Chocolate-Almond Soap

I’ve been making soap again. I just love to make soap! Every fall as the weather cools I get the urge to pull out my soap-making tools, buy some fragrance oils, and make lots of sweet-smelling, sudsy, cleansing – but gentle homemade soap. And the best part is that I know exactly what’s in it- and what’s not in it. Soap is pretty simple: just oils, water, and lye.

But this isn’t your grandma’s harsh lye soap, this is a kinder gentler version. All soap has lye – it’s something you can’t get around, but once the oils are combined with the lye, the two become a third substance that is neither oil nor lye:Β  soap.

So a couple weeks ago I made a batch Plain Soap, and over the weekend, I made a batch of Chocolate-Almond, the first time I’ve tried this recipe.

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RECIPE:

  • 16 oz. olive oil
  • 25 oz coconut oil
  • 44 oz soybean oil
  • 24 oz cold water
  • 12 oz lye crystals
  • 2 oz almond fragrance oil
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Yield:Β  7 pounds or 28 – 4 oz bars

First, I put my gloves and goggles on, and then I measured out the water and lye, combined the two, and then stirred well. Then I measured out my oils, and heated them up on the stove. When the oils and water/lye combo cooled down to between 95 – 100 degrees F, the next step was where the action began. I poured the lye/water into the oils and the mixture began to change immediately.

It became cloudy and began to thicken. After about 10 minutes of stirring with my stick blender,

it was ready for the Almond fragrance oil, which had been warming in a glass of hot water.

After the fragrance oil was stirred in well, I poured about 3/4 of the soap mixture into the mold.

Then I mixed the cocoa powder to the remaining soap,

and then I was ready for the fun part. I very carefully poured the cocoa soap into the mold,

and then streaked it with a butter knife to make pretty chocolate swirls.

I let the soap do it’s thing for 24 hours, and then it was ready to cut into bars. These will have to cure for about 8 weeks before use. I can’t wait to try it!

Kitty wasn’t impressed, which is kinda funny considering how much of a clean freak she is.

But then Kitty is more interested in food than cleaning.

In fact, I had to put a little dab of sour cream on the table in front of her to hold her interest long enough to get this shot.

Sad but true.

(For more specific instructions on how to make soap, please refer to my earlier soapmaking post.)

>>>>>>>W<<<<<<<

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Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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35 Responses

  1. Chester's Mom says:

    Looks good enough to eat and I bet it smells wonderful too!

  2. Tina says:

    It is so pretty. I love the way it looks all swirled. I hope you enjoy it and please tell us how you like it.Do you thinl Harland will try it or will it be too foo-foo?

    • Suzanne says:

      He’ll probably use it, but he did look askance as I added the cocoa powder. I made him a batch of plain soap, no scents no additives, and that’s what he likes best.

  3. Sonya says:

    Very cool!

  4. Janet says:

    I was racing to the end of your post to see if you were giving away a bar πŸ˜‰ It looks wonderful!

  5. It looks very lovely, I bet it smells heavenly!

  6. That looks wonderful! The chocolate and almond must have smelled so good!! I really, really need to try this!! When your post popped up on Facebook..at a glance I thought it was chocolate almond fudge!! LOL

  7. Becca says:

    This looks so YUMMY!

  8. By the way, if I were you, I would eat breakfast before I showered with the chocolatey almondey soap! LOL!!!

  9. Kit says:

    Suzanne, I don’t think I’ve told you this, but ever since I first read your original soap making post, I have been a soap making FIEND! I made your basic soap recipe several times, then became bold and confident enough to try some new cold process recipes. Three weeks ago I made coffee-chocolate soap, two weeks ago I made goat’s milk and honey soap, this week I’m making pumpkin soap! Next up will be this chocolate-almond soap. I will forever be grateful to you for showing me the wondrous art of soap making…never again will I buy soap from the shop!

    • Suzanne says:

      Wonderful! I’m so glad you are a soap fiend too. I will never use store bought soap again. I while back I tried a bar of store bought because I was running low on my homemade, and my skin dried up. I switched back to homemade, and my skin was so much softer. I had forgotten how drying store bought can be. I’m going to be brave and try milk and honey soap soon. Did you have any trouble with it overheating? I’m also going to try lavender, apple, and peach. Such fun, isn’t it?

  10. Kit says:

    I was really worried about the milk overheating and curdling, but then a recipe I saw said to freeze the milk before mixing the lye solution. I tried that, and it worked a charm! Apple soap? That sounds WONDERFUL!

  11. Nance says:

    that soap looks just like my Mama’s “marble” cake recipe. Are you sure that isn’t something you would eat?

  12. Melanie says:

    Wow!! That looks gorgeous!! I’ll bet you’ll smell good enough to eat when you shower with that! Lucky for Harland πŸ™‚

  13. Sandi H says:

    So pretty and fantastic tutorial!!

  14. Sue S. says:

    Your skin is softer using homemade soap because of the glycerin. The big soap manufactures remove the glycerin during the manufacturing process and sell it. The sodium laurel sulfate found in all store soaps is detergent. I am not a chemist. At one point, I was interested in making soap and in all my reading I read this about the glycerin.

    • Suzanne says:

      I’d heard that before but had forgotten. I noticed right away when I made my first batch of soap years ago that my skin was softer and not as dry, especially in the winter. Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving Sue!

  15. Sue S. says:

    P.S. I love your blog!

  16. Christy says:

    Love this! I’m about to try some soap!! Can you share where you got your mold? Thank you!!!

  17. Griselda says:

    Thank you so much for sharing, this is a great recipe

  18. Laurie says:

    Was wondering why this has to be cured for 8 weeks when normally you have to wait 4. I made this and it turned out wonderful! Thanks

    • Suzanne says:

      You could use it at 4 weeks, but it doesn’t lather as well. With curing soap, the longer it cures, the better it is.

  19. Jewel Farris says:

    Hi Suzanne! I love the looks of your chocolate – almond soap! I’m going to make it today! I’ve only made my soap in five-pound batches in a rectangle mold. I have a mold like yours and am going to use it for your recipe. Can you please tell me how you cut a soap block like that. I cannot cut straight and it won’t fit in my bar cutter. Your bars look nice and straight! Thanks for any guidance you can give me and thanks for your wonderful recipe!!

  20. melanie says:

    on the soybean oil – I have heard that Crisco was soybean oil but then the other day at Walmart I saw liquid 100 % soybean oil. Which is used in this recipe?

  21. K says:

    Here is a thought,
    ever thought of selling your handcrafts here on this site?

  22. Rebecca says:

    What?? Why are you wearing goggles? πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚ You’re making soap sis not flammable toxic rocket fuel πŸ’€πŸ’€

    • Mick says:

      Because lye is a caustic substance that can certainly damage your skin and eyes if God forbid you’re exposed to it. It’s toxic to I hale it’s fumes too. One has to be extra careful and take safety measures when using it.

  23. maria says:

    hello thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe ! do you know if is it possible to substitute the soybean oil with another oil ? like canola oil ?

  1. January 3, 2017

    […] Chocolate Almond Soap (Window on the Prairie)Β  […]

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