Healthy and New and Improved BEST Cup of Hot Cocoa EVER!… for real!

It was girls night last night which is basically some of my close mom friends getting together after the kiddos go to bed, eating snacks, and talking with other adults rather than the children we have been around for the last bajillion or so hours in of life. We all love our kids but we also look forward to an hour or 6 where we don’t have to take care of another human being… so long as we don’t get some emergency phone call about snack options while we are away.

It was also negative 10 degrees, feels like negative 30. So I lured my friends over with a working fire place and the promise of home made hot cocoa.

Now, not all my friends are as zero sugar happy as I am. I usually put out an array of snacks ranging from home made pumpkin muffins which I often top with chocolate chips when serving up to others (a crowd please to even those who are used to more processed baked goods), OMGhee popcorn (the best ever!) and Nicks Sticks (the best beef sticks ever!) to homemade trail mix and dark chocolate. I have something for everyone! However, I know my taste buds are a bit different (being off processed sugar for so long) so I warned the girls that the hot cocoa may not be SUPER sweet and I provided some raw honey and organic maple syrup and chocolate chunks on the side if they wanted to “dress up” or “sweeten up” their drink. I told them about monk fruit (my favorite go to zero calorie sweetener). It has no bitter after taste like stevia and you hardly need any to sweeten up your favorite tea or in this case cocoa. It’s now the sweetener I use in my favorite avocado pudding! Good stuff!

I fully expected them to drizzle in the maple syrup like they were Buddy the Elf. However to my surprise I got nothing but positive feedback from the hot cocoa alone. One friend even exclaimed that it was the best hot cocoa she has ever had and asked for the recipe.

I had to scramble to write down what I did to make this fantastic hot cocoa as I often just throw things together without measuring when cooking and baking and this was no exception.

So here is my NEW AND IMPROVED BEST CUP OF COCOA EVER!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of full fat coconut milk ( I used this from Trader Joes but you can also buy coconut milk on Thrive Market now!
• Filtered water (I used the coconut milk can full of water)
• Optional: HOMEMADE Bone Broth (In this batch I used about 1/4 cup however in the past I have substituted all the water for broth… it makes a nice rich drink and is my sneaky way to get my kids to drink broth. I used HOMEMADE because the store bought often has added seasoning. You really only want broth with sea salt or it will taste funky in your sweet hot cocoa)
• Optional but the KEY to making the best hot cocoa: 1 TBS ghee (you can make your own ghee but I have yet to master the technique and Organic Valley Ghee is our family favorite! SO creamy! I’ve found it cheapest at Thrive Market)
• 1 TBS raw organic cacao powder
• PURE Monk fruit to taste (I added about half a regular spoon to the mix… you can start small then add as you go and see how much you like) This brand is the only brad I’ve bought since so many have added junk to it. This stuff is SO good!
• a pinch of cinnamon
• a tiny tiny pinch of sea salt (if not using bone broth)
• a dash of vanilla extract (with no HFCS)

You WILL want to double or triple this recipe if making for more than a couple people.

This “recipe” is super simple….

1. Empty a can of Trader Joes Full Fat Coconut Milk into a medium size stainless steel pot. I put the pot on the stove at medium heat.

2. Fill your can up with filtered water and add that to the pot (or fill with beef bone broth if using that). You can add any combo of water and broth up to 1 1/4 cup and it should taste great!

3. Next add all your other ingredients EXCEPT vanilla extract ( cacao powder, monk fruit, cinnamon, tiny pinch of sea salt (if you didn’t use bone broth)), into the pot and blend thoroughly. I love this little frother to blend my cocoa and froth it up all nice. You could also use a fork or whisk but it doesn’t blend as well or get that fun froth that makes this feel like you got it at a coffee shop.

4. Heat your hot cocoa to your desired temperature.

5. Turn the burner off and add a dash of vanilla extract and blend again.

My kiddos beg for this hot cocoa and they love it best when we use ghee! They beg for it on cold days after playing in the snow for hours. I love that it has healthy ingredients (including bone broth which I will drink straight but they wont).

Oh, and sometimes we add a little mint extract for a fun mint flavored special treat.

I hope you enjoy this healthy treat as much as my family and friends do!

If you have any comments or questions feel free to write in the comment section below.

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