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My easy Chocolate Sauce Recipe takes only two ingredients and a bowl to make decadent chocolate sauce ready to top cakes, ice cream, and more! It's so luxurious, you won't believe how simple it is. All it takes is a microwave - no double boiler required!
Jump to:
- Chocolate Dipping Sauce
- Out of Chocolate Chips?
- Easy Chocolate Sauce Ingredients
- How to Make Chocolate Sauce
- Chocolate Sauce Recipe with Cocoa Powder
- Simple Chocolate Sauce Tips
- Homemade Chocolate Sauce Substitutions
- Chocolate Sauces FAQ
- How to Store Leftover Chocolate Sauce
- What to Make with Chocolate Sauce
- Chocolate Recipes
- Chocolate Sauce
- Reviews
Chocolate Dipping Sauce
There's no treat quite as decadent as a favorite fruit, cake, or bowl of ice cream drizzled in rich chocolate sauce. I'm not talking about the stuff in a bottle! I mean mouthwatering, high quality chocolate melted in heavy cream and poured like fudge over everything you can imagine.
With how good this sauce tastes, it's almost unbelievable how fast and easy it is. It takes only two ingredients and less than five minutes, with no double boiler required. In fact, all you need is a bowl, spoon, and the self-control not to start dipping in early!
What I love about this easy homemade chocolate dip is that it's perfect for baked goods. Because it hardens up as it cools, it forms a delicious shell of chocolate similar to magic shell, perfect for topping vanilla ice cream, brownies, churros, crepes, and cakes! And with how easy it is to make, you'll be pouring it on everything, I guarantee!
Out of Chocolate Chips?
Don't worry! I've also included my recipe for chocolate sauce without chocolate chips, which is made from cocoa powder and will be super delicious too!
Easy Chocolate Sauce Ingredients
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream is a must for this sauce! A nice high fat content is important for the texture of the sauce. Milk and half and half won't do.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: You can also use milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips. Good quality is important as they'll melt the best and have the best flavor!
- Optional: Vanilla extract, a pinch of sea salt flakes
How to Make Chocolate Sauce
Microwave Method
- Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe cup or bowl, and pour in the heavy cream.
- Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring well between intervals, until completely melted and smooth. You don't want it to boil; just get it hot enough to melt the chocolate.
- Stir until completely creamy, then drizzle over your favorite desserts, breakfasts, fruit, or baked goods, and enjoy!
Stovetop Method
- Pour about ½-inch of water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, and place a metal bowl on top, ensuring that the water doesn't come in contact with the bowl. Bring the water to a simmer.
- Pour the cream into the bowl, and add in the chocolates.
- Whisk frequently, until the chocolate has melted completely and the mixture is creamy and smooth.
- Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
Chocolate Sauce Recipe with Cocoa Powder
If you're like me, you probably don't always have chocolate chips, but you do have cocoa! You can make chocolate sauce from cocoa powder, too. It won't have quite the same qualities, however, so make sure to only use it where it'll work for what you need.
As a rule, chocolate sauce made with cocoa powder is thinner and will not harden up. It works well on ice cream, pancakes, and drizzled on pudding or flan, but will not form a shell and will make baked goods soggy.
To make chocolate syrup with cocoa powder, replace the chocolate with 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and 3 Tablespoons of sugar. Stir well into heated cream until well dissolved, and serve!
Simple Chocolate Sauce Tips
- Chocolate can seize up if it overheats, giving it a poor consistency. It's very important to only microwave chocolate 15-30 seconds at a time, and stir it frequently, until it's just melted.
- Avoid using "melting candies", which are not actually chocolate! While incredibly easy to melt, they have a far inferior flavor and texture.
- Stir, stir, stir! When the chips are almost completely melted, stir vigorously and they might complete melting without needing to risk microwaving them again.
- This sauce hardens up again when it cools, so make sure to use it right away. At room temperature, it will be thick like hot fudge sauce.
Homemade Chocolate Sauce Substitutions
- Heavy Cream: It's important to use a high-fat cream for this sauce; milk won't produce as creamy a result. In a pinch, it can still be used, but the texture will suffer.
- Chocolate chips: Chips are convenient as they're already evenly sized, but you can also chop up a block of quality baking chocolate.
