This Chocolate Spread is so good, you’ll want to lick the knife clean! It’s easy to make, nut-free, and tastes great on everything from toast to waffles!
I first came up with this chocolate spread as a result of an email I got from a reader in Australia. This lovely reader asked if I knew how she could make Milky Way spread at home. This email made me sad for several reasons:
1) I’ve never been to Australia. Here I am with a serious kangaroo fetish and no way to indulge it. Hmph.
2) I’ve never tasted Milky Way spread, and had to do a google search to figure out what it is.
3) Apparently, Milky Way spread is a magical chocolatey spread with stripes of…white chocolate? marshmallow? the google machine was unclear…but it looks delicious!
4) Being a Milky Way spread ignoramus, I was unable to truly answer her question.
It was a sobering email day, indeed.
After I got over my disappointment at the lack of Australia-visiting and Milky Way spread-eating in my life, I started obsessing about making my own chocolate spread.
Think about it: Nutella hogs all of the glory! Sure, it has a little cocoa in it, but at heart it’s a hazelnut spread (or a hydrogenated palm oil spread, if we’re being brutally honest) with a little touch of chocolate flavor. The spread I wanted to make was deeply, intensely chocolately, without nuts or any other fillers getting in the way.
This recipe is built on two of my favorite ingredients: chocolate and butter. It has a small amount of vanilla, and a pinch of salt, but it’s really all chocolate, all the time. When it’s first made it has the consistency of hot fudge sauce (and I won’t stop you if you want to pour it all over ice cream, cake, your hands, etc…) but once it’s chilled it’s gorgeously rich and smooth, with a consistency that’s perfect for spreading on toast or using as a dip for fresh fruit.
Oh, and did I mention that it takes mighty well to a sprinkling of crunchy toasted coconut (or nuts) on top? Because it does. Yessir. I can also recommend it straight from the spreading knife. Ahem.
Ultimately some good did come from that email. I may not have recreated Milky Way spread, and I may not get to ride a kangaroo in the near future, but I have enough chocolate spread to last me at least a week, and that’s good enough for now.
💗More Sauces and Syrup Recipes
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Coconut Macaroons
Lick-The-Knife-Clean Chocolate Spread
Ingredients
- 2 fl oz water (1/4 cup)
- 3.5 oz granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate finely chopped (about 2/3 cup)
- 5 oz unsalted butter (1.25 sticks), softened and cubed
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt.
- Place the pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar and cocoa powder dissolve. Continue to heat the pan, stirring frequently, just until it reaches a simmer.
- Once simmering, remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla extract, chopped chocolate, and cubed butter.
- Whisk until the chocolate and butter melt and the mixture is completely smooth. When it is freshly made, this spread will have the consistency of hot fudge sauce.
- Pour the spread into a jar or other container with a lid. Press a layer of plastic wrap on top of the chocolate to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate it until it thickens.
- If it is too cold to spread easily, let it sit at room temperature for a short while before serving. Store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Video
Recipe Notes
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
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Oh, my, but you are some kind of evil! I have a friend who LOVES Nutella but I’ll bet this would convert her. Gonna put a pin on it!
“Evil” is code for “good,” right? Let me know if you try it!
This sounds amazing. Nutella needs to be dethroned, anyway.
Right? It’s hogged all the fun for far too long.
oh my! oh my! just imagine that choc spread on donuts…. *drool* ^_^
Doughnuts–yes! I love the way your mind works. Or you could even use it as a chocolate frosting on cupcakes, too.
I have never liked Nutella. I don’t like hazelnuts. As a consequence, this means I don’t like virtually every chocolate spread in existence. Years ago, an Australian supermarket chain (Woolworths) stocked a chocolate spread made by their own homebrand which was amazingly chocolatey and non-nutty. And then, what happened? They changed the recipe and added hazelnuts! In the intervening fifteen years or so, I have had no luck finding a replacement chocolate spread (until I visited Belgium two weeks ago and found one that was amazing, but only came in 750g bottles, a bit big to bring home!) I may have to try this one!
There is no such thing as too much chocolate to bring home. Feel free to share.
Seriously, next time bring the big jug back and share it with the rest of us. I have a theory that no one really likes Nutella. Everyone just suffers with it while wishing it was pure chocolate spread.
Hi Leah although I love nutella Hershey’s makes this wonderful chocolate spread I’m not sure if there is nuts in it (sure doesn’t taste like it) but its darned good and I went around looking for things to dip in it.
Wow. I have a nut-allergy daughter and can’t keep things like Nutella around. This may just save me.
Oh my. I wanted to make chocolate croissants in school next week but i found nutella too boring. You just saved me :’)
This is truly amazing, delicious, and surprisingly easy. Two weeks? That’s ambitious, there’s no way that I would eat it all by then.
Maybe you have some hungry friends who would be willing to help a sister out? 🙂
Oops, I meant there’s no way that it would last that long 😛
Haha, NOW you’re talking!!
Years ago Cadbury made a Plain chocolate spread, that actually tasted of chocolate – they stopped, then Sainsbury made a plain Begian spread, you can only get milk chocolate spread from them, I can’t wait to get to the shops on Monday so that I can try this recipe
Oh my goodness Elizabeth – I found your site completely by accident when googling “Chocolate Spread”. I sent you that email about the Milky Way spread and obviously have not got over my obsession for spreadable chocolate. Ironic it was exactly around this time a whole year ago. April must make me crave chocolate spreads…
I’m sorry my email made you sad. I promise that if Milky Way spread ever hits our shelves again, I will send you a jar and I might even include a kangaroo (well, a photo of one anyway). This recipe looks AWESOME – off to try it now. = )
Hey Ali! How does it feel to have inspired a whole random blog post? Honestly I loved your email and especially love the recipe that came out of it. Fingers crossed that the Milky Way spread comes back, I could use a kangaroo photo in my life. 🙂 Cheers!
Its lovely.I tried it but it was a little thin in its consistency.Please can you tell me why.
Hi Syeda, So glad you enjoyed it! Have you refrigerated the spread? If so, what’s the texture like after refrigeration? I found mine got very firm when it was chilled and I actually preferred warming it up a little after taking it out of the refrigerator so it was easy to spread.
Hi again,
I refrigerated it last night and now its pretty firm.Thankyou so much.