White Chocolate Sauce Recipe (2024)

Watch my white chocolate coffee syrup web story here.

Why You Need to Make This White Chocolate Sauce Recipe

If you’re looking for an excellent white chocolate sauce, you really need look no further than this recipe.

It contains all the elements necessary for good white chocolate–dairy, cocoa butter, and vanilla–separately.

This is so you don’t have to rely on getting the high-quality stuff, which can be very difficult to find.

I based the ingredients on the ingredient list from a very well-known brand of sauce used in many coffee shops, so all the elements you love are there.

I did a side-by-side taste comparison of my homemade sauce and the national brand I purchased, and honestly, my recipe tastes like delicious, creamy, pourable white chocolate.

Their’s does…not. I found it had an almost tropical flavor that tasted nothing like white chocolate.

The Difference Between White Chocolate and White Baking Chips

You can make a very tasty sauce by melting high-quality white chocolate in hot milk or half and half.

The problem is, it is very difficult to find it in the store, and it’s almost non-existent in the baking aisle.

What you will generally find is almond bark or white baking chips.

To be classified as white chocolate, it must contain cocoa butter along with dairy, vanilla, and some stabilizers/emulsifiers (which do not contribute to flavor).

White baking chips generally do not contain cocoa butter. Even the very recognizable brand from San Francisco uses palm kernel oil and not cocoa butter, so it cannot be called white chocolate.

White almond bark is also made with a range of vegetable fats with no cocoa butter to be found.

To be called white chocolate, it must contain cocoa butter. Period.

How To Make White Chocolate Syrup

Now that we know what’s in white chocolate, it’s easy to see those elements in this recipe.

And while the national brand says that it does contain cocoa butter, it’s in such a small quantity that it may as well not be there at all.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients and Substitutions

• water: Like most syrups, this one starts with a simple syrup, where part of the sugar is replaced by sweetened condensed milk. So water is a must.
• sugar: I use white granulated, but for a deeper flavor, you could certainly use raw sugar or light brown sugar. I wouldn’t use dark brown as that much molasses might mask the delicate flavor of the cocoa butter
• sweetened condensed milk: You can use skim or regular sweetened condensed milk. If you want to make your sauce vegan, substitute sweetened condensed coconut milk and be sure to use vegan sugar. Do NOT substitute evaporated milk
• pure cocoa butter: Look for food or cosmetic-grade cocoa butter. I used the brand ^{_{(affiliate link)}} Terrasoul and am very happy with the flavor and the way it melted into the sauce
• vanilla: Either extract or paste works well here. Use extract if you prefer not to have little specks of vanilla seed in your sauce
• salt: Just a pinch helps to round out and bring out the flavor in the cocoa butter and dairy

Procedure

As with most syrup recipes, this one is very easy to make, and probably easier than you might expect:

1. Put water, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and salt in a pan.
2. Heat to a boil and let boil for five minutes.
3. Add the cocoa butter, and whisk in well.
4. Boil for two additional minutes.
5. Whisk in vanilla off the heat.

Tips for Success

To a great extent, the final texture depends on how much water evaporates during boiling. Use a wider pan for more evaporation and a thicker sauce. Use a taller pan with a smaller diameter for less evaporation and a thinner sauce.

Dairy likes to boil over. Use a pan that is taller/larger than you think you need. Watch it carefully and adjust the heat if it boils up too much for comfort!

Equipment You May Need

You won’t need much specialized equipment to make this recipe at all.

A good, heavy-bottomed saucepan and a whisk are really all that you need.

And, as always, I do recommend getting a good kitchen scale for accuracy in measuring.

Variations

This syrup is really excellent as-is, but a little bit of extra spice is never a bad thing.

It’s particularly good with a little shake of cinnamon in it.

You could also add 2-3 drops of peppermint oil for a white peppermint mocha that will be out of this world!

Short-Cut Version

If you can find white chocolate that actually contains cocoa butter (read the labels), you can substitute that for the sweetened condensed milk, cocoa butter, and vanilla.

Use 6 oz chopped white chocolate in place of the other three ingredients and pour 8 oz (1 cup) of heated (not boiling) milk over the chocolate.

Add the salt and whisk until smooth.

Visual How-To

Here are some short video clips to illustrate a few of the steps to making this coffee syrup.

I hope you find them helpful.

Stirring water, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and salt together.

Bring the sauce to a boil. You can control the thickness of the final sauce by keeping it at a low boil for thinner sauce and at a rolling boil for thicker sauce.

You can also use a narrower pan for less evaporation.

Chop the cocoa butter pretty finely. It’s very easy to chop it up.

Also, that is Sam, our ill-behaved foster cat.

Here’s what the sauce will look like once it is done.

White Chocolate Sauce Q & A

How To Make The Best White Chocolate Mocha

1. Make coffee or espresso to your desired strength.
2. Add your homemade white chocolate syrup for sweetness and flavor, about 2 Tablespoons per cup of coffee.
3. Top off with steamed/foamed milk.
4. Top with some grated nutmeg or a dusting of cinnamon if you’re feeling fancy.
5. Enjoy every sip.

For a caramel twist, consider adding some caramel syrup to your latte along with the white chocolate.

Serving Suggestions

Although I expressly made this sauce to be able to make a homemade mocha whenever I want, by no means should you limit its use to Just That.

Consider using this sauce on pancakes or waffles.

Pour it over ice cream. Or chocolate mousse!

Drizzle it over pound cake.

Use it as a fruit dip.

Try it as a sauce for bread pudding.

Make your own version of a dirty soda by adding a splash to your root beer float.

Whisk some into whipped cream and then put that on…whatever you want!

Questions

If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.

Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.

If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.

A Note About Measurements

My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.

For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.

I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.

This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.

It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.

You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.

Other ways to share include pinning, and/or sharing on your favorite social media platform.

Thank you so much for taking the time!

Recipe

Thanks for spending some time with me today.

Can’t wait for you to wow your friends with this fabulous coffee syrup.

Take care, and have a lovely day.

Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.

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