An easy sub for chocolate chips, these homemade carob chips are rich in minerals and vitamins and delicious in baking! Or just for snackingā¦
A tasty substitute.
Even though half my blog is probably dedicated to my love of all the chocolate things, I actually do love carob, too. Growing up, my mom never really bought chocolate chips (or chocolate anything), so carob was our go-to treat. I have fond memories of finding all the places sheād hide the carob chips from me and my brother and enjoying my momās delicious banana carob chip smoothies, or hot carob in the winters (in place of hot cocoa).
If youāre not all up on what carob is, itās a little fruit that grows in a pod, like peas and other legumes. Carob is high in many vitamins and minerals, like calcium,Ā zinc,Ā potassium,Ā phosphorus,Ā vitamin K,Ā riboflavin, andĀ vitamin E, and also contains antioxidants. Itās used around the world as a chocolate substitute, as it has a similarly sweet taste, but lacks the caffeine.Ā
Necessity is the mother of invention.
The recipe for these easy homemade carob chips actually came out of necessity. Iād been wanting to try my hand at making my own carob chips for a while, and I finally got my chance when I used up the last of my chocolate chips.
At the time I was pregnant with baby #4, and as all you moms know, being pregnant in a house without chocolate is not a good thing. Though knowing me it probably wouldnāt be a good thing even if I werenāt pregnant.
I chose to make carob chips instead of chocolate because, for some weird reason, organic roasted carob was cheaper to get than cocoa powder, thus I have a ton of it. (Not literally, of course.)
Homemade carob chips.
Anyway, these carob chips were SUPER easy to make and taste wonderful. Iāve used them in brownies, cookies (recipe coming soon, hopefully), and currently Iām just eating them by the handful.
Theyāre made with simple ingredients, and can be as sweet as you want by adding more honey. You could also use butter to make them, if you can handle dairy. I canāt, so coconut oil it is!
More carob-y goodness.
Here are a few more delicious recipes with carob in them. You can pretty much sub carob or carob chips for any recipe using cocoa or chocolate chips, though. š
In the recipe card Iāve linked to some of the products from my affiliate partners that I like to use. Purchasing through these links wonāt cost you anything extra. Thanks!
Homemade Carob Chips
Free from grain, gluten, eggs, dairy, and refined sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup carob powder
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (I like to make my own)
Instructions
Line an 8Ć8 inch baking dish with foil or use a silicone loaf pan.
In a small saucepan, melt coconut oil.
Add in remaining ingredients and quickly stir until smooth.
Pour into pan and smooth top with a spatula or spoon.
Freeze until hardened.
Remove from pan, cut into chunks and eat store covered in the fridge until ready to use.
Notes
Other than the links attached above, I also like to purchase my coconut oil, carob powder, and vanilla from Azure Standard.Ā
That looks so easy! Do you miss the hit of chocolate though? I'm a diehard chocoholic, and I'm not sure these would satisfy. Any thoughts?
š I wouldn't say that they satisfy the chocolate craving, but they taste great otherwise. š Next time I'll break down and try it with cocoa and a little more honey. I think carob is sweeter than cocoa, so it doesn't need as much sweetener. That helps me justify eating more of it! š Hope you enjoy them!
Will you please please please save some for tomorrow?
Everytime I make this lately it separates when I add the honey or maple syrup! What am I doing wrong??
Hmm… I would try letting the coconut oil cool down some before adding in the honey and carob. See if that helps. So sorry it’s not been working for you!
Oh, I wish Iād checked this before I made this recipe… š Hopefully it will still taste good? I donāt have enough carton for a second batch since I need it to make a cake. (My sweet daughter said that for her sixth birthday, she wanted a cake that I could eat ā¤ļø)
*carob, not carton!
Hopefully they work well for you, Marnie!
If cooling the coconut oil is important to prevent separation please add it to the recipe. I didn’t worry about that because it wasn’t in the recipe.
I don’t ever cool the coconut oil, so I don’t see it as an important part of the recipe.
I”ve noticed that happen sometimes when I add the vanilla. Add your vanilla at the very last minute!
Great tip, Liz!
Thank you for posting this. I had graininess but will mix the carob in when the oil is less hot next time. Nonetheless it worked quite well. I donāt like to eat foods with palm oil given the deforestation problem so homemade works for me!
I'll try. . . . : )
I was looking for a recipe using butter and this was just perfect. I cut it down to a quarter since it was just me and I melted the butter in a pan (Takes less time to cool then melting it in my microwave) and I used a silicone mould and it worked wonderfully. Thanks so much!
I'm so glad you liked them! Thank you for taking the time to let me know – it's always encouraging to get positive feedback on my recipes! š
Great healthy alternative to chocolate. I’m intrigued to try this!
