This healthy vegan chocolate sauce is naturally creamy and versatile thanks to oat milk and contains no added fat. It's silky smooth, made with just 4 ingredients, and has a decadent hot fudge flavor you'll want to drizzle on everything! Trust me, after one taste you won't believe it contains no nuts, coconut, oil, dairy, gluten, or refined sugar!
Truth? This vegan chocolate sauce is blowing my mind. It is every bit as rich and delicious as it looks in the photos, yet it's made with just 4 wholesome ingredients. I honestly didn't know it was this easy to make such an amazing and versatile chocolate syrup!
This recipe comes to us courtesy of author Kim Lutz and her book, The Oat Milk Cookbook. Big thanks to Kim and Sterling Publishing for allowing me to review the book and share this recipe with you.
If you've visited my blog before you may be familiar with my obsession with oats. From this popular vanilla oat ice cream and vegan pecan pie filling made with oatmeal, to baked goods made with oat flour like my oat flour banana bread, pancakes, and healthy oat mug cake, oats are a major theme around here.
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The Oat Milk Cookbook also highlights the versatility of oats. It features more than 100 delicious, dairy-free recipes that prove the versatility of oat milk for everything from cheesy sauces and soups to coffee drinks and desserts.
I love that the first chapter includes information about the benefits of oat milk over dairy, such as the health, environmental, and animal cruelty issues. Kim also gives great tips about kitchen tools you'll need to make many of the recipes.
I've already marked SO many recipes throughout the book that I can't wait to try, including this gorgeous Oat Milk Sandwich Bread that Sarah of Bad to the Bowl made and shared.
Why You'll Love This Healthy Vegan Chocolate Sauce!
- Simple: Only 4 ingredients and 5 minutes to make a batch (or 10 minutes if you make your own oat milk).
- Versatile: Use homemade oat milk for a creamier chocolate sauce or a different non-dairy milk for a thinner chocolate syrup. Plus...
- Different Temps: Use it at room temp or warm like vegan hot fudge. Or chill it for a dense, spreadable, fudge-y consistency!
- Healthy: Made with unsweetened cocoa powder and sweetened entirely with maple syrup, there's no dairy, coconut, oil, corn syrup, or added fat of any kind!
- Delicious: Most importantly, it tastes amazing! I know you'll love it as much as we do.
The pure, simple genius of this chocolate sauce is why I chose it as THE one I wanted to share over all the other recipes in the book.
I mean, look at it! How can you not want to keep a jar of this heavenly sauce in the fridge at all times?!
When chilled it's more like a spreadable ganache. I'm not even kidding. Just wait until you see it. It's actual oat magic.
Ingredients and Substitutions
To make vegan chocolate syrup, all you need are a small saucepan, a whisk, about 10 minutes, and these 4 ingredients:
- cocoa powder - Look for natural, unsweetened cocoa powder, though you can sub raw cacao powder if you'd like.
- pure vanilla extract - important for the overall flavor
- maple syrup - I haven't tried the recipe yet with agave syrup but I suspect it will work, too.
- oats and water - In the recipe notes I've included instructions for making a basic oat milk at home. As mentioned above, this will give you an extra creamy and impressive chocolate syrup! But you can also use store-bought oat milk if you don't mind a slightly thinner consistency.
Though you can make the chocolate syrup with either homemade or store-bought oat milk, I highly recommend you try it first with homemade.
You see, commercial oat milks go through a process that breaks down the starches that give oatmeal its thick and gooey quality. In case you've ever steamed oat milk for a latte and wondered why it doesn't get weird like some homemade oat milk does, that's why.
I even figured out how to replicate the enzyme process at home for my oat milk recipe!
But for this chocolate sauce, the oat "slime" actually works to our advantage by making it extra creamy and thick - basically, it replaces the viscosity of dairy cream.
Thankfully, making oat milk for this recipe is as simple as blending oats and water, then straining it through a nut milk bag.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Sauce
- Whisk together all 4 ingredients in a small sauce pan.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cook for about 2 minutes more. You'll see the natural starches of the oat milk start to thicken and get ultra creamy.
- And that's it! Remove from heat and serve now like vegan hot fudge, or let it cool before serving or storing.
Serving Tips
You can use this chocolate sauce warm, at room temp, or chilled. And here's a little perk you might enjoy versus sauces that are made with added saturated fats.... this one doesn't harden as it cools.
In fact, it's fantastic straight out of the fridge the next day! The consistency becomes more like a caramel sauce but with the flavor of deep, dark chocolate fudge.
Also, feel free to add a pinch of salt to the pot. Next time I might try it with a bit of smoked sea salt!
FAQs
Both chocolate syrup and chocolate sauce are thinner in consistency and sweeter than hot fudge. The key difference is that chocolate sauce often includes milk or cream, which makes it slightly thicker and richer than chocolate syrup, which is made with water.
The cool thing about this vegan version is that, depending on the non-dairy milk you use, this recipe can serve as either one.
Store homemade vegan chocolate sauce in a lidded jar or other airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Yes, this low-fat chocolate sauce freezes well! So feel free to make extra, and store it for a rainy day. Or make ahead for use on a dessert for a party or other special occasion.
I've heard from some of my readers that other non-dairy milks work, but the result will be more like syrup. If you want the thickness provided by homemade oat milk, you may want to add a small amount of starch, such as arrowroot or cornstarch.
Ways to Use Vegan Chocolate Sauce
Serve this healthy vegan chocolate syrup:
- drizzled on oat milk ice cream, coconut milk ice cream and any vegan ice cream flavor you love!
