Since winter hit, all I have been wanting is warming and filling foods. It makes sense seeing as its way too cold for Texas right now. Im not whining Im just saying. Its cold. But the thing that beats any cold weather is a nice cup of thick, decadent, dark chocolaty hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is always an iconic and simple thing that is done on winter days but a lot of people do it where the hot chocolate is all runny and liquidy and I do not like it like that. I like it when its so thick that the last little bit sticks to the bottom of the cup like syrup.
I’m telling you, drinking this is like drinking a cup of warm melted chocolate. It is so ridiculously decadent and so thick that it lines the back of your throat with this warm chocolatey amalgamation that just warms up your insides and makes you really happy. Or sleepy. Really really sleepy. I definitely would not have one of these if your about to go on a run or going to work out. Unless you are multi talented and can jog or lift while laying on the ground asleep. But I do suggest drinking this in front of a warm fire on a chilly night. Because that is just the best.
Chocolate has always and always will be a very important part of my life. And I dont take that lightly. I really, love chocolate. So the fact that there is an actual beverage in which is practically like melted chocolate makes life pretty awesome. But you have to be good with your chocolate choosing. You want to get a nice piece of chocolate to melt into this bad boy. The reason why is that chocolate is so much better when its high quality, and there are minimal ingredients, that way you get the true flavors.
Its easy to get fairly good chocolate if its organic or fair trade because typically it is made using minimal ingredients and is made with care and properly. The first thing you should notice when you open a package of chocolate is the smell. Right away you should be overwhelmed with that smoky slightly acidic slightly sweet cocoa smell. I don’t want to get weird on everyone here but its rather intoxicating if its good chocolate. I could sit around the house sniffing a nice bar of chocolate all day and exhaling a shuddering groan. And no that is not creepy.
In fact it can be the best thing or the worst thing. I think the worst form of execution ever would be to put a piece of freshly snapped off chocolate in front of someones nose with them restrained and have it just out of reach of their mouth. Because yes, eventually that person will die of chocolate deprivation. Or starvation. One of the two. I would rather take the electric chair. But enough about execution time to enjoy some thick, sinfully decadent hot chocolate.
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 2 cups almond milk
- ½-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 4 ounces high quality chocolate or baking chocolate(you could easily increase this amount for even more chocolatey goodness)
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- To make this dairy free simply remove the heavy cream and replace with 2 or 3 extra tablespoons of coconut milk
- Pour coconut milk, almond milk, vanilla extract, cocoa powder and heavy cream(if you're using it heavy cream) in a medium sized pot over medium-low heat.
- Mix well to incorporate.
- While its heating up roughly chop up chocolate.
- Once the mixture is hot pour in the chocolate and mix until fully melted and combined.
- Keep on medium low and stir often until it begins to simmer.
- Once simmering turn heat down because you don't want you chocolate scorching.
- Keep an eye on it and make sure your chocolate doesn't scorch and serve once it is thoroughly mixed.
Oh wow this sounds amazing! Definitely a must try now that the weather is so cold over here! Your photos are excellent by the way 🙂
Thank you!I have been searching and searching for a dairy free hot chocolate! I can not wait to try this!
Sometimes I like to add a little orange zest to mine – it really brings out the chocolate!
That orange zest idea is a really great one. I bet that would go great with this. Do let me know how it goes!
Hey Joshua,
This is such a great recipe, I have done kinda the same thing when I was craving hot cocoa too. I also like to spice it up with some cinnamon, try it if you feel festive! 🙂
Oh yeah cinnamon is great in hot chocolate. A little bit of cinnamon and cayenne actually go great together to make it a Mexican hot chocolate.
I did not feel the choc and cocoa mixed in thoroughly. Does that just take time and I didn’t cook long enough ya think?
You may not have let it come to a light simmer long enough.
Really enjoying your website man, going to try your recipes soon, probably the salmon curry. Not sure how I feel about this particular recipe, seems like a calorie bomb, with all that coconut milk (saturated fat and calories)!
Maybe the point of this recipe isn’t to be healthy though and instead just a dairy free alternative. You should consider trying to calculate calories per serving for your recipes so your readers have a better idea of what they are getting into.
