Cocoa and Coffee Salt Bar Recipe (2024)

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Cocoa and Coffee Salt Bar Recipe

Here is another salt bar made from my weekend at Prairie Soap Company with Benjamin. If you missed the African Black Soap Salt Bar – check it out here.

The soap comes out ROCK HARD and seems to last quite a bit in the shower. My salt bars last forever.

Because they set up fast and hard, I prefer to do salt bars in individual cavity molds. My favorite salt bar shape, and a way to make them unique and different than my regular bar soap, is a half round /half cylinder shape. This mold from Bramble Berry is absolutely perfect.

ADDED: I get this questions a lot. “With 100% coconut oil, aren’t these going to be super harsh?” NOPE! We use a 20% superfat which means we have 20% of free unsaponified oils in our recipe to help counteract the high amount of coconut oil giving us a really nice bar of soap.

Grab our Salt Bar eBook here!

Coconut oil – 756 g
Water – 220 g
Lye – 110 g

Fine Sea Salt – 378 g
Coffee grounds – 30 g
Cocoa powder – 10 g

Essential oil blend

Vanilla 10x – 10 g
Bitter Almond – 20 g
Fennel – 10 g
Patchouli – 5 g
Balsam Peru – 15 g
Ylang Ylang 3rd – 5 g

If you are new to making cold process soap, please visit my basic soapmaking eBook!

Step 1 – Make your lye solution. Weight out the water and the lye into separate containers. Pour the lye into the water and stir. Set aside to cool down.

I added the cocoa and coffee to the lye solution, but cocoa is best mixed into the oils. So add the coffee to the lye and add the cocoa to the oils. Mix.

Step 2 – Weigh out the coconut oil and melt. Melt just until melted and no longer. Set aside to cool down a bit.

Step 3 – Weigh out the salt and essential blend so that everything is ready to go!

Step 4 – Time to make soap! Add the essential oil blend to the oils. Add the lye solution to the oils. Mix until you get a very light trace.

Once you have a light trace, add the salt.

Pour into the molds.

Mmmmmmmm these are decadent. The essential oil blend is amazing.

Salt soap gets hard pretty fast so you’ll be able to unmold the same day!

Be sure to let these beauties cure for a good 4-6 weeks and they’ll become nice and mild.

Happy (Salt Bar) Soaping!

-Amanda Gail

(Some links above are affiliate links which generate a very small revenue to help support the Lovin’ Soap blog and help us deliver all of the free tutorials and content to our readers! They cost you nothing to click. Thanks for your support!)

By Amanda Aaron|2021-05-25T11:23:53-05:00May 1, 2014|Cold Process Soap Recipes, Natural Soap Colorants, Natural Soap Recipes, Soapmaking Tutorials|44 Comments

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About the Author: Amanda Aaron

I am a soapmaker, author and blogger! I started blogging in 2008, sharing soap recipes, design tutorials and publishing articles on various topics of soapmaking.

