10 Great Olive Oil Chocolate Bars
Chocolate and olive oil
In the last 15 years, the pairing of olive oil and chocolate has gone from curiosity to cult-favourite. If you search ‘olive oil chocolate’ online, you’ll discover a plethora of mouthwatering recipes for olive oil-infused chocolate cakes, mousses, truffles, and more – a trend that was likely sparked by Nigella Lawson’s popular Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. Now, a select group of craft chocolate makers (as well as confectioners) are taking this delectable duo one step further, by making olive oil a core ingredient of chocolate itself.
Parallels for the Palate
There are many fascinating parallels between high-quality chocolate and olive oil. Put simply, both are made by crushing fruit – olive oil comes from the flesh of the fruit, whereas chocolate uses the seeds (cacao beans). As such, the flavour of both these delicacies is influenced by a similarly complex set of factors, such as the genetic varietal, growing conditions, processing style, and terroir. The taste of both can also change from harvest to harvest, just like wine.
These intricacies of flavour are a major part of why chocolate and olive oil are such great culinary partners. Beyond the natural balance of sweet and savoury, there’s a deeper dance of aromas at play. Olive oil can taste peppery or floral, grassy or nutty, vegetal or herbaceous – all of which work in harmony with the vast spectrum of flavour notes that cacao and chocolate offer. Anyone with a finely tuned palate will marvel at the way these subtleties intertwine.
Melting point
Alongside this fusion of flavours, texture plays a major role in making chocolate and olive oil a perfect match. One of the reasons good chocolate has an incredibly smooth melt is that cacao contains around 50% fat, also known as cocoa butter. Luckily for us, cocoa butter melts at around 34-38°C, which is similar to our body temperature – that’s why chocolate is usually stable at room temperature but starts melting as soon as it enters your mouth.
Many chocolate makers add extra cocoa butter to make chocolate even smoother, but it’s possible to switch this for other fats and oils. In poor quality chocolate, you’ll often find cocoa butter substituted for cheaper, non-delicious fats like palm oil or vegetable oil. However, some of the world’s best chocolate makers are now taking a different path – harnessing specialty oils that complement cacao and elevate the flavour of chocolate. Aromatic olive oil is top of the list.
10 Great Olive Oil Chocolate Bars
If you’re interested in tasting some of the best olive oil chocolate around, here are ten bars we highly recommend seeking out…
BOHO Chocolate White Chocolate + Lemon Olive Oil
BOHO Chocolate White Chocolate + Lemon Olive Oil
New England-based BOHO Chocolate crafts this award-winning bar with entirely organic ingredients. The base white chocolate is made with cocoa butter, cane sugar and milk powder, all complemented perfectly by organic olive oil and lemon oil. It’s lusciously smooth, with a bright and zesty freshness that simultaneously balances and cuts through the creamy texture. If you think white chocolate isn’t real chocolate, you need to taste this bar.
K+M Chocolate Milk Coffee + Sea Salt
K+M Chocolate Milk Coffee + Sea Salt
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning K+M Chocolate. Created by famed chef Thomas Keller and olive oil producer Amando Manni, this entire brand is built around the marriage of fine chocolate and extra virgin olive oil.
K+M's newest bar is a milk chocolate with coffee and sea salt, made with cacao from Ecuador’s Hacienda Victoria estate. It offers rich, velvety notes of coffee and caramel, elevated by a touch of sea salt and accompanied by the satisfying crunch of locally-roasted coffee beans.
Lot Eight x Baron Hasselhoff’s Yuzu with Sea Salt Dark Chocolate
This incredible bar is the result of two of New Zealand’s finest food producers joining forces. After discovering the possibility of adding olive oil to chocolate, the good people at Lot Eight became enchanted by the idea of combining their highly-celebrated olive oil with specialty cacao. They connected with chocolate maker Clayton McErlane at Baron Hasselhoff’s in Wellington, and after two years of product development, released this potent yuzu olive-oil infused bar, as well as a 70% dark bar. Both are made with premium cacao from Malekula Island in Vanuatu.
Mellow Chocolate Olive Oil, Andalusia, Spain
Copenhagen’s Mellow Chocolate skilfully combines Tanzanian cacao from Kokoa Kamili with cold-pressed extra virgin Picual olive oil, which is made with olives from Andalusia. The team at Mellow tested countless different olive oils when developing this bar, eventually deciding that oil with floral notes was the best match for the 63% dark chocolate. The end result is a complex chocolate with fruity and peppery notes, along with a hint of olive leaves and freshly cut grass.
Planet Cocoa Olive Oil, Smoked Salt Dark Chocolate
This delightful bar from Planet Cocoa in Melbourne is made with fruity cacao beans from Hacienda Macondo in Ecuador. Chocolate maker Jeanette Macko adds a generous glug of Mount Zero extra virgin olive oil, which helps create a velvety smooth texture and subtle peppery flavour – all perfectly complemented by sprinkling of smoked salt. This is Planet Cocoa’s best selling bar, for good reason.
Raphio Meyer Lemon
Raphio Chocolate 72% Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
Fresno’s Raphio Chocolate brings together the rich, fruity depth of Tanzanian cacao with the bright, aromatic verve of Meyer lemon–infused extra virgin olive oil from ENZO. The result is an exceptional bar with a remarkable crescendo of flavour that builds as the chocolate melts. Each bite captures a little taste of California summer – think sunlit olive groves and fragrant citrus trees on golden afternoons.
River Sea Chocolate El Camino, Olive Oil Dark Chocolate
This bar is the next best thing to a holiday in the Mediterranean. Inspired by the legendary pilgrimage of El Camino, it’s a 60% dark chocolate infused with fruity Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil made by José Andrés. Added to that is a sprinkling of ground laurel bay leaf and Portuguese sea salt. The cacao beans come from Zorzal bird sanctuary in the Dominican Republic, and their natural citrus notes make the perfect backdrop for this Iberian-inspired delicacy.
Shirl & Moss x Allpress Olive Groves Waiheke Olive Oil & Sea Salt 65%
Brazilian cacao from Fazenda Camboa meets award-winning olive oil from Waiheke Island near Auckland, New Zealand. Chocolate maker Simon Godsiff puts a healthy 10% dose of Allpress olive oil in each bar, adding a hint of creamy spice and creating a texture that you’ll want to bathe in. The bar is perfectly finished with a sprinkling of sea salt from Marlborough – the region where Godsiff spent much of his childhood, as depicted by the contour lines on this bar’s wrapper and mould.
South Pacific Cacao 75% Dark Chocolate with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
South Pacific Cacao is a social enterprise founded by pastry chef and chocolate expert Jessica Pedemont, alongside cacao sourcing specialist Brian Atkin. Crafted from premium Solomon Islands cacao – ethically sourced and imported to Australia through Atkin’s other venture, Makira Gold – this 75% dark chocolate is elevated with mandarin-infused extra virgin olive oil from Alto. The result is a sophisticated, gourmet reimagining of a classic orange chocolate.
Volo Chocolate 62% Dark Milk Chocolate with Olive Oil Roasted Almonds
This ludicrously tasty bar is made by Jeff and Susan Mall of Volo Chocolate in Sonoma County, California. Cacao beans from PISA, Haiti, are meticulously roasted, before being ground together with caramelised milk, brown butter and organic raw sugar. Throw in some California almonds roasted in extra virgin olive oil, and you end up with a deeply satisfying bar with notes of crème brûlée, biscotti and chocolate brownie. Yum!