Chocolate Syrup · GF (about 2 cups )Tweet

I originally shared this recipe for my column on Serious Eats. Read that post, Homemade Hershey's, to see more photos and read about what made the Hershey’s syrup of our childhood so great.

But in short, I think there are three important aspects of chocolate syrup. Number One: it is perfectly delicious and ready to pour straight from the fridge. No microwaving. No Stirring.

Number Two: when poured over ice cream, it envelops each scoop in a thick, inky black cloak.

Number 3: it is the only ingredient for the perfect chocolate milk. It dissolves with a few twirls of a spoon and is perfectly sweet and chocolatey, no further adjustments necessary.

This recipe will do all three and more. Much more. Wink.

The thing I noticed most, on tasting Hershey’s syrup as an adult, is its overwhelming sweetness, acidity, and weirdly floral note. To that end, this recipe contains a lot of sugar, specifically brown sugar (which is slightly acidic). And it also contains a lot of vanilla. Trust me on this.

12 ounces brown sugar
5 ounces coffee (or 5 ounces water and 1 tsp instant coffee powder)
2 ounces cocoa powder
1 ounce milk chocolate, something fruity min cocoa 53%
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 ounce vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, coffee, cocoa powder, milk chocolate and salt in a medium pot. Set over medium heat and whisk constantly until the whole mixture begins to bubble sluggishly and the chocolate and cocoa has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract.

Cool to room temperature, jar and store in the fridge.

Chocolate milk
Stir two tablespoons of the syrup into 8 ounces of milk. Adjust syrup to your own tastes.

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Any questions?