IT’s THAT TIME OF YEAR for fuzzy socks, Christmas music and HOT CHOCOLATE! As you can tell, I’ve been very excited. Recently, I’ve been keeping myself busy with writing Christmas cards, packaging Christmas gifts for friends and family. Even though we’ve been making frequent trips to stores and wrapping presents, the time spent is really worthwhile since Christmas is all about time with loved ones! There’s nothing more that speaks Christmas to me than family gathering in a home to delicious food. One thing that never fails to be a permanent part of Christmas traditions is chocolate – whether that is dessert or gifts to loved ones it seems like it embodies a universal meaning of love and gratitude. I once got a gifts of chocolate on stick to make instant hot chocolate and even beautifully made DIY hot chocolate jars. While I love chocolate of any kind, one of my favourite hot chocolate is the Starbucks creamy hot chocolate. I have so many fond memories of drinking this in a cafe with friends on cold-ish (Hong Kong winters range in the 10C range) winter day.
Since its not always easy to find hot chocolate that is affordable, diabetic friendly and dairy free, I finally thought I should actually try to go about making my own. I’ve seen many gorgeous instagram reels of beautiful decorated hot chocolate whipped cream but was never convinced enough to make it until I realized how DIFFICULT it was to buy vegan, sugar free hot chocolate that actually takes good! And yes, after tasting my own homemade hot chocolate it really shocked me at just how easy and good it was! What’s best is that these are all made from staple ingredients in my pantry. To make this feel extra glamorous and fancy, I absolutely love topping this with extra shavings of chocolate, coconut cream or even marshmallows! I imagine it would also taste delicious with some peppermint extract, or cinnamon if that is your thing! And best of all, it shows your loved ones and yourself just that extra little bit of love when you make this from scratch!
Happy holidays my friends 🙂 Enjoy this season with some delish warming Starbucks copycat hot chocolate that is slightly healthier, diabetic friendly and saving a few extra dollars!
- 1⅓ cup non-dairy milk (if you want it to be a richer, choose a creamier milk )
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tbsp Special DARK Hershey's cocoa powder (I haven't tried any other good quality cocoa brands, but you need a very good quality one)
- 3 -4 tbsp monkfruit sweetener (or sweetener of choice, but sweetness can vary so may need to adjust)
- generous pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp vanilla, optional
- To serve: grated dark chocolate, coconut cream
- Combine water, cocoa powder and sweetener. Heat in a pot over medium heat and stir until dissolved.
- Pour in the milk, salt and vanilla (optional) into the pot and continue cooking until completely combined and it has reached your desired temperature. You can also microwave the hot chocolate to desired temperature
- Taste and adjust sweetness if needed (type of sugar can affect how much is needed). To serve top with coconut cream and dark chocolate.
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