Okay, so I think you all should know that despite living in a hotter than you-know-where "warm" climate (it was well into the 90's a couple days ago!), I like warm foods pretty much anytime. Like hot tea, hot cocoa and soups, etc. (Just consider yourself warned for when I post a chili recipe in July! :P)
At any rate, I thought I would post this recipe before it gets too warm for all of you who live in a reasonable climate!
I wanted to do this because I'm trying to move away from refined sugar and other junky stuff, but I don't want to give up the chocolate creaminess of hot cocoa (yet). But I don't like what I see when I read the ingredients on the instant hot cocoa. Let's review them shall we? (Taken from a popular commercial brand of hot cocoa mix with marshmallows):
Sugar, corn syrup, modified whey, cocoa (processed with alkali), hydrogenated coconut oil, marshmallows (sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, gelatin, artificial flavor), non-fat milk, calcium carbonate, less than 2% of salt, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor, carrageenan.
Ick! So here is my version for a single mug of hot cocoa that is not much more complicated than opening that single-serve packet and heating the water. It literally takes me about two minutes to make this. (Adapted from my Betty Crocker cookbook):
2 oz water
½ TBSP cocoa powder
a pinch (or maybe slightly more) of Kosher salt
TBSP raw honey (you could use more or less depending on your desired sweetness)
¾ cup of coconut milk beverage (You can use whole milk, almond milk or whatever else you drink- rice milk probably wouldn't work so well in this)
Add water to small saucepan and whisk in cocoa powder over medium high heat. Once the mixture is hot, add the salt and honey and whisk until blended. Add the milk of your choice, and continue to whisk the mixture until it reaches the desired temperature. Top with some marshmallows (don't tell anyone- the ones pictured are just regular ol' marshmallows- but you probably have some organic marshmallows on hand that you could use) or real whipped cream. Enjoy!
Easy! Good and good not so bad for you!
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