5 chocolate treats that are surprisingly dairy free

So it’s Easter day, which is also commonly known as ‘stuff your face with chocolate’ day. Literally what could be better than waking up and thinking ‘yep, instead of eating my normal toast, I’m going to eat a WHOLE chocolate egg, followed by some smaller ones, for good measure’?

Things get a little less fun when you can’t eat dairy. Whole aisles of shiny chocolate eggs stare before you in the supermarket, but you’re forced to go to a special little section where you can buy a ‘free from’ treat which tastes a bit like chalk and costs the same as a house in Tunbridge Wells.

I cut out dairy from my diet a couple of years ago, and since then have been on a mission to find unhealthy things I can satisfy my sweet tooth with, which don’t cost the earth. So, if you’re also avoiding dairy and but want that chocolate hit this weekend, then check out these alternatives.

You won’t find any of these in the ‘free from’ supermarket sections, but that makes them cheaper – and to be honest, probably tastier.

1. BENDICKS MINT COLLECTION

   

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Butter , Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Peppermint Oil with other Natural Flavourings , Stabiliser: Gum Arabic, Invertase, Raising Agent: Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Acid: Citric Acid, Dark Chocolate contains Cocoa Solids 50% minimum

These mints are a popular dinner party choice, and the great news is, they’re all dairy free. Plus, the Queen loves them, and if they’re good enough for her…

2. TESCO DARK CHOCOLATE DIGESTIVES

Ingredients: Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Plain Chocolate (30%), Palm Oil, Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Sugar, Demerara Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Salt. Plain Chocolate contains: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins)

These may well be the best chocolate digestives I’ve ever had…and they cost just 60p a pack! The chocolate is thicker than it is on the brand name versions too.

3. EAT NATURAL PROTEIN PACKED WITH PEANUTS & CHOCOLATE

Ingredients: Peanuts 45%, Glucose Syrup, Dark Chocolate 11% (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Dextrose, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin), Soya Protein Crispies 8% (Soya Protein Isolate, Tapioca Starch, Salt), Shredded Coconut 7%, Honey 7%, Crisped Rice (Rice, Sugar), Cocoa Powder, Salt

Some of you may be thinking ‘well OBVIOUSLY this is dairy-free, it’s natural!’ Which, you’d think would be a safe assumption, but I can’t tell you how many bars, similar to these I’ve picked up to find the chocolate they use contains milk. These are so tasty though – probably not quite on par with Reece’s Pieces, but if you squint…

4. GREEN & BLACKS VELVET SEA SALT BAR

Ingredients: Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Anglesey Sea Salt, Vanilla Bean Powder, Chocolate: Cocoa Solids 70 % minimum

When I stopped eating dairy one of the main things I missed was Green & Black’s milk chocolate with sea salt. But now they’ve released this bar of deliciousness, which, while not milk chocolate is still pretty creamy and still has that salt hit. YUM.

5. BOURBON CREAMS

Ingredients: Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Palm Oil, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Wheat Glucose Syrup and/or Maize Glucose Syrup, Wheat Dextrose, Wheat Starch, Raising Agents Ammonium hydrogen Carbonate and Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Salt, Flavouring

You would think that a chocolate biscuit, filled with chocolate cream would probably contain some sort of dairy…but actually bourbon biscuits (which are the same wherever you buy them) have been dubbed ‘accidentally vegan’ by lots of, er, vegans because they don’t contain any of the ingredients you’d expect, such as milk or butter.

I thought I’d do this post as a little Easter chocolate special, but there are so many other things I’ve found to be dairy free (including a steak and ale pie) so look our for another round-up soon. And let me know if you’ve found any dairy free chocolate options that are worth checking out.