The best substitutes for cocoa butter

If you’ve ever enjoyed the luxury of spreading cocoa butter on pancakes, using it to add delicate flavor to your baked goods, or making the most decadent pralines you can dream of, you know there’s no true substitute for this special ingredient.

But unfortunately, cocoa butter isn’t always available when you need it, although luckily there are some alternatives that can do a great job in a pinch.

Whether you use cocoa butter as a condiment, in your cooking or confectionery, or as a protagonist in your chocolate making, you will have to choose the right substitute for each occasion.

What are the best substitutes for cocoa butter?

The best substitutes for cocoa butter are cocoa butter, shortening (dairy), coconut oil, or butter. Cocoa powder and white chocolate work in limited contexts. Cocoa butter substitutes must have extremely high fat contents and similar flavors and consistencies.

In this article, you’ll learn the best substitutes for cocoa butter in each different application, so even if you have to live without it, you can enjoy your creations in the kitchen.

What is cocoa butter?

The concept of cocoa butter sounds a bit strange to those who haven’t tried it yet.

In the cosmetics industry, there is a variety of heavenly scented beauty products called butters or body butters. Among them are shea butter, mango butter and, of course, cocoa butter.

In the culinary world, butter means something else entirely. So where does cocoa butter fit in when used in your cooking?

How is cocoa butter made?

Cocoa butter is obtained from cocoa beans and is one of the main ingredients in most chocolate products, along with cocoa powder.

Most cocoa beans are roasted after harvest, much like coffee beans. The skin is then removed and ground to a paste.

That paste, called cocoa liquor, is pressed to separate the solids from the oil or fat. The solids are dried and pulverized, converted to cocoa, and the oil converted to cocoa butter.

Cocoa butter has 248 calories per ounce, and every one of those calories comes from fat.

Can you eat cocoa butter?

Cocoa butter is mainly used in the cosmetics industry, as a common ingredient in body and face lotions. There are quite a few delicious recipes that call for cocoa butter, proving that it is not only edible, but absolutely delicious.

Not all cocoa butter meets food grade standards.

However, if you find cocoa butter in your grocery store, specialty market, or candy store, it is likely food grade and therefore edible. Labeling should also make it obvious.

If you prefer to buy online, always read the description carefully or contact the manufacturer before ordering to ensure that the product is food safe.

Cocoa Butter vs. Cocoa Butter

The difference between cocoa butter and cocoa butter is very subtle and depends on the temperature used to extract the oil from the beans.

Cocoa butter is typically applied to any product derived from cocoa beans that remain raw and have not been processed at temperatures above 115F or 46C.

Rather than roasting, the cocoa beans are cold-pressed to make cocoa products, which is believed to better preserve nutritional value by avoiding high temperatures that can reduce antioxidant levels.

Cocoa butter and cocoa butter taste, feel and look essentially the same and it won’t affect your recipe at all if you switch from one to the other. They are fully interchangeable.

We have found that Navitas Organic Cold Pressed Cocoa Butter is like no other.

Is cocoa butter chocolate?

Cocoa butter is not chocolate, no, but it is usually one of the main ingredients of chocolate.

What constitutes chocolate can be a highly contentious subject, however a basic definition is any paste or solid product made from cocoa beans, usually sweetened.

Many types of chocolate, especially premium varieties, contain cocoa butter in addition to cocoa powder, but as long as there is some cocoa, most people will accept the final product as chocolate.

White chocolate is a bit different. White chocolate does not contain chocolate solids, which most of us think of as dark chocolate, cocoa powder, or cocoa nibs.

High-quality white chocolate uses cocoa butter, but many brands choose to make their white “chocolate” without any cocoa products.

Substitutes for cocoa butter in the kitchen

When using cocoa butter in cooking, there are two main things to consider: how it will react in the recipe and the taste.

Cocoa butter is pure fat, so it acts in a very specific way in recipes. To substitute it, you’ll need to find one or more ingredients that can be combined to provide the right balance of fat your recipe needs.

Cocoa butter also has a very high smoke point, remaining stable at temperatures up to 450F or 230C.

This should be taken into account if your recipe uses cocoa butter as a frying agent, but in most cases smoke point isn’t much of an issue.

Taste, of course, is subjective. Some people may try to avoid the taste of cocoa.

Although it is rare, you may not like the taste of chocolate. In some recipes, the cocoa butter flavor is too light to really shine and only the sweetness and creaminess is noticeable, so a direct comparison for flavor is not necessary.

In most cases, the cocoa butter substitute is not one ingredient, but several selections combined. We’ll discuss some of the closest comparisons and how to adapt them to fit your recipe perfectly.

Cocoa Butter vs. Butter

If you look up the nutrition facts for plain, unsalted butter, you’ll see that it has a little bit of protein and even less carbs, but is otherwise pure fat.

This makes it a very reliable substitute for cocoa butter in baking. Your recipes will react just like cocoa butter, providing the same level of moisture and smooth texture.

Where it will differ is in taste.

Cocoa butter is sweet and clearly tastes of chocolate. Butter has a mild sweetness, but the most pronounced flavor is dairy.

In many recipes you won’t notice a difference, but if you’re concerned, adding a bit of cocoa powder or vanilla extract to the recipe along with the substituted butter can enhance the sweetness and enhance the flavor.

If you’re making pancakes or other types of frying that used cocoa butter in a skillet or deep fryer, butter can be a good substitute, but it’s important to remember that it has a much lower smoke point.

Avoid using butter for frying, but feel free to use it as a substitute for cooking on low to medium heat, up to 265F or 130C.

Of course, butter is a dairy product, so it is not suitable for vegans or ideal for those who are lactose intolerant. Cocoa butter is plant-based, and if that is your main concern, you may want to consider one of the following options.