- Dairy-free: You can make dairy-free chocolate sauce with full-fat coconut milk or coconut creme! Just check the chocolate to make sure it contains no milk. Some stores sell rice or almond milk based milk chocolate bars.
Chocolate Sauces FAQ
Chocolate sauce is a thick, creamy sauce made with chocolate and cream, which is designed to harden when cooled into a coating of chocolate. Chocolate syrup is much thinner, using water instead of cream and cocoa powder instead of chocolate. This syrup is ideal for mixing into cold dishes or in recipes where the syrup should stay liquid instead of hardening.
You can absolutely make chocolate sauce with cocoa powder, but be warned it won't have the same texture as chocolate sauce made with chocolate chips. This is because it won't have any cocoa butter, and thus won't thicken up when cooled. But it still tastes great and works well for drizzling on deserts that don't need a solid chocolate coating!
Very nearly! The only difference between my chocolate sauce recipe and ganache is that in my recipe, the cream is never brought to a boil. This can have some minor effects on the overall thickness of the sauce. In my experience, not boiling the cream makes it much easier to keep the chocolate from seizing.
How to Store Leftover Chocolate Sauce
- Refrigerator: Chocolate sauce does best in the fridge in an airtight container or glass jar. Because it contains cream, make sure to use it within the next 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Chocolate sauce freezes poorly due to the amount of cream and cocoa butter in it. It doesn't reheat well, and can split easily.
- Reheating: Reheat chilled chocolate sauce in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring well between each heating, until it's creamy and melted.
What to Make with Chocolate Sauce
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries: The classic! Rinse strawberries well, then dip them in the hot chocolate sauce. Place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and place them directly into the fridge to cool. Serve once the chocolate has hardened!
- Ice Cream: This sauce works like "Magic Shell", where it hardens into a delicious chocolate flavored shell when poured on ice cream! It's a huge hit with kids!
- Cakes: Pour this sauce over chilled cakes! Just make sure the cake is chilled and the sauce isn't hot. It will cool quickly, forming a gooey, chocolate-y shell.
- Hot Chocolate: It's practically hot chocolate already, so just add an extra cup of milk and heat it up, and enjoy decadence!
- Strawberry Crepes: If you want a sweet breakfast or a light dessert, these Strawberry Crepes are the way to go!
Chocolate Recipes
If you enjoyed the recipe, leave a comment and a rating below!
Chocolate Sauce
Equipment
- Metal bowl for stovetop method
- Small saucepan for stovetop method
Ingredients
- 2½ Tablespoons Heavy cream
- ¼ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Microwave Method
- Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe cup or bowl, and pour in the heavy cream.2½ Tablespoons Heavy cream,¼ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring well between intervals, until completely melted and smooth. You don't want it to boil; just get it hot enough to melt the chocolate.
- Stir until completely creamy, then drizzle over your favorite desserts, breakfasts, fruit, or baked goods, and enjoy!
Stovetop Method
- Pour about ½ inch of water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, and place a metal bowl on top, ensuring that the water doesn't come in contact with the bowl. Bring the water to a simmer.2½ Tablespoons Heavy cream,¼ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Pour the cream into the bowl, and add in the chocolates.
- Whisk frequently, until the chocolate has melted completely and the mixture is creamy and smooth.
- Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
Notes
- Chocolate can seize up if it overheats. It's very important to only microwave chocolate 15-30 seconds at a time, and stir it frequently, until it's just melted.
- Avoid using "melting candies", which are not actually chocolate! While incredibly easy to melt, they have a far inferior flavor and texture.
- Stir, stir, stir! When the chips are almost completely melted, stir vigorously and they might complete melting without needing to risk microwaving them again.
- This sauce hardens up again when it cools, so make sure to use it right away.
- Heavy Cream: It's important to use a high-fat cream for this sauce; milk won't produce as creamy a result. In a pinch, it can still be used, but the texture will suffer.
- Chocolate chips: Chips are convenient as they're already evenly sized, but you can also chop up a block of quality baking chocolate.
- Dairy-free: You can make dairy-free chocolate sauce with full-fat coconut milk or coconut creme! Just check the chocolate to make sure it contains no milk. Some stores sell rice or almond milk based milk chocolate bars.
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