safe glass or ceramic dish and melt it slowly in a 200°F oven. The measured formula remains the same whichever melting method you use.
After the cocoa butter is completely liquid, transfer exactly one cup to the mixing bowl. Do not add extra cocoa butter simply because some remains in the melting vessel.
Whisk the Four Ingredients Together
Put the measured melted cocoa butter into a glass, ceramic or stainless-steel bowl. Add one cup pure organic cocoa, one-third cup raw honey and one teaspoon homemade vanilla.
Whisk until the four ingredients are well mixed. Scrape the sides and bottom so no dry cocoa is left outside the mixture. This bar recipe has no mineral salt, so do not add the pinch that belongs to the separate chunk recipe.
Use the linked homemade vanilla with no added sugar or non-GAPS additives. Commercial or opaque vanilla is not substituted into this ingredient position.
Pour, Chill and Cut Eight Servings
Line a shallow uncoated stainless-steel pan with unbleached parchment. A compatible shallow glass or ceramic dish is also supported. Pour in the well-mixed chocolate and spread it across the dish.
Refrigerate for at least three hours. The total time is five hours, including the one-hour preparation period and the remaining chilling and finishing time.
Lift the chocolate out with the parchment and cut it into eight servings. The photographed batch is cut into eight plain rectangular pieces. Do not add scoring, fillings, nuts, fruit, salt or decorative toppings.
What the Finished Bars Should Look Like
The finished chocolate is one plain shallow slab divided into eight pieces. The surface and edges remain undecorated, which makes it easy to distinguish this no-salt bar formula from the irregular chunk component.
The photo shows the form and portion count. Follow the three-hour minimum chill and lift-and-cut method instead of judging the chocolate by an unsupported snap, shine or room-temperature claim.
Where These Bars Fit on GAPS
Pure organic cocoa is an occasional Later Full GAPS ingredient after digestive symptoms are gone. These bars are not an Introduction Diet or early Full GAPS recipe.
Raw cocoa butter, raw honey and the linked homemade vanilla complete this four-ingredient version. Maple syrup, erythritol, stevia, sugar and commercial chocolate are not included.
The chocolate remains an occasional treat. The stage placement does not change because the ingredients are homemade or the bar is cut into smaller pieces.
Scale the Bars Without Making a Deeper Slab
The 2× card control makes sixteen servings and doubles the ingredients to two cups cocoa butter, two cups cocoa, two-thirds cup raw honey and two teaspoons homemade vanilla.
Use two shallow pans for the doubled batch. A much deeper single slab changes the distance the cold must travel and no longer matches the photographed shallow-pan form. Keeping two pans also preserves the eight-piece layout per batch.
Melt in batches if the upper insert cannot hold the doubled cocoa butter with comfortable space. Measure each melted amount before combining it with its matching cocoa, honey and vanilla measures.
Storage and Serving
After the slab has chilled and been cut, keep the pieces covered in a glass or ceramic container in the refrigerator. Keep the container dry and return unused pieces to cold storage.
Separate layers with unbleached parchment if stacking is necessary. Serve the bars as the eight measured portions from this formula rather than recutting them into a different implied yield.
Label the container as the no-salt eight-serving bar formula so it is not confused with the mineral-salt chocolate chunks used as a measured component.
More Later Full GAPS Chocolate Recipes
For a small spreadable cocoa recipe, use the Full GAPS Chocolate Frosting for One. For a filled treat, the Goji-Cranberry Coconut Truffles keep their own measured cranberry-goji center and cocoa shell.
Those recipes and the sibling chocolate chunks stay separate because each has a different job, ratio and yield. Link to the complete component instead of copying one formula into another post.
Recommended Equipment
Use the registered Le Creuset stainless lower saucepan, an uncoated stainless double-boiler insert, an optional oven-safe glass or ceramic dish for the 200°F branch, a dry heat-safe mixing bowl, stainless whisk, liquid measuring cup, shallow uncoated stainless or compatible glass/ceramic pan and unbleached parchment.
The double-boiler insert and shallow stainless pan are material choices for their required shapes. Every vessel must rest on a stable surface, and no plastic or silicone food-contact mold is needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does This Bar Recipe Include Salt?
No. Salt belongs only to the separate chocolate-chunk formula.
When Do I Measure the Cocoa Butter?
Measure exactly one cup after the cocoa butter has melted, or use 218 grams.
Can I Melt the Cocoa Butter in the Oven?
Yes. Use an oven-safe glass or ceramic dish in a 200°F oven, then measure one cup after melting.
Why Must the Double Boiler Stay Water-Free?
Water must not touch or enter the cocoa butter at any point in the melting method.
Can I Replace the Raw Honey?
Use the measured one-third cup raw honey; no alternate sweetener is included.
Can I Use These During the Introduction Diet?
No. Pure organic cocoa is occasional Later Full GAPS after digestive symptoms are gone.
Raw-Honey Cocoa-Butter Chocolate Bars Recipe
Raw-Honey Cocoa-Butter Chocolate Bars for Later Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Melt the cocoa butter water-free in the upper uncoated stainless-steel insert of a double boiler over simmering water, keeping the water below the insert. As an alternative, melt it slowly in an oven-safe glass or ceramic dish in a 200°F oven. Measure exactly 1 cup after it has melted.
- Pour the measured melted cocoa butter into a glass, ceramic or stainless-steel bowl. Add the pure organic cocoa, raw honey and homemade vanilla. Whisk until well mixed.
- Pour the mixture into a shallow uncoated stainless-steel pan lined with unbleached parchment, or into a compatible glass or ceramic dish. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Lift it out and cut it into 8 servings.
Notes
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