- as a syrup for oat flour pancakes and muffins
- as a dip for vegan protein cookies
- chilled and spread like frosting on these healthy banana brownies
- on frozen banana nice cream
- as a dip for fresh fruit like strawberries and sliced apple, pear, and banana - hello, vegan chocolate fondue!
- on frozen banana bites (yes, please!)
- you can also make hot chocolate and creamy vegan cocktails with it!
During the week when you (or the kids) want a quick snack, pull the jar of sauce from the fridge and spread some on one half of a peanut butter-banana sandwich. Heavenly.
Check out this new spreadable Vegan Chocolate Ganache lightly adapted from this recipe!
Grab a copy of The Oat Milk Cookbook, and be sure to let us know in the comments below what you think about this vegan chocolate sauce... and your favorite ways to enjoy it!
Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Sauce & Syrup
Equipment
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Ingredients
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup - Note: 6 Tbsp is ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp; for a double batch you'll need ¾ cup.
- 6 tablespoons oat milk, homemade or store-bought - See Notes for homemade.
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan whisk together the cocoa powder, vanilla, maple syrup, and oat milk.
- Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat for 2 minutes, or until thick and creamy.
- Serve the chocolate sauce warm or at room temperature. It's delicious both ways. We also enjoy it straight from the fridge when it's thick and spreadable.
Notes
- Combine 1 cup rolled oats with 4 cups ice cold water in a blender. In my Vitamix I like to blend on high for no more than 30 seconds to avoid slimy oat milk (note that if you're only using it for chocolate sauce, this doesn't really matter).
Depending on your blender I recommend experimenting with this to find the perfect blend time. - Strain the oat milk through several layers of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag.
- Store oat milk in a lidded glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Shake well before using.
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used.
Patricia
Easy recipe. And so delicious!!
Lori F.
This is amazing! After being refrigerated, it's almost like pudding, something that we miss as well. We are long time vegans but trying to eat healthier, WFPB foods. Thank you for this recipe!
Dominique
OMG this is a game changer for chocolate fondue !!!
Lisa
Hi Lori, I just made this for the second time—it’s great! And so quick & easy. I used Oatly oat milk. I’d like to try it with homemade oat milk sometime. It’s strawberry season, and I’ve been loving spreading it right from the fridge onto berries. I’ve also used it in strawberry-chocolate smoothies. A super sauce/spread to make pretty healthy sweet treats with.
paul
Is there an alternative to the Maple Syrup? Trying to keep my sugar intake down.
Lori
Hi Paul,
I've only tested it with maple syrup, but I know there are some sugar-free syrup sweeteners out there made by companies like Lakanto. They have a monk fruit version of maple syrup that might work. If you give it a try let us know!
Lionel
Paul,
Use can use agave nectar.
Jessica S.
This is very tasty. My family loved it. I used store bought oat milk ("Malk" brand, minimal ingredients). It took a lot longer than 2 minutes to thicken, maybe because it was cold, but it was worth the wait.
elise
thanks, makin vegan banana splits and this is perfect
Jenessa
This looks awesome- can’t wait to try it. Do you think this could be used in some way as a cake ‘frosting’ or as a layer in a layered chocolate cake? I’d love to know if you have any tips!
Lori
Hi Jenessa, yes definitely. I actually have it on my to-do list to create a spreadable ganache from this recipe. 😀
Once the sauce it chilled it thickens up nicely! You may need to experiment, depending on how you plan to use it. Maybe decrease the milk just a touch to make sure it's thick. One note though, since this is more of a liquid and frosting is solid (fat and sugar) I think it might soak into the cake over time. And you'd need to keep it chilled. I hope that helps!
Lacey
Do you think this could be made using canned coconut milk for a gluten free version?
Lori
Hi Lacey, yes I think coconut milk will work well and I'm sure will taste fantastic, but you might need to whisk in a tiny amount of a GF starch like tapioca. Let us know if you try it!
Katherine D Emerson
Is it possible to substitute another milk for the oat milk (since I only have rice milk on hand) or should I wait and buy oat milk? Thanks 🙂
Lori
Hi Katherine, I have made it with other milks and while it still tasted great, the consistency was a little different. It’s the starch in oats that gives the extra creamy quality. If you happen to have old fashioned rolled oats on hand, making homemade oat milk as described in the Notes section is ideal!
Sandi
Hi Lori-can you buy the oat milk or does it change the consistency? Can't wait to try this one!
Lori
Hi Sandi, absolutely, store-bought is fine. It will be slightly less stretchy/gooey (ha sorry, the best descriptors I can think of) only because of the way commercial oat milk is made, but still creamy and delicious.
marquella
Can i store this at room temp?
How long does it last? (:
Lori
Hi Marquella, for freshness I recommend storing it in the refrigerator for up to a week, then briefly reheating it to make it pourable again. But because there aren't any highly perishable ingredients in this sauce I imagine it would be fine at room temperature for a short period. Difficult to say for sure, though.
Faye
OMG, THANK YOU!! I can’t believe how easy and delicious this is!!!!!! I will make this often!!!!
Lori
Hahaha yay! I see you're as excited about it as I am. 😀 So glad you enjoyed it, Faye!
Eli
Hello thanks for sharing this recipe
Can I use sweetener powder like stevia or isomalt instead of maple syrup??
Lori Rasmussen
Hi Eli - The syrup is important for the consistency so I don't think a powdered sweetener would work.