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44 Comments

SHARON LEENMANFebruary 10, 2022 at 2:00 am - Reply
Hi Amanda, Could I use Frozen goats milk instead of just water. Will that be OK with the salt. Thank you
PamAugust 25, 2021 at 10:25 am - Reply
Is the bitter almond an EO? Can you recommend a source? Thank you.
- Amanda GailAugust 31, 2021 at 11:10 am - Reply
  Yes! I love Rainbow Meadow. https://www.rainbowmeadow.com/product-page/bitter-almond-prunus-dulcis-amara
- EwaNovember 27, 2023 at 12:54 pm - Reply
  I read on many blogs that walrus salt absorbs moisture from the air, which causes moisture to appear on soaps. He uses it in his soaps and dew appears on them. How to deal with this problem or what salt to use? Himalayan is ok, but the pink bar does not contrast well with the color of the soap. Greetings ewa
Renee'May 27, 2018 at 11:13 am - Reply
I’m making this bar today and I want to leave out the EO’s, could I use smashed bananas to make up the weight of EO’s?
AmyJune 16, 2017 at 10:53 am - Reply
Hi! I am wanting to order these molds from BB. How many do I need for this recipe? Thanks!
aidaSeptember 18, 2016 at 4:36 am - Reply
Dear Amanda,
I have read the ‘Sea Clay & Avocado Spa bar’ recipe in the free PDF guide..
My question:
1) Is the sea clay & avocado spa bar can be used every day on the face?
Or is it used twice a week as a scrub to the face?
If used every day, will it make face feeling dry?
2) I believe that the cocoa & coffee salt bar can be used as a facial bar too.
Can we use it every day as a facial bar or I should use it twice in a week as a scrub?
If used every day, will it make face feeling dry?
Thank you.
aidaSeptember 18, 2016 at 4:16 am - Reply
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for the excellent sharing..
May I know whether Cocoa and Coffee Salt Bar (with 50% salt of oil) , is suitable for body soap bar…or for face bar?
Thank you.
AlFebruary 21, 2016 at 4:17 am - Reply
hello
good job done here, thanks a lot
I’ve made two batches of this kind soap and made great fans, I just wanted to know is there any way to shorten the time needed to cure these cold process soaps from 4 weeks to shorter than 1 week? any idea like heating in oven? have had any experience?
much gratitude
ChrisDecember 2, 2015 at 10:14 pm - Reply
I am very sensitive to fragrances. Will it totally unbalance the recipe if I left out the fragrance oils? If so, could I just add another kind of oil instead, like olive or grapeseed or soybean…?
KatSeptember 9, 2015 at 6:40 pm - Reply
Wonderful soap! Scented mine with anise and clementine eo! Will be making more for sure!
sharonJuly 23, 2015 at 4:03 pm - Reply
Why those essential oils, could I not just use coffee eo, or is there other blends I can use
- Amanda GailJuly 24, 2015 at 2:14 pm - Reply
  You can use whatever scent that you’d like. Fragrance is all about personal preference.
  - SharonJuly 24, 2015 at 6:12 pm - Reply
    Thankyou, I thought they may have had a specific purpose
MSFebruary 9, 2015 at 10:31 am - Reply
Hi Amanda, can I add some shea butter with the coconut oil. How much should I add?
feliJanuary 23, 2015 at 1:19 am - Reply
dear amanda,
im new on making soap bar.
Do you or anyone can please tell me, the yield of this recipe ?
since it hard to find soap mold here, i’m using 7cm round pudding silicone mold.
do you think 6 mold would be enough?
thankyou 🙂
SadiaDecember 9, 2014 at 11:47 pm - Reply
Love this soap. Scented mine with a mix of coffee and chocolate fragrance oils
Tracy HowellNovember 13, 2014 at 11:12 am - Reply
LOVE your recipes!! However, to be more cost effective to my customers, what EO’s or even FO’s would be a good substitution? I would love to offer more of a vanilla/coffee/chocolate type scent.
dinaOctober 27, 2014 at 7:47 am - Reply
hi, can i make salt bars with different oil than coconut oil or even a blend of oils as it is so expensive here, thanks in advance.
JuliaOctober 22, 2014 at 8:51 pm - Reply
I love love love this recipe! I had to sub orange for bitter almond (not available in NZ) but I love it, so amazing (I couldn’t get 10x vanilla either so used normal vanilla). I did find that the essential oil made it move really fast but I might have stirred a bit much, I’ll know for next time. Thanks for sharing
ColleenOctober 7, 2014 at 7:02 pm - Reply
You mentioned a 20% super fat. Can you tell me what you used and when you added to the process.
Thanks!
- AmandaOctober 11, 2014 at 10:45 am - Reply
  Hi Colleen – its already figured into the recipe and added to all of the oils.
AshleySeptember 18, 2014 at 12:10 pm - Reply
Can I pour into a rectangular box mold, then cut these? Or are salt bars too hard for slicing? Thanks!
