Homemade Chocolate Whipped Cream

As my family continues to quit sugar and eat more whole grains, I try harder and harder to find little ways to make meal time a little more special for the kids.

Trust me here – I’m doing anything super crazy and the time investment is minimal. I know that my kids love chocolate, so offering a homemade peanut butter cup from the freezer or a homemade brownie bites as an after school snack really makes their eyes light up.

For my son’s birthday this year, we had blender chocolate waffles with homemade whipped cream for breakfast and both kids thought it was SO cool that a) we had chocolate waffles, and b) we had whipped cream.

But then it hit me – what if I could make CHOCOLATE whipped cream… How fun would THAT be?!

Let me tell you this – it is SO MUCH FUN!!

I usually test recipes while the kids are at school, and the first time I tested homemade chocolate whipped cream was the day I was shooting my original batch of homemade whipped cream.

What usually happens is the kids come home, see some goodies on the table leftover from shooting (that day it was pumpkin pie hummus with sliced apples, brownies from this homemade brownie mix and vegan cheese sauce with tortilla chips) and start asking me about my day.

I know they’re curious as to what other fun stuff I made, so with a huge smile on my face I tell them I made whipped cream… which earned me a couple of WOO-HOO’s and YES’s.

And then I tell them I made CHOCOLATE whipped cream and I kid you not, my daughter literally jumped up and down with excitement and my son raised both arms high in the air, as if declaring victory at the finish line.

As a mom, it was epic. These are the moments that make a home in my memory bank, and I want to make as many of these as possible.

Homemade Chocolate Whipped Cream

I don’t know about you, but sometimes my brain makes things way harder than they really are. It happened with homemade bread (which is why 90-minute man bread is a LIFESAVER), it happened with homemade yogurt (which is why I use a heating pad!), and it happened again with this homemade chocolate whipped cream.

But here’s the thing: homemade whipped cream is SUPER easy to make:

1. Pour heavy whipping cream into a bowl.
2. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
3. Done.

Chocolate

When it came to making CHOCOLATE whipped cream, I thought it would be a knock-down, drag out fight in the kitchen where I was the big loser.

• I envisioned melting chocolate, then that making the heavy whipping cream warm and then it not whipping up right.
• I considered chocolate chips, which I immediately vetoed because a) they’re big and clunky, and b) it would ruin the smooth, velvety texture of whipped cream.
• I then considered chocolate shavings, but crossed that idea off too because really, who has time to SHAVE CHOCOLATE for an optional dessert topping?!

So I turned to my standby: cocoa. Or nowadays, raw cacao.

It’s a powder, and since most traditional whipped cream recipes call for powdered sugar anyway, I knew I could easily add cocoa and not ruin the whipped cream.

–> You have options when it comes to chocolate! Natural cocoa is easy to find at the grocery store (and is probably what you have in your pantry). But I’ve recently used this brand of Dutch cocoa (for chocolate avocado mousse – don’t knock it ’til you try it!) and this brand of raw cacao (my go-to for triple fudgy paleo brownies!). 

Then there was the sweetener.

Sweetener

I considered honey and maple syrup and I know both would work, but both cocoa and cacao have a slightly bitter taste so I’d need enough sweetener to overcome that AND THEN a smidgen more to give it that “just sweet enough” flavor that chocolate whipped cream should have.

In order to get that, I’d need a good bit of honey or maple syrup, and that would ruin the recipe.

So I turned to the classic: powdered sugar.

You could use any powdered sugar you want here. I normally don’t have any in the pantry, but I bought some to decorate these no-bake brownie bites so that’s what I used.

You can make your own powdered sugar though by measuring granulated sugar into a blender (I have and recommend this Blendtec blender) and blending until it’s a superfine sugar. You can add a pinch of cornstarch if you want, to help prevent caking, but it’s not necessary.

If I didn’t have the store-bought powdered sugar on hand, I’d make my own using Turbinado sugar. We’ve been quitting sugar for a few years now, which in real life means baking slightly less often (with holidays and celebrations being an exception, of course), using less sugar when baking, and using higher quality sweeteners when we do bake.

I use maple syrup and honey in almost all of my traditional baking and have taken one teeny tiny baby step up from granulated sugar to Turbinado. I also have maple sugar in the pantry, which is super tasty, but it’s pricey so I haven’t made a complete switch as of yet (this is the brand I bought).

Salt

Finally, we have salt.

I know, you’re thinking, “You put SALT in WHIPPED CREAM?!” Trust me here – there’s a reason why you add salt to cookies and brownies and cakes and all the other sweet deliciousness you bake all the time. The tiny bit of salt enhances the sweetness of the whipped cream.

Trust me here. Leave it out and you’ll be like, “Why does this taste weird?” It’s all about the salt.

Homemade whipped cream, including this chocolate whipped cream, is best made an hour or two before you plan to serve it. You can make it the morning of though if you’re crunched for time. Just keep it in the refrigerator and stir gently before serving.

• Are you ready to wow your neighbors with CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM?
• Ready to be the star of the dessert table at Thanksgiving and Christmas?
• Are you ready to win the mom of the year award from the kids (in which case, you can make this and keep it in the fridge a day or two and the kids won’t care!)?

Chocolate whipped cream, my friends. This is where it’s at.

PS – This recipe easily doubles. WIN!

More Dessert Toppings

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting
• Homemade Whipped Cream
• Apple Crumble Ice Cream
• Honey Roasted Almonds

Have you ever made flavored whipped cream before? Now that I’ve made chocolate whipped cream, I may never go back! What kind of “little things” do you do to help make mealtime special for your family? Leave your ideas and stories in the comments!