Indulge in a fudgy chocoholic dream with this easy recipe for chocolate sauce in the microwave! With just 3 ingredients and 90 seconds you can create a rich, velvety chocolate dipping sauce that will take your desserts to delicious, new heights. Use this versatile chocolate dessert topping drizzled over ice cream, poured on pancakes or waffles, or used as a dip for fruits. Recipe can be scaled up or down by using the slider if you hover your mouse over the number of Servings.
Combine Chocolate and Cream: Add the chocolate chips or chunks to a medium-size microwave-safe bowl. Pour in the heavy cream.
Microwave Chocolate Sauce: Transfer the bowl to the microwave and heat on 50% power for 2 minutes, stopping and stirring very well every 30 seconds, or until the chocolate is ALMOST fully melted. Remove from microwave and stir vigorously until the chocolate is fully melted and the sauce is smooth. (Note: If chocolate isn’t fully melted, return the bowl to the microwave and heat at 50% power in 15 second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate is fully melted.)
Add Salt and Vanilla: Add the salt and vanilla to the bowl. Stir until fully combined. Taste and adjust chocolate dipping sauce for flavor by adding more vanilla or salt.
Serve warm as a chocolate dip.
Or thin consistency for chocolate drizzling sauce: Add more cream to the chocolate sauce, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach desired consistency.
Cool, then use or store dipping sauce: Set the bowl of chocolate sauce to side and let cool slightly before using over desserts like ice cream or using to decorate glassware. Alternatively, cover the bowl and store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
Notes
Chocolate: If using a high-quality chocolate, like Ghardelli, you may need to add a few splashes of heavy cream to thin out the sauce. (Low-quality chocolates are thinner in consistency when melted.)
Cream: Heavy cream will give your chocolate sauce a richer mouthfeel. However, you can substitute half-and-half or whole milk if you prefer.
Extract: Vanilla extract is completely optional; however, it does add inviting flavor to the sauce. You can use any flavor of extract you love. But if you are using an artificial extract (versus pure), you will want to reduce the amount down to ¼ teaspoon.
Adjusting Consistency: If you like your sauce on the thicker side, stir in more chocolate. If you prefer a thinner chocolate sauce, stir in more heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk.
Nutritional information is an estimate based upon 8 servings. Exact information will depend upon the brands of ingredients and precise measurements used.