Best vegan chocolate 2020: great dairy-free chocolate bars

Being vegan doesn't mean you have to miss out on milk chocolate – as these salted caramel slabs prove.

Made with caramel and sea salt, these bars use rice milk as an alternative to cows milk – and the rice milk gives it the creamy flavour you might be missing from non-vegan chocolate bars.

They're also gluten free, nut free and wheat free, so a good gift for anybody who has any other intolerance or allergy, too.

Another aesthetically pleasing product, Love Cocoa hazelnut truffles are deeply indulgent and luxurious – perfect for a special treat. If you're vegan, you're probably pretty ethically minded – so it might also please you to know that 10% of all the company's profits go to the The Rainforest Foundation, a charity combating deforestation, cocoa farmer poverty and human rights abuses in the cocoa industry.

Plus, the company was founded by a member of the Cadbury family, so you know you're in safe hands.

For those who are into dark chocolate, you can't get much better than this. This hamper features some of Hotel Chocolat's most popular and best-selling dark chocolate products. You won't run out of things to snack on any time soon.

The collection includes some dark chocolate ginger puddles, fruit and nut and plain dark chocolate slabs, a mini hazelnut buche log, some cocoa nibs and a chocolate pocket box.

And it's all vegan.

Doisy & Dam has all sorts of delicious, unusual flavours for you to try – and this set of the company's most popular flavours is a good place to start.

If you're very much a traditionalist, these bars may not be for you. Containing Maple, Toasted Rice & Pink Salt, Goji and Orange Macca, Vanilla and Cacao Nibs and Coconut and Lucuma, this is much more rich and interesting than something you'd pick up in the corner shop. If you're willing to try something new, however, or you're just a bit of a foodie, they're a great option.

Plus, the bars look amazing – the packaging is perfect if you're giving someone a gift.

If you love chocolate brownies but you want it free of any actual dairy products, this is for you.

These nuggets of goodness have a rich brownie centre, dipped in smooth vegan chocolate to create the perfect little snack. We'd tell you to savour them but you're obviously just going to eat them all at once – and we don't blame you.

NOMO promises that thanks to its bars, no one needs to miss out on great chocolate. All their bars are free-from dairy, gluten, egg and nuts and they use Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa.

The creamy choc bar provides a ‘milky’ alternative to many darker vegan chocolate bars. Other NOMO flavours include caramel and sea salt, and fruit and crunch.

Being a vegan shouldn't mean you can't stand in your kitchen late at night eating chocolate spread out of the jar with a spoon (or better yet, your finger).

This Vego hazelnut chocolate spread should do the trick. The spread is also gluten free and contains no palm oil and no artificial colours or flavourings. Which practically makes it health food, right?

Hot chocolate – even made with 'real' milk chocolate – can often be a bit lacklustre at home. Where hot chocolate from a cafe is thick and creamy, the stuff you make at home can frequently be watery and dull.

Not with this Wellness Lab vegan hot chocolate, though. Rich and creamy, one scoop is enough to get a delicious cup of cocoa – though you can add more if you're feeling particularly indulgent.

The powder can also be used in baking, added to smoothies or used in lattes – so there's a lot of versatility here.

These pralines frequently top lists of the best vegan chocolates, and it is very easy to see why. Creamy, rich and indulgent, these absolutely melt in the mouth and can easily be scoffed in one go. If you miss truffles, these are for you.

And if you really like them, you can even get a multipack of 32. It's an investment!

Moo Free has a great range of dairy free goodies, and these milk chocolate bar substitutes are probably the best of the bunch. As with other alternative chocolate products, cow milk has been replaced by rice milk, giving it a really creamy taste. They're completely ethically made – so you can breathe easy when you tuck into one of these.

Having only launched in the UK last year, this fairtrade dark chocolate is a fantastic addition to the world of vegan chocolate. The pieces of almonds and sea salt add some extra depth to the flavour making it a great option for someone looking for more than just plain chocolate.

For those who care about the ethics of brands, you’ll also be pleased to know that Tony Chocolonely uses 100% slave-free cocoa. The Dutch company also pays an additional premium on top of the usual fairtrade one to ensure that farmers can earn a livable income in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.