Get some cocoa powder, coconut milk, and other milk of choice on your way home from work/school/etc. because you’re going to want to celebrate…
National Hot Chocolate Day with this Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate Recipe!
I heard about the holiday on twitter earlier and decided to whip up something for the special event. I actually tried googling to learn more about the holiday, but as it turns out (like it does with many of these food or at least lesser-known holidays) there are multiple National Hot Chocolate Days. But who needs a legit holiday to celebrate something as simple as hot chocolate, right?
That’s what I’m going with…
WIth my newly-found excuse to make hot chocolate, I decided to work up a recipe for something else inspired by twitter – coconut milk hot chocolate. I tried this once a year or so ago when I heard a twitter friend mention it on a particularly cold and dreary day, except I used 100% coconut milk for the recipe. As it turns out, too much of a good thing really can be…well, not so good. The full-coconut milk hot chocolate was just so-so. I found it to be too thick and rich (perhaps because I was using the canned version instead of the carton type?).
Lesson learned. This time, I followed my trick for making oatmeal with coconut milk – I went 50% coconut milk and 50% something else. When I make oatmeal, the other 50% is usually water. Today, for the hot cocoa, I decided to use some rice milk.
And since I was feeling really festive, I also whipped up (literally) some whipped cream for the top. Mmm…
Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate {Happy National Hot Chocolate Day}
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Drinks
Description
It doesn’t have to be National Hot Chocolate Day for you to enjoy this cozy drink. Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate yields a tasty twist on this classic dessert beverage. As for making the drink from scratch…For most of my life I used packaged hot chocolate mixes to make hot chocolate, but from-scratch really takes very little additional effort.
*Vegetarian, Vegan if you use vegan milks and whipped cream*
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (canned), or sub carton version for a lighter flavor or sub other milk of choice if you really want
- 1/2 cup rice milk, plus 1-2 tablespoons (or sub other milk of choice, but please read above story before using coconut here, too)
- 2 rounded teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- sweetener of choice, to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon of agave syrup)
- whipped cream, optional, for serving
Instructions
- Place coconut milk and 1/2 cup rice milk in a small pot over medium low heat.
- Meanwhile, place cocoa powder and extra tablespoon of rice milk in a small bowl. Whisk until a paste/thick mixture forms and powder is absorbed. Add additional tablespoon of rice milk, if needed.
- Whisk cocoa mixture into milk mixture. Heat till hot but not boiling.
- Pour into a mug and top with whipped cream, if using.
- Serve and enjoy once the drink is cool enough to safely drink.
Notes
I made mine stovetop, but you could easily adjust the recipe to make it quicker in the microwave. Oh, and if you’re feeling particularly lazy, you can try skipping the step of mixing the cocoa powder in a separate bowl by putting it straight in the pot…however, I find that usually creates lumps making the extra step useful. And I only used 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder, which I thought tasted plenty rich, true chocoholics may want to add 1-2 additional teaspoons.
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Pinspiration:
Pin by Monica with a tip about using water instead of rice milk
Enjoy!
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PS: It’s the last day of Eat in Month! Gotta admit…I can’t wait to eat out again! lol
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Reader question: Are you celebrating National Hot Chocolate Day today? Do you prefer “regular” hot chocolate or a particular flavor?
I had no idea it was National Hot Chocolate day! But I will celebrate now 🙂
I made nutella hot chocolate once and it was possibly the greatest thing in the world. This sounds delicious too, though! Coconut and chocolate were practically born to go together!
No, I’m not celebrating it, since I didn’t know it existed:) But you sure did give me a craving for some. I love the combination of coconut and chocolate. It’s funny that coconut seems to be one of those things that people love or hate. I inherited my mother’s love of it though…there were often chocolate coconut fingers (they’re called Ruffles) in our house, and I’m often tempted to buy some when I go grocery shopping.
I love After Eight hot chocolate…mint and chocolate is another favorite:)
I can’t believe there is a National Hot Chocolate Day, and I missed it! Noooo!
Anyway, I’m going to celebrate a day late and have some soul-warming hot chocolate tonight.
Sounds delicious! I guess I will have to celebrate National Hot Chocolate Day one day late.
Enjoy your favorite restaurant tonight 🙂 /Haleigh
I was reading this post last night and coincidentally was drinking hot cocoa at the SAME time! Haha! Mine was almond milk and dutch process cocoa with some TJ’s chocolate added for good measure. 🙂
MMM, that looks so rich and delicious. I have to try it! I usually make my hot chocolate from either a low cal or fat free packaged kind and my usual Lactose free fat free milk.
I have to try this coconut kind — I’m imagining it tastes like a liquid Almond Joy candy bar!
I know a lot of foodie bloggers are on to coconut milk since it’s the new fad, but I’m surprised that very few realize that it has SUPER high levels of saturated fat, which in turn spikes your cholesterol (it doesn’t have cholesterol like some claim, cholesterol is contained in animal products). Many cultures that use coconut milk as a base for cooking know this and recognize it’s quite unhealthy. Just adding that in case you didn’t know that, although nothing wrong with anything hot chocolate 🙂
What a gorgeous and decadent cup of hot chocolate. This would be wonderful for a special treat.
What did I miss National Hot Chocolate Day?! Hot Chocolate is the BEST! Your recipe looks amazing! YUM!
Seeing as I have coconut almond milk in the fridge I bet you can bet on breakfast 🙂 yum!
You mean every day isn’t National Hot Chocolate Day?! Oops! Seriously, though, this looks amazing. I bet it would be great for the other half to be almond milk (my new obsession). P.S. It was great meeting you at the FoodBuzz Festival. What a great blog this is!
In reply To NILA’s post…. Yes it is true that coconut oil is very high in saturated fat, actually the Highest source on earth… However it is false to say that it raises your bad cholesterol levels (LDL). I just wanted to clarify that it does NOT raise blood levels of LDL cholesterol but it raises levels of HDL (good cholesterol) as the saturated fats are Lauric acid. Coconut oil also bypasses the liver as it is ingested and is actually useful in lowering your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
And as a side note… This recipe is awesome 🙂 thank you!
Trying this recipe right now with coconut & almond milk. Sooooo hoping it turns out! I’m drooling.
Dear Writer
I