Yes, they are a wonderful chocolate alternative!
These sound delicious and easy. I would love to use these in brownies, parfaits, or even a good hiking mic!
Thanks, Jenni! Yep, they’re tasty in all those options! š
I had no idea how easy these were to make! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
You’re so welcome, Jessica! I love making them from home so that I can control how much sweetener is in them. š
Great recipe to have. They look yummy, and seem to be easy to make! They are a good alternative to chocolate chips.
Thanks Denise!
Iām new to the AIP, but I use a lot of coconut products. Could I substitute the sweetener for coconut sugar? If so, how much? And do you think it will affect the final product?
Hm… I’ve never tried it with a granulated sweetener. I think it would still work, if you made sure to melt the sweetener completely (otherwise it would be a little grainy). As for the amount of sweetener, coconut sugar isn’t quite as sweet as honey, so you might want to start with a little more and then adjust to your taste. š
Such a smart recipe dear! Thank you for this substitute! I’ll definitely try those!
Haha! Thank you! I hope you enjoy them, Michelle. š
What a great idea! What do you recommend in place of the honey?
Thank you!
Hmm… you could try maple syrup or agave. I haven’t tried either, though.
I made it, but decided to use dextrose instead of honey. I forgot dextrose doesn’t work well with liquids. It clumped up, so I added a small jar of peanut butter and blended in the blender. I will see what happens to that overnight. The rest I poured over my one ingredient frozen banana ice cream, and it made a “magic shell” type topping. Interesting! I will try it again!
Oh wow! Haha. Sounds yummy!
Is there a way to make this sans coconut? I have found I have reactions to anything coconut.
You could try it using avocado oil. š
A question, would this recipe work for dipping nut/dried fruit balls?
I’ve never tried it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. š
Hello, I will be using this recipe for melting “chocolate” to use on dog treats (with alcohol-free vanilla). If I melt these chips after they set, will it dry firmly? I’d like to store them in a paper bag together for my customers but am not sure if it will be messy and sticky like other recipes I have tried. Thank you!
Hmm… They seem to be fine in day-old chocolate chip cookies, if that helps answer your question!
I tried this (with some substitutions) and it came out grainy and kept wanting to separate. It’s in the freezer now, so we’ll see… Anyway, looking for suggestions on how to make it work. I didn’t have coconut oil and can’t do dairy, so I used homemade ghee. Melted in the microwave, then poured into pan. (Maybe it was too hot?) Then I added the carob, honey, and vanilla. My vanilla is homemade with tequila because I didn’t have enough vodka for the last batch. (Maybe that caused an issue?) It started out grainy and I stirred for a while hoping it would smooth out, but it just got harder, like chocolate that has seized up, so I added more ghee. It got workable again (still grainy), but when I tasted it, it didn’t seem sweet enough for the kids, so I added erythritol, stirred until it seemed like it was all mixed in (it never really changed texture) and spooned it into molds. The ghee started separating out and coming to the top almost immediately. I’m going to see how they are once they are cooled, but I’ll probably end up remelting and trying to turn them into no-bake cookies (for the kids since I can’t eat oats). From the other comments, I’m gathering that they aren’t supposed to be grainy at all. So… Tips? Should I leave out the vanilla? Melt the erythritol with the ghee? Should I get coconut oil instead of using ghee? Any other ideas?
Well, I can’t say I’ve ever tried making this with ghee, or erythritol, so I’m not sure if my suggestions will make a difference. Haha! I don’t think the ghee or the taquila should be an issue, either way…
It sounds like maybe the ghee wasn’t hot enough to fully dissolve the carob powder. That would be my first suggestion. If it isn’t fully dissolved, you can always add it back to the heat until it is.
If you want to use erythritol, you should probably add it in with the carob so that it can fully melt.
If the mixture is too hard, I would just add in a little more of the ghee/coconut oil.
I’m not really sure about the fat separation, but when that happens I would guess it’s just because the carob isn’t dissolved in fully, so it’s not really bonded to anything.
Hopefully that is a little helpful! Sorry you had such a hard time with them!
I read that carob will get grainy when overheated. This just happened to me. We need to add the carob when the oil or butter has cooled down to some degree. Heating more made mine worse, but it is in the freezer. Thankfully I made a half recipe
Thanks for the tip! I hope you were able to salvage or enjoy what you ended up with! I know how frustrating it can be to feel like you wasted precious ingredients.
I can’t have coconut. I was wondering if you could use extra virgin olive oil instead?
Olive oil would probably not work, since it doesn’t solidify when it’s cold. You could for sure try it though, if you’re just wanting the carob for a frosting or sauce type thing. You might want to add a little more sweetener, though, since olive oil has a very strong flavor.