Thanks for the sweet comment COllin. I have to disagree with you to a point. Yes this should be enjoyed in moderation because it is a treat, but just because it has saturated fat doesn’t mean that it’s unhealthy. Also calories don’t really matter in my opinion if they all come from a terrible source especially a lot of sugar which this reciep does not have. This is about a hundred times better choice than a sugar laden processed powdered hot chocolate I garuntee you. Check out these links about saturated fat by Mark Sisson here and Chris Kresser here, as well because I think you might find them helpful in better understanding it.
Interesting read on the saturated fats, it’s going to take me a while to wrap my head around that one since as the article mentions it has been burned into my brain that saturated fats = bad.
Saturated fats aside, running a calorie counter on a cup of coconut milk = 552 calories and 515 calories from fat
That’s a fatty meal right there
Meanwhile a cup of 2% milk has 124 calories and 43 calories from fat, that’s a big difference!
So maybe it doesn’t matter if I only drink a small amount of this hot chocolate, it would just be nice to see calories per serving and serving size for those who want to watch calorie intake because calories do matter when you want to lose weight or maintain your weight.
You are correct milk does have less calories but it also has more sugar and is inflammatory. Those two points aside, this is still a treat and should already be known to be enjoyed in a small amount and in moderation. The recipe also suggests to serve up to 8 people so you would divide this by 8. Also it is very very rich and filling so I doubt that most people would find it easy to down even a cups worth of this stuff as they would be tuckered out and full by then. I do appreciate the input on a want for calorie counting though but I can tell you now that after losing over 100 pounds I didn’t count a single calorie and don’t plan on ever starting so I don’t want to take the time to calculate it all for each and every recipe. Thanks again for the concern though, I’ll be more specific on my other recipes and this one is an older one so I wasn’t as specific with this one as I am now.
Josh,
Don’t forget to add that the fat in coconut milk contains a very high level of MCT which provide an excellent source of energy!!!
Saturated fat is not bad for you, nor will it make you gain weight. Calories don’t matter.
My mom is not much of a fan of hot chocolate, but I think i’ll convince her with the addition of coconut! I can’t wait to try this!
I’m not a calorie counter and enjoy my treats as well. Curious- is there any sweetness to this hot chocolate? I am just assuming you mean plain almond milk and plain bakers chocolate (which has no sugar). I was thinking of adding some honey for sweetness. I’ve been trying to dream up a Paleo hot chocolate that was both creamy but not overwhelmingly coconutty and I think this might hit the nail on the head. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Joshua,
Love everything you’re doing on this site. I use your recipes all the time and love them. Especially the chocolate chip cookie one! It’s perfect for killing that craving I get every once in a while for a treat.
Also fellow readers, this recipe is super thick and filling, but it ROCKS! If you’re thinking of trying it out, DO IT!!
I was wondering, what is your favorite brand of chocolate that you use in your recipes?
Thanks again and keep up the awesome work!
Hi Joshua,
This recipe looks delicious! The photos are beautiful. I would love to try this. We, however, are dairy free, gluten free and nut free (my husband has a nut allergy). With what would you suggest we substitute the almond milk? Thank you!
I’m sure you could just do all coconut milk if you wish.
You may ask yourself who makes hot chocolate in June. I do. Because I live in Minnesota and mornings can be chilly. And because I’m dying for sweetness. Because the first days of paleo are torment. I used all canned coconut milk for the liquid and it was super thick and realized This recipe would make a killer ice cream. Just cool and add to your maker or Popsicle molds. Best day ever.
Oh my word… that sounds fantastic! I make my coco milk from shredded coconut, and find that the oil separates overnight, creating a fairly thick cap on top. Mixed and frozen this would be a real treat! Thanks for the nudge! Have a blessed day!
Thank you so much for this recipe – it looks amazing!! I was just wondering how many mugs of hot chocolate this recipe would make? We will have around 60ppl to serve and thought I would find out how many this recipe as is currently serves?
Re hot chocolate in June. A place by me, Sook, makes frozen or iced hot chocolate in the summer. It has the rich taste of hot chocolate (not chocolate milk) and a shake consistency. Delicious!
I love your recipes, Joshua! Thank you!
This recipe is amazing!!!