Cocoa Butter vs. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is another good substitute for cocoa butter because, again, it is pure fat.

Cocoa butter, butter, and coconut oil are all solid when cooled, but coconut oil will melt to a more liquid consistency than either shortening and at a lower temperature.

This can make a slight difference in how your recipe reacts, but to compensate, instead of melting your coconut oil, try creaming it to a slightly thicker consistency.

The flavor combination is not identical, but both the coconut and the chocolate have a nutty, tropical sweetness that is reminiscent of vanilla without actually tasting like vanilla.

If you hate coconut, like some people, this might not be the best substitution for you, but coconut oil tastes very mild compared to the flesh of the fruit or even coconut butter, which we’ll talk about later. continuation.

In most recipes, you won’t notice the coconut flavor at all, but the rich variety of sweet undertones will still add depth to your pastry.

If your recipe calls for cocoa butter for high-temperature frying or cooking, refined coconut oil is a reasonable substitute, as it has a smoke point around 400F, or just over 200C.

However, extra virgin or cold-pressed coconut oil has a much lower smoke point and should not be used for frying.

Coconut oil is a popular ingredient in making chocolate and white chocolate, which we’ll talk about a bit later in the article.

Cocoa Butter vs. Coconut Butter

Coconut butter, not to be confused with coconut oil, is a good substitute for cocoa butter, but not as exact as coconut oil.

Coconut butter is made using the whole coconut, rather than just the fat. This has many nutritional and flavor benefits, but it changes how the ingredient will perform in a specific recipe.

The product is still considered to be 95% fat, which is a near perfect substitution, but contains few carbohydrates, mainly from fiber, and minimal protein. It is unlikely that this very small difference will affect your recipe in any way.

The texture is very similar to cocoa butter, even more so than coconut oil.

Coconut butter’s flavor is also stronger than coconut oil, so it will shine through better in recipes. It tastes like coconut, not chocolate, but the sweetness and balance are very similar.

Cocoa butter vs. cocoa powder

Cocoa powder is not a good substitute for cocoa butter on its own, but it can be used sparingly to add the chocolate flavor to another substitute of your choice.

It’s important to note that raw cocoa powder is very bitter and is nothing like the milk chocolate you may be used to, which actually tastes much more like cocoa butter.

However, if you add a sweetener such as sugar or maple syrup to the cocoa and combine it with the fat of your choice earlier, you can enjoy the chocolate flavor that suits you best.

Cocoa Butter vs. White Chocolate

If you can’t find cocoa butter where you live but have discovered that you love the taste of it, you can probably find good quality white chocolate, which is made largely from cocoa butter.

White chocolate won’t replace cocoa butter in most recipes because its sugar content is so much higher, but if it’s the flavor you’re after, it can work for you.

Instead of spreading your pancakes with cocoa butter, try drizzling them with melted white chocolate.

Of course, if you want to make your own chocolate or white chocolate, buying ready-made chocolate at the store isn’t what you’re looking for.

Let’s see how to make homemade chocolate and white chocolate without cocoa butter.

Substitute cocoa butter when making chocolate

Making homemade chocolate is surprisingly easy; some recipes only call for 3 ingredients. In many cases, one of those ingredients is cocoa butter.

If you don’t have cocoa butter, you can still make your chocolates, but you may need an extra ingredient or two.

How to make dark chocolate without cocoa butter

Dark chocolate can be made without cocoa butter by using coconut oil or butter instead. Regular butter won’t work as well because it won’t create the shine and crunchy bite of chocolate, but coconut oil will.

To get the chocolate flavor, you’ll also need cocoa powder, of course, which is the key ingredient in any real chocolate.

With just those two ingredients you would have a very bitter chocolate, so you will also need some type of sweetener, preferably liquid. Both maple syrup and honey work very well.

Many people also add vanilla to their chocolate, mainly to enhance the delicious fragrance, but also to add depth and flavor.

How to make white chocolate without cocoa butter

Good quality white chocolate will always contain cocoa butter, but there is plenty of delicious white chocolate that does not contain any cocoa.

Although shortening doesn’t go well with regular chocolate, it works perfectly with white chocolate.

It’s a lot trickier to make it vegan, but if you’re not against dairy, you can make white chocolate using a combination of butter and milk, flavored simply with icing sugar and vanilla.

Coconut oil and/or coconut butter won’t provide the smooth, creamy consistency you want from white chocolate, because it melts at a much different temperature.

If you want to make a white chocolate frosting, frosting, or drizzle, coconut oil mixed with vanilla and icing sugar will work well, but unfortunately not for solid white chocolate.

Related questions

Is cocoa butter vegan?

Butter isn’t vegan because it’s made from dairy, but is cocoa butter dairy? No!

Pure cocoa butter does not contain dairy products. This creamy, cocoa-flavoured product is pure vegetable fat and therefore vegan.

Does cocoa butter have caffeine?

Chocolate is known to be caffeinated, and since cocoa butter is obtained from cocoa beans, which are the main ingredient in chocolate, it’s natural to wonder if cocoa butter also has caffeine.

But cocoa butter is caffeine free.

This may be disappointing to some and a relief to others, but the truth is that the process that separates the cocoa butter from the cocoa powder removes all traces of caffeine from the final product.

Can dogs eat cocoa butter?

Although cocoa butter is dairy-free and caffeine-free, it does contain a compound called theobromine, which is what makes chocolate in all its forms toxic to dogs.

For safety, dogs should not eat any products derived from the cocoa bean .

While it may seem easy to put the cocoa butter you use to make homemade chocolates safely out of your dog’s reach, it’s also important to make sure that any beauty products that contain cocoa butter are stored safely as well.