Making chocolate bars at York Cocoa Works with children

Learn how chocolate bars are made, and choose your own flavours, in a family-friendly workshop at York Cocoa Works.

What is York Cocoa Works?

York Cocoa Works is a small, independent chocolate maker in York city centre. It has a cafe specialising in luxurious hot chocolates, but there’s also an on-site factory where visitors can watch the chocolate being made.

More importantly, there’s also a room set aside for chocolate-making workshops, where complete novices can learn how chocolate is made. The chocolate-making workshops held here range from the simple – chocolate lolly-making – to the longer and more involved – such as the fondant masterclasses.

Arguably the best of these workshops, however, lets visitors make their own chocolate bar.

York Cocoa Works with kids

The chocolate bar-making workshop at York Cocoa Works is about an hour-and-a-half long. It begins with an explanation of the different ingredients in a chocolate bar – cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar and, sometimes, milk. It also explains that the chocolate made at York Cocoa Works is made from single origin chocolate – that is from one country.

In the case of the bars made during the workshop, that country is Colombia.

Things move on very quickly to melting down chocolate and tempering it with hairdryers, before adding flavourings and ingredients.

There’s plenty to choose from – you can go for dark chocolate with lime and honeycomb, milk chocolate with mint and marshmallows and dozens of other combinations.

Kids tend to enjoy being allowed to blast the chocolate with hairdryers, and picking their flavours. The workshop isn’t specifically aimed at children, but it works well for them.

York Cocoa Works review: The best bit

The best bit of the York Cocoa Works chocolate bar-making experience is arguably coming back 45 minutes later when the chocolate has set, and tasting your very own creation.

Either that or being actively encouraged to lick the chocolate smeared on the sides of the bowl – the more eager kids can scrape off and cover their faces in, the easier the task of washing up, apparently.

Infants, juniors or secondary?

The York Cocoa Works workshops aren’t suitable for very young children, but those of junior age will probably love it. Older kids will probably have a good time, too – this is an understated winner in terms of experiences the whole family can throw themselves into.

York Cocoa Works entry prices

Tickets for the York Cocoa Works chocolate bar-making classes are a pretty reasonable £25. If you buy tickets online with Viator, I get a small commission, and there’s free cancellation up until 24 hours before the experience starts.

You can also book direct via the York Cocoa Works site.

Prices were last checked and updated on 3 October 2024.

Full day, half day or a couple of hours?

It’s a 90 minute experience, although you do need to leave at least 45 minutes afterwards before you can collect your chocolate bar. York is not exactly the most difficult place in the world to fill time in, however.

Attractions near York Cocoa Works

Relatively nearby attractions that can be combined with a visit to York Cocoa Works include:

• The Jorvik Viking Centre in York
• The York Castle Museum.
• The National Railway Museum in York.

Nearby cities

Aside from York, other cities within a 90 minute drive of York Cocoa Works include Sheffield, Doncaster, Wakefield, York, Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Hull and Lincoln.

Is it open on Mondays?

York Cocoa Works’ chocolate bar-making workshop run daily – including on Mondays when many other attractions are closed. This means you can do it on a teacher training day when most other children are still at school.

More information

For more information, visit the York Cocoa Works website.