I’m a sucker for chocolate. In fact, if you put chocolate on most anything I will probably devour it. The same goes for ketchup and pesto, but that’s a different post. In an effort to simplify our diets and budget, we’ve begun omitting items with high fructose corn syrup (and quite a few other things) from the fridge. I did quite well with this until I noticed that it meant no more chocolate syrup. Devistating! In a search for a decent replacement option I came up empty. I can’t afford $8 gourmet organic local blah blah blah chocolate syrup. SO not happening. So I scoured the internet for answers, asked healthy friends how they live without chocolate and even asked my mom for some direction. I present: THE ANSWER. (cue heavenly angel choir singing single high note, the cloud part).

{DELISH homemade chocolate syrup}

The recipe (originally from Glorioustreats.blogspot.com):

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (anything from Hershey to Ghiradelli)

1 cup water

a dash of salt

1 tsp vanilla

Heat water, sugar, cocoa and salt. Whisk well. Bring to a boil (stirring with whisk occasionally). Reduce and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Your syrup will appear thin but thickens as it cools. Pour into a jar while still warm (easier) but if its too hot it can crack your jar. Allow to cool well. Store in refrigerator and enjoy.

PS- This takes less than 10 minutes. And it makes you look like super woman.