Homemade Milk Chocolate

Goose attended a homeschool class about chocolate last week.

She came home eager to make some at home!

We started with these organic cacao nibs.

Have you ever tasted raw cacao?

It does NOT taste good!

First we roasted them in the oven at 250 degrees for 18 minutes.

They were already starting to smell really good!

After letting them cool, we placed them in a food processor.

You have to grind them for maybe 10 minutes until they start to liquefy.

This is called chocolate liquor.

Next comes the sugar. 

And you need a LOT of sugar!

We just kept adding it until we were satisfied with the sweetness.

Then you add vanilla extract.  We added about 1 tablespoon.

Continue grinding.

Now comes the milk.

We used 2% because that's what we had on hand.

I am sure whole milk would be the way to go if you have it.

Again, continue adding the milk until the chocolate is to your liking.

And now you have homemade milk chocolate!

Binky and friend thought it was too bitter and needed more sugar.

But Goose and I liked it.

I was surprised at how much sugar you really need to make it edible!

I can't wait to play with the recipe and add different flavors like orange or lavender.

Who knew it was so easy to make homemade milk chocolate!