This rich, dark chocolate syrup is better than Hershey's! With just 4 ingredients (5 if you include the water) and 10 minutes, you'll have your own homemade chocolate syrup. Recipe as written makes a nice dark chocolate version; add more sugar for a sweeter sauce.
Yield: 8
Ingredients
1cupgood quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1cupgranulated sugar*
1cupcold water
1/2teaspoonkosher saltor to taste
1tablespoonpure vanilla extract
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder and sugar until blended. Add the water and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and whisk over medium heat just until begins to boil, stirring constantly.
Let boil just until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Your chocolate syrup will still be fairly thin (it thickens to a syrup-like consistency once cool). Taste and stir in additional salt until dissolved, up to 1/4 teaspoon, if desired.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool. Taste again. If it's not sweet enough for you, add a bit more sugar and stir in the warm syrup until dissolved.
Store syrup in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator. The syrup should keep, refrigerated, for at least a month.
Notes
Consistency Tips
If it's too thick, it cooked for too long. Try cooking for less time. If your current batch has thickened up too much, try heating the sauce gently and thin with a bit of water. If your syrup appears too thin, try cooking it for a bit longer, but if it's coating the back of your spoon it's probably the right consistency. Remember, it thickens a lot once it cools.
*Sugar/Sweetness Notes
Recipe as written makes a nice, dark, slightly less sweet chocolate sauce. Add up to 1/2 cup more sugar for a sweeter syrup. If you add the sugar after cooking the syrup, be sure to taste your chocolate syrup while it's still warm and if it's not quite as sweet as you'd like, add some more sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until it's sweet enough for you. Be sure to let it cook a bit more so that the sugar dissolves!
Storage Tips
Store syrup in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator. The syrup should keep, refrigerated, for at least a month. I haven't yet tried freezing/thawing this homemade chocolate syrup, but I think it would work fine. I have had readers ask if they can can this recipe, and my answer is that I wouldn’t do it, just because you have to be really careful what you preserve via canning. I’m not sure the pH for the chocolate syrup would make it a safe candidate.