WallisAugust 9, 2014 at 6:32 pm - Reply
Hi,
What does iodized salt do in a salt bar? I grabbed the wrong salt box a couple of weeks ago and ended up using iodized salt in a batch of salt bars. So far, doesn’t look any different than usual and seemed ok when I tried it out-a little early….?? Can’t find any info on why iodized salt is bad and would love to know.
Thanks,
Wallis
wallisJuly 27, 2014 at 9:36 pm - Reply
do you leave the coffee grounds in the lye solution or do you strain out before adding to oils?
Thanks,
Wallis
- AmandaAugust 2, 2014 at 10:37 am - Reply
  I leave them in for a scratchy exfoliating soap…
Maria MitchellJuly 8, 2014 at 10:34 pm - Reply
I’m looking forward to following your website!
JuliaJune 19, 2014 at 5:08 am - Reply
Ola Amanda, I made these salt bars yesterday and I used coarse sea salt! I mix it with the soap and I could feel that the salt would not melt, it started to thicken so I poured it on the molds anyway…will I be able to use these bars? And I have another question, do you have a receipt for salt bars using olive oil and coconut oil? thank you so much
Marilyn PaisleyJune 8, 2014 at 10:57 am - Reply
Hi Amanda,
Hello facebook, and soapy friend, I would like to know where you got that great silicone mold ( the half circle )?
Wonderful recipes by the way, looking forward to trying some of them.
Marilyn
AkeylahMay 31, 2014 at 8:40 pm - Reply
That mold from Bramble Berry seems FANTASTIC! Rounded on the bottom for easy mold release. Yaasss. I need this for my salt bars 🙂
- EwaNovember 27, 2023 at 12:55 pm - Reply
  I read on many blogs that walrus salt absorbs moisture from the air, which causes moisture to appear on soaps. He uses it in his soaps and dew appears on them. How to deal with this problem or what salt to use? Himalayan is ok, but the pink bar does not contrast well with the color of the soap. Greetings ewa
SihamMay 28, 2014 at 3:59 am - Reply
Hi Amanda, thanks for all these tips!!!! I’ve just a question: Adding essential oils in oils doesn’t “burn” them? does lye affect them? Sorry for my english, not a native speaker 😉
hollyMay 23, 2014 at 3:50 pm - Reply
Thank you so much for this recipe, it sounds amazing and is on my list to make. When you say “coffee grounds” in your recipe, do you mean used coffee grounds (I save for exfoliants in my soaps). Or unused as you want the stronger color/scent from them? Thanks again.
- AmandaMay 27, 2014 at 11:15 am - Reply
  You can actually use either! You get more color from unused but scent from the coffee usually doesn’t make it through the process.
Wallis LahtinenMay 23, 2014 at 8:57 am - Reply
I love salt bars! Can Himalayan pink salt be used in a salt bar? I was thinking of throwing in just a little (w/ regular salt) for color and putting some on top of the bars …?
Thanks,
Wallis
- AmandaMay 27, 2014 at 11:16 am - Reply
  Yes! I love Himalayan pink salt in salt bars!
DoriMay 8, 2014 at 9:40 am - Reply
I am so going to try these. I have been using your recipes and love your commitment to palm free soap. I have always wanted to try vanilla, but have not found a place that carries vanilla 10x. Can you give the source, please?
DarleneMay 2, 2014 at 9:27 am - Reply
These sound decadent. I love salt bars too!
nicoleMay 2, 2014 at 9:02 am - Reply
Hey Amanda – I made your pumpkin coconut bars almost two years ago and still using them – they never sweat, they are awesome – thank you!! I want to make this and I love the EO combination, however, I have had to go nut-free so the almond would need to be traded out – what would be a suitable replacement for a still awesome blend, or would the blend still be awesome without it? thanks so much for sharing!!
- AmandaMay 2, 2014 at 2:04 pm - Reply
  Ooooooh, you could increase the balsam and add some folded orange. That would be lovely.
CyndiMay 1, 2014 at 10:56 am - Reply
This bar is a beautiful color and must smell amazing, but with it being a pure coconut oil an salt bar, I would be afraid it would take your hide right off!
- AmandaMay 1, 2014 at 10:58 am - Reply
  Hi Cyndi! When doing 100% coconut oil in salt bars we use a 20% superfat which leaves plenty of free oils to make it nice and mild.
JanelleMay 1, 2014 at 10:10 am - Reply
I love this!! Where oh where do you get your bitter almond essential oil? I’ve been looking for an all natural almond scent and haven’t been able to find one. I don’t want any of the synthetics of the FOs.
Thanks!
- Benjamin AaronMay 1, 2014 at 10:54 am - Reply
  Janelle!
  Use http://www.rainbowmeadow.com/Cart/group.asp?ID=5 for sure!
  Rainbow Meadow is a great little company with really competitive prices. A little bit of Bitter Almond goes a long way! Keep being great!