The Top 10 Healthy Chocolate Bars

Chocolate has long been the confection of choice, making it the clear winner in kids’ Halloween bags, a cause for celebration when appearing in a fountain at wedding buffets, a crowd-pleasing centerpiece of holiday traditions big and small.

But chocolate is more than just a tempting, tasty treat: You might be surprised to know that chocolate’s origins include being regarded as a healthy superfood found in everything from sacred beverages to spiritual ceremonies. It’s important to note, however, that ancient chocolate was consumed in its close-to-raw form, without any sweeteners and additives, which helped to preserve its many health-promoting qualities.

The Benefits Of Chocolate

The benefits of consuming chocolate have been well documented (but don’t take that to mean you should be devouring handfuls of Hershey kisses throughout the day).

Chocolate’s health-preserving effects include: lowering your blood pressure, supporting healthy-cholesterol levels, helping protect cells from inflammation and improve brain function, reducing the overall risk of cardiovascular disease, improving insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism, and helping to reduce skin damage and prevent early skin aging.

Thanks to present-day advances in manufacturing and production, many of today’s chocolate options preserve the health benefits that have been chocolate’s claim to fame since ancient times.

Here are 10 of the top choices when you’re looking for a healthy – and, yes, really tasty – chocolate fix.

Endangered Species

Endangered Species Chocolate is made with only a handful of health-conscious, high-quality, responsibly sourced ingredients. But most of their bars also contain soy lecithin,  a common emulsifier used in chocolate.

ChocXO- Keto Raspberry Quinoa Snaps

This crunchy, tart, chocolatey snack is a great example of ChocXO’s organic and low-sugar chocolate treats. Most of their products are “Keto Certified,” which means they’re under a certain net carbohydrate standard (6g per serving for snacks).

Lily’s – Salted Caramel Extra Dark Chocolate

Unlike other sugar-free chocolates, Lily’s is a chocolate boasts a creamy, velvety texture, and a “Salted Caramel” flavor that can’t be beat. Instead of sugar, Lily’s uses a blend of stevia and erythritol in their chocolate products.

Theo Chocolate – Sea Salt

Theo Chocolate has perfected every popular chocolate flavor combination using only 100% organic, simple ingredients. They were the first Organic, Fairtrade Certified chocolate maker in North America; all of their bars are made from scratch.

Alter Eco – Classic Blackout

Alter Eco is USDA Organic and grown and harvested using “dynamic agroforestry” regenerative farming practices, which is a significant departure from the monoculture practices typically used in the cocoa industry.

Pascha Chocolate – Dark Chocolate + Arabica Coffee

This chocolate is sourced from single-origin, organic Criollo cacao beans grown in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. All Pascha chocolate bars are made with 100% organic ingredients and are incredibly low in sugar (zero-sugar varieties are also available).

Taza – Cacao Puro

Taza uses stone-ground chocolate made by grinding cacao beans with traditional Mexican stone mills. Because the chocolate undergoes less processing, it retains more nutrients. Taza’s “Cacao Puro” contains only 70% cacao and cane sugar.

The Good Chocolate – Dark Chocolate With Coconut & Turmeric

All of The Good Chocolate bars are made with real organic cacao and sweetened with stevia and erythritol, as well as mesquite powder. Their “Detox Bar,” made with coconut and turmeric, is one of the cleanest, lowest calorie options available – and it also packs a great taste. 

Evolved – Midnight Coconut

Evolved’s “Midnight Coconut” boasts 100% cacao, zero grams of sugar, and no sweeteners. It’s just pure cacao and coconut, which is about as simple and pure as a chocolate bar gets. But beware: Owing to its 100% cacao, the bitter flavor can be a bit off-putting.

Hu – Simple Dark Chocolate

All of Hu’s chocolate is Certified Paleo, Vegan, and USDA Organic, as well as free of refined sugar, sugar alcohols, dairy, palm oil, gluten, and soy. Hu’s “Simple Dark Chocolate” has just three ingredients and is incredibly flavorful.