Thick, smooth, creamy, and decadently rich, these chocolate frosting shots are a chocolate lover’s dream dessert!
Dark chocolate frosting shots
Whip up this super easy, four ingredient recipe in under five minutes!
Use the thick chocolate frosting to top cakes, cupcakes, or brownies. Or serve in elegant glasses and eat it by the spoonful.
Oh yes, creamy chocolate frosting with nothing else to get in the way.
After all, how many times have you eaten a cupcake and thought, “I really wish this cupcake had less cake and more chocolate frosting”?
Also try this popular Chocolate Mug Cake
Enter the frosting shot.
A small shot glass is filled beyond the brim with swirls of luxuriously smooth and rich dark chocolate frosting.
And the best part?
This homemade chocolate frosting calls for just a few basic ingredients, yet party guests are always impressed at the recipe.
The chocolate frosting shots are equally beautiful and delicious.
Chocolate dessert recipe video
Above – watch the step by step video how to make chocolate frosting shots
In the months since I first made this recipe, vegans, non vegans, healthy eaters, and people who are used to traditional desserts have all gone completely wild for the easy-to-make, smooth and rich chocolate frosting.
It is highly recommended!
Ways to use this chocolate frosting
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate frosting shot ingredients
Coconut Milk: Look for full fat coconut milk, not lite coconut milk. Refrigerated coconutmilk beverage will also not work here. It must be the canned type.
Cocoa Powder: Your chocolate mousse shots will be as good as your cocoa powder, so choose a high quality brand if you can. For best chocolatey flavor, I like to use a fourth cup of regular unsweetened cocoa powder and one tablespoon of Dutch cocoa to make up the five tablespoons called for in the recipe. Raw cacao powder also works.
Pure Vanilla Extract: It is important to use pure vanilla here. Do not buy imitation vanilla, which has an artificial aftertaste. You can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean or one teaspoon of vanilla bean paste if desired.
Sweetener: The chocolate frosting shots will be thickest with either powdered sugar or powdered no sugar sweetener. If you do not mind a result that is not quite as thick and fluffy, you may also use stevia, pure maple syrup, honey, or agave.
The easy chocolate dessert recipe can be raw, keto, paleo, soy free, dairy free, gluten free, egg free, tree nut free, and sugar free.
For a vanilla version, use this recipe for Coconut Whipped Cream.
How to make the fancy party dessert
Either refrigerate your coconut milk overnight, or open the can and freeze for about ten minutes. I always store a can in the fridge so the recipe is almost instant.
Once chilled, open the can and add only the thick coconut cream to a mixing bowl. Discard the coconut water or save it for a different recipe.
With either a stand mixer or hand beaters, whip the coconut cream until it is thick, smooth, and ultra fluffy.
Add the cocoa powder, sweetener, and vanilla extract.
Whip again to incorporate all of the ingredients. Stop whipping once the texture resembles chocolate mousse.
Serve in bowls, jars, or shot glasses.
If you want to be extra fancy, you can add the coconut chocolate frosting to a piping bag and pipe it out with an icing tip.
Tips and troubleshooting
While it is rare, you may encounter a can of coconut milk that is either rock hard and chalky or watery and not firm at all.
I like to always keep two cans from different brands on hand just in case one of the cans is a dud.
If you do not own a stand mixer or hand beaters, you can technically stir everything together by hand with a lot of arm strength. The results will not be as fluffy but the taste is still rich and chocolatey.
Try the recipe as frosting for my Keto Chocolate Cake or Vegan Chocolate Cake.
Store leftovers very loosely covered in the refrigerator. This chocolate mousse frosting will get even thicker the longer it sits.
Chocolate Frosting Shots
Ingredients
- 1 can coconut milk or coconut cream
- 5 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- sweetener of choice to taste (Use powdered sugar or sugar free powdered sweetener for thickest results)
Instructions
- Refrigerate the coconut milk can until cold. Once chilled, open the can and transfer only the creamy part to a bowl, discarding the water. Whip with beaters or a stand mixer (or a lot of arm strength and a fork) until thick and fluffy. Add the other ingredients, and whip again. Serve in bowls or glasses. Stored very loosely covered in the fridge, it will get even thicker. *While it's rare, you may find a can of coconut milk that is either rock hard and chalky or watery and not thick at all. I recommend keeping two cans from different brands in the refrigerator at all times just in case.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Dessert Dips & Frostings
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Healthy Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip
This is awesome, thank you! I’ve been craving things like chocolate mousse, chocolate cream pie, chocolate frosting… most of which I can’t eat the store bought version of, and they’re not real healthy anyway. This is a great alternative (though I probably still shouldn’t eat the whole batch myself, hehe).
