Homemade Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans are surprisingly quick and easy to make with just three ingredients. They're delicious on their own, as a homemade edible gift, or as a topping for desserts like ice cream and cake.
☕ Why We Love This Recipe
- Three ingredient recipe: All you need to make these chocolate covered coffee beans? Yep, you guessed it: chocolate and espresso beans. (Plus a small amount of coconut oil!)
- Quick and easy: The hardest part of this recipe is transferring the chocolate coated beans to parchment paper, which really isn't that hard at all. Perfect for any skill level!
- Delicious DIY gift: Transfer your homemade chocolate covered coffee beans to a cute glass jar, add a ribbon and a tag and voilà! Your very own homemade edible gift, perfect for holidays, a hostess gift, birthdays and more.
- Topping for your favorite desserts: Keep a batch of these on hand for topping ice cream, cakes, chocolate mousse, cupcakes and more.
🍫 Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need to make these chocolate covered espresso beans:
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Coffee beans: Since you're not actually brewing any coffee to make these chocolate covered coffee beans, you can really use any variety you'd like – the flavor won't make a huge difference. Espresso beans tend to be richer and more bitter than other coffee beans, which we personally prefer. If you prefer less bitter coffee taste, use light or medium roast coffee beans. Just make sure to purchase whole beans, not ground!
- Chocolate: Again, really any variety of chocolate works here. We typically use semisweet chocolate, which has enough sweetness to offset the bitterness of the coffee beans. If you like super bitter treats, go for dark chocolate. If you would prefer something sweeter, milk or even white chocolate might be your best bet.
- Chocolate chips vs. chocolate bar: either is fine when making these chocolate covered coffee beans. Chocolate chips are the quicker/easier option, but they contain stabilizers that prevent them from properly melting. Chocolate bars don't contain those stabilizers, so they actually tend to melt more smoothly. But really, either is fine!
- Note: if you're vegan or dairy free, use allergy friendly chocolate chips!
- Coconut oil: A small amount of coconut oil helps to loosen up the melted chocolate, making it easier to coat the espresso beans. Coconut oil is also solid at room temperature, so it helps the chocolate solidify more quickly. If you don't have any, you can leave it out and it won't make a huge difference.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
PREP: Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
(1) Add chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until fully melted.
(2) Add espresso beans to the melted chocolate and stir well until all beans are evenly coated.
Using a spoon or two forks, transfer each chocolate coated espresso bean to the parchment paper, leaving a little space in between. It's okay if it gets a little messy!
Once all of the beans are transferred, place in refrigerator or freezer until chocolate has set.
Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks.
💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
- Uses for chocolate covered espresso beans:
- Topping for ice cream or affogato
- Fold into chocolate chip cookies
- Topping for cake or cupcakes
- Topping for chocolate mousse
- Enjoy by the handful!
- Storage: You can store these chocolate covered coffee beans at room temperature or in the refrigerator for several weeks. (Just don't store at room temperature if you live somewhere very hot, otherwise they will melt and stick together).
- Freezer storage: For longer term storage, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months. We like to keep a batch in the freezer for use at the holidays or as a delicious topper for a fancy dessert.
Coffee beans made for regular coffee are milder and typically roasted for less time than espresso beans. Espresso beans, which are richer in both flavor and color, have been roasted for a much longer period of time.
Absolutely! Grab your favorite whole decaf coffee beans and proceed as normal with the recipe.
The amount of caffeine differs between varieties and the length of roasting, but on average, a typical bean contains around 6mg of caffeine. For comparison, a standard cup of coffee contains around 95mg of caffeine.
Yep! Just like regular brewed coffee, whole espresso beans contain significant amounts of caffeine, so these chocolate covered coffee beans will give you that same boost. Just don't go overboard in one serving – they're pretty addictive, so too many may cause side effects of too much caffeine.
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Print📖 Recipe
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Homemade Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans are surprisingly quick and easy to make with just three ingredients. They're delicious on their own, as a homemade edible gift, or as a topping for desserts like ice cream and cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ cup espresso beans (or lighter roast coffee beans)
Instructions
- Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until fully melted.
- Add espresso beans to the melted chocolate and stir well until all beans are evenly coated.
- Using a spoon or two forks, transfer each chocolate coated espresso bean to the parchment paper, leaving a little space in between. It's okay if it gets a little messy! Once all of the beans are transferred, place in refrigerator or freezer until chocolate has set.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks.
Notes
Espresso beans: you can really use any variety you'd like – the flavor won't make a huge difference. Espresso beans tend to be richer and more bitter than other coffee beans, which we personally prefer. If you prefer less bitter coffee taste, use light or medium roast coffee beans. Just make sure to purchase whole beans, not ground!
Chocolate: Again, the type of chocolate depends on your preference. For a more bitter treat, use dark chocolate. For less bitter, opt for semisweet, milk or even white chocolate.
Coconut oil: A small amount helps to loosen up the melted chocolate, making it easier to coat the espresso beans. If you don't have any, the recipe will still work without it.
Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for several weeks. (Just don't store at room temperature if you live somewhere very hot, otherwise they will melt and stick together). For longer term storage, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 79
- Sugar: 7.3 g
- Sodium: 0.5 mg
- Fat: 5.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 8.4 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
Alana says
These make such a cute holiday gift! Just let the chocolate harden completely, scoop the beans into clear bags, and tie them with a bow. Cute and delicious!