Easy recipe for homemade chocolate syrup that has rich chocolate-y flavor with no caffeine. Safe for kids!
My recent post Sarah’s Favorite Things 2025 generated comments from readers regarding why I don’t use chocolate syrup but my husband does.
The reason is that I am very sensitive to caffeine, so I rarely eat anything chocolate (I don’t drink coffee either, although I do make delicious homemade coffee ice cream with decaf espresso).
For those of you who are similarly sensitive or wish to have a caffeine-free chocolate syrup for children (they love to mix it into raw milk!), the recipe below may solve your dilemma.
Chocolate syrup made with roasted carob instead of cocoa (never raw cacao!) tastes virtually the same…at least to my taste buds (especially if you include the optional chocolate extract).
Give it a try! I think you will be delighted how delicious it is and how easy it is to avoid the cocoa portion.
If you are weaning off of chocolate syrup, I suggest making the recipe below with 3/4 cocoa powder and 1/4 carob powder to start and then slowly ramp up the carob to 100% (eliminating all the cocoa powder) over several batches.
My bet is that your family won’t even notice if you do it gradually.
Shout out to Weed ‘Em and Reap’s chocolate syrup recipe, which gave me the inspiration to try this recipe using caffeine-free carob powder instead of roasted cocoa (or high anti-nutrient raw cacao, which is even worse).
Need a thicker sauce? Try this no-cook chocolate sauce recipe that is GAPS Legal too!
Homemade Chocolate Syrup (caffeine-free)
Easy recipe for homemade chocolate syrup that has rich chocolate-y flavor with no caffeine. Safe for kids!
Ingredients
- 10 Tbsp carob powder preferably organic
- 1 1/4 cup raw honey or date syrup
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1-2 tsp organic chocolate extract optional
Instructions
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Mix all ingredients together in a medium glass bowl until well blended. If you use raw honey instead of date syrup, the ingredients will mix in better if you use warm water (not too hot which will destroy the raw honey enzymes!).
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Pour into a one pint glass mason jar with a tight-fitting lid.
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Enjoy! This easy syrup will last many months in the refrigerator.
Is roasted or raw carob better? Or does it matter if it’s organic?
Roasted carob is optimal … again to reduce antinutrients like phytic acid. While raw carob powder is significantly lower in phytic acid than raw cacao (raw carob tests about half the amount of phytic acid as raw cacao) … it is still best to get roasted carob to get the phytic acid as close to zero as possible!
While carob is not a high spray crop, it is always best to buy organic if you are able.
Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! My family is always begging for chocolate syrup and all the brands at the store are so terrible not to mention the caffeine which is so terrible for kids sleep.
Why do you say never raw cacao?
Raw cacao is sky high in phytic acid. All these people taking raw cacao every day in their smoothies … it’s a recipe for digestive problems and mineral deficiencies as phytic acid blocks mineral uptake by the body.
If you must use cacao, always buy roasted cocoa … the alkaline processing reduces phytates by 70-90%. Even then, use sparingly!