I always keep coconut milk in my fridge b/c I use it for whip cream so this is extra great in that I’m prepared, lol!
I made this today and it’s yummy. I had mine with fresh strawberries a banana would be good to
Can you use almond milk?
So we tried this with Trader Joe’s coconut cream (a new item, I think.) It’s fantastic! Since I was out of vanilla, we tried it without, which was just fine. Then we tried a batch with Kahlua which is very tasty.
For nutrition, Coconut cream is coconut milk with a lot of the water removed. The TJ’s variety is made with cellulose and xanthan gum as thickening agents. The cream is 170 calories per 1/3 cup. 150 from fat. It’s 15/16ths saturated fat. About 2g of sugar.
Stevia as a sweetener is proving to have all sorts of good benefits and no downsides, unlike most artificial sweeteners. Cocoa powder will vary from brand to brand. Look for the non-sweetened kind, like Trader Joe’s sells.
this looks wonderful! I have been looking for a good icing recipe that is guilt free.
Question: if i made these to ice cupcakes, would they have to be stored in a refrigerator to keep the icing from melting?
Unfortunately, probably yes.
Just tried the 1-minute chocolate cake (I made two!) to celebrate our new home purchase! I used this frosting recipe, instead of the Reeces Pieces Frosting recipe. I was kinda disappointed in how this one turned out… When I used my coconut milk, it was nice and thick (it had been in the fridge, opened) and when I added the cocoa and the sweetener (I used sugar – the hubs like SWEET), it looked fabulous! Nice and thick, and pretty. I stuck it back in the fridge while my cakes cooled. When I took out the frosting to put on the cakes, it seemed a little thinner, not quite as stiff… Could it have been the sugar? Should I have used powdered sugar instead (more dry)??? The flavor wasn’t horrible, kinda tasted a little mocha-ish…just wish it would have “stood up” more! This was my first attempt at a CCK recipe, but I’m not giving up — you have so many that look SO GOOD, I will definitely try it again!
Thanks for all your hard work and testing!!
~Shannon
It could have been the exposure to hot air… coconut does really weird things in different climates. But you also could be right- sugar might have weighed it down, and I’m really sorry for being the source of this mistake if that was the case. I know some of the other commenters have tried sugar, or even agave, with success, but I want everyone to have success with this recipe. I’m editing the post to ONLY list what I’ve personally tried. In any case, I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you :(.
Katie, don’t take it personally!!! Like I said, when I first started the frosting, it looked beautiful!! I was so excited… I’m thinking it might have been the sugar, and I will try soemthing else next time (stevia, truvia, etc) since they seem to be a bit more “dry” than regular sugar – and just as sweet!
I won’t give up on your recipes, I actually LOVED the cake (so did the hubs!!), and I WILL try the frosting recipe again, with some modifications so it’s sweet enough for the man in the house!!!
~Shannon
Weird! I use brown sugar for it all the time, and it always stays nice and thick! But I live in the arctic! Not really, but sometimes it sure does feel like it!
Just found this on Pinterest and made it for my mom, who is on a very restrictive diet. Kinda like paleo, but no sugar, dairy, or grains. Instead of sugar, we puréed some cherries and whipped them in there. It was fabulous! We are going to try strawberries next.
We also made it with coconut cream, rather than the milk, so we were able to make it without any refrigeration beforehand! Thanks for the great recipe, my mom has been missing the taste of chocolate.
Hi!
It’s my little boy’s first birthday next week, and I don’t like the idea of all that fat and sugar from a regular frosting (or ‘icing’ as we call it over here in England!)… would this recipe hold up to lightly icing a cake? And also, would I need to refrigerate it to stop it from ‘melting’?
Love your blog!
Yes, it can ice a cake. But it should be refrigerated for best results.
Thanks! I just sandwiched it in the end… I blogged about it here: http://bengezela.tumblr.com/post/33635581458/birthday-cake#disqus_thread and linked back to this post for the recipe of the coconut cream, I hope that’s ok 🙂
hi was woundering ho many grams or cups are in the can of coconut milk, i live in New Zealand and im not sure if it might be differant here 🙂
It’s a 15oz can 🙂
Katie, this is amazing stuff! Thank you so much for this recipe! I was an avid baker before having to switch to a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free lifestyle earlier this year. I have been quite discouraged with many of my trials (mostly errors) in the kitchen since, but your blog is giving me hope again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!