Due to the cold front hitting Florida I’ve been thinking about hot cocoa! There is nothing like a warm drink when it is cold outside and nothing like chocolate anytime! Whipped cream or marshmallows are just extra.
Most of my school life except for one year of highschool I spent at home being homeschooled. This meant hot lunches almost everyday! One of my favorites that my mom would make when it was cold or rainy out was tomato soup with hot cocoa. It was warm, yummy, and most importantly chocolate tasting! I also remember the first time that my mom wrote out the recipe for me on an index card so I would know how to make it myself. I decorated it with a cold looking cardinal sticker and looked forward to the next time I got to mix up that yummy treat!
Thankfully, hot cocoa is easily adapted to dairy free. Just substitute almond milk! In fact, I think I almost prefer it to regular milk since almond milk is super creamy and yummy. Here is my mom’s recipe for Hot Cocoa:
Boil water. Mix 4 Tablespoons of cocoa powder (this is the best ever!) with a dash of salt, and your choice of sweetener. One of my current favorites is 3 Tablespoons of honey. The original recipe calls for 5 Tablespoons of white sugar. You will have to experiment to find what you think is the best amount of sweetener. When the water is boiling, add 1 cup of water to your mix in the pot. Put the pot on the burner and bring to a boil. Boil 3 minutes. When the 3 minutes are up add 3 cups of almond milk (or your choice of dairy or non-dairy milk!) and stir and heat. When warm add vanilla to taste (1 teaspoon or more) and stir. Serve over marshmallows or pour in a cup and add coconut whipped cream. (To make the whipped cream put a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight. When you open it take the creamy part out and start whipping it with your choice of sweetener to taste and vanilla to taste. Ta-da! Dairy-free yummy whipped cream!)
Added 1/7/2014: If you make coconut whipped cream you can add the leftover coconut milk/water instead of some of the milk for an even richer/creamier taste!
I hope that you will try this yummy treat and make your own hot cocoa memories!
Photo courtesy of Slack Pics via flickr.com