Super Creamy Vegan Hot Chocolate
This weekend was a whirlwind. A fun whirlwind, but I’d like an extra morning that can be lazy, pajama-filled, and include a blanket and this cup of hot chocolate. Ahh.
I suppose Monday and a snowstorm will do.
Saturday I helped throw a baby shower for my sister, who is due with a little boy January. For the shower, we filled the food spread with her biggest cravings, like root beer, kettle chips, and an intense hot chocolate bar.
As you may expect, a hot chocolate bar is possibly the most Pinterest-type thing ever. The first time I created a hot chocolate bar (yes, it’s been more than once), I immediately purchased a bunch of mason jars. For that first HC bar, I believe I even had name tags to show what was in each mason jar (even though, umm, they’re clear glass, so…): toffee bits, toasted coconut, mini marshmallows, Andes mint pieces, salted caramel and crushed oreos. All of these mason jars sat beside a crockpot full of hot chocolate made with 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk.
Told ya – INTENSE.
On Sunday, after I cleaned up from the shower, I ended up making yet another batch of hot chocolate. Since it was just for me, I decided to make it a little better-for-me than the all-out hot chocolate buffet. In the version I’m sharing today, almond milk replaces higher-fat alternatives such as sweetened condensed milk, whole milk, or coconut milk. To get a creamy, velvety texture, I added a little arrowroot starch. If you don’t have arrowroot starch, corn starch will work as well.
The steps of this recipe couldn’t be easier – whisk together the dry ingredients, heat up the milk and vanilla, add the dry ingredients, boil for 5 minutes, and BAM, creamy vegan hot chocolate craving satisfied.
In addition to the tastylicious benefits of this recipe, it’s not too bad nutritionally. In fact, let’s allow cocoa a moment to brag about its attributes. According to my nutrition calculator, this cocoa-centric recipe offers the following pros:
High in dietary fiber
High in manganese
High in magnesium
High in vitamin A
Very high in vitamin E
OH, hey, did you need an excuse to drink hot chocolate on this Monday? I’m here for you, friends, and I’ll drink (sugar) to that.
Super Creamy Vegan Hot Chocolate
Velvety smooth and creamy vegan hot chocolate made with just a few ingredients and a couple easy steps!
Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons cane sugar
- ¼ cup high-quality cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot starch (cornstarch will work as well)
- Pinch of sea salt
- 4 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
- Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, starch, and salt in a small bowl or measuring cup.
- Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat until steaming.
- Add a couple tablespoons of the hot milk to the cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth. This will help you avoid clumps of cocoa in your hot chocolate.
- Pour the cocoa mixture into the milk pan, and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. It will thicken slightly in this time.
- Remove from heat, and let sit for 5-10 minutes so it lowers to a drinkable temperature.
If you want a lower-sugar hot chocolate, start with 3 tablespoons cane sugar and adjust to your tastes. I thought 5 was the "sweet spot," if you will.
Nutrition Information: Serving Size: 1/2 of recipe, Calories: 212, Sugar: 30.5g, Sodium: 421mg, Fat: 6.4g, Saturated Fat: .8g, Carbs: 40.5g, Fiber: 5.4g, Protein: 4.0g
Wow! Looks and sounds amazing! As usual. ;)
Thanks, Megan!
Creamy indeed!! Totally swooning!
This looks SO good right now. I’m actually making hot cocoa mix in customized mugs for my Christmas Eve guests and would love to use this recipe! Do you think it would work well to send home the dry ingredients (and maybe vanilla sugar to replace the vanilla?) and instructions?
I could swear I replied to this – sorry for the delay! I was actually thinking of making a batch of the dry ingredients to have on hand in lieu of the super processed hot chocolate packets. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work – go for it!
This looks amazing and sounds delicious! Your photos are so beautiful :)
Thank you so much! :)
Oh my that sounds just wonderful! Need to try this…especially since it’s, like, super healthy. I literally have no excuses. Oh well :D
SO HEALTHY. Basically like eating raw kale, I think. :)
Hot chocolate is the perfect treat on a Monday night! It’s getting me into the holiday spirit too :)
That’s crazy awesome and crazy easy. We’ll definitely be trying this soon. <3 cheers for the great share! Have a lovely Monday.
This looks fabulous! I love hot chocolate! Pinned!
Thank you, and thanks for the pin!
I’ve tried this recipe with filtered water in place of the milk, worked great!!
Awesome! Thanks for the comment!
Can you use Tapioca Flour instead of the Arrowroot or corn starch?
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for certain. The only purpose of the starch is to thicken it up, so I assume that would work. Let me know if you try it!
Just tried it and its wonderful!!! Does the same as arrowroot & cornstarch and tastes great!!
woo hoo! glad to hear it!
I’ve been looking for a vegan hot chocolate recipe and I am thrilled to find this one! Do you have the measurements available to make this for a crock-pot scale party? We do holiday cookie parties and I love the idea of being able to make the hot chocolate ahead of time and set up a bar for it. Thanks!
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I am going to make this for dessert tonight, and see if my BF can tell that it’s vegan!
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Thank you so much Katie! Today i made it, a friend of mine came to my house and given that she is lactose intolerant and i’m gluten-free, i decided to try your Hot Chocolate recipe and we found it very goood!! Amazing!
Oh, i almost forgot… I used cornstarch!
I just made this while watching CSI lol I live in Australia and it’s freezing here right now! This recipie is going to make winter much nicer! Thank you xxx
This seems like it makes a ton…. how sweet does it end up?
It makes two 2-cup servings. I liked the sweetness level with 5 tablespoons of sugar, but you can definitely adjust it to your tastes.
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It says 2 servings, but the recipe calls for 4 cups of milk. Can you please clarify which is correct?
Both are correct; I never think just 1 cup of hot chocolate is enough for a serving, so I made 2 servings using 4 cups of milk. The milk will cook down a little bit, but the serving size definitely ends up being more than 1 cup.
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This is delicious!!
What’s the white creamy stuff you put on top of it in some of the pictures?
It’s whipped coconut cream!
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I just made this and it was delicious! SO glad I found a vegan hot chocolate recipe that doesn’t call for a chocolate bar because I don’t always have that on hand. Also, what is the stuff you’re sprinkling on the whipped cream in one of the photos? It kind of looks like cheese but I’m guessing it’s coconut shavings.
Yay I’m glad you liked this! Thank you for the comment! The sprinkle is toasted coconut :)
I made this a few minutes ago….it’s soooo damn good. Totally worth the tiny bit of time at the cooker. Hubs loved it!
Yay – glad to hear it!
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Delicious! Made only one-cup serving (quartered each of the portions in the recipe) and it was great! I also added a few drops of peppermint extract (-:
Is it possible to make it completely without sugar and get it so smooth? :)
And I love this recipe! <3
I’m sure you could, but it wouldn’t be as delicious. If you wanted make it naturally sweetened, maple syrup or coconut sugar would work!
Which brand of cocoa powder did you use??
I usually buy Ghirardelli, or an organic version they have at my co-op. I’ve heard good things about Trader Joe’s cocoa powder too, but I have not tried it in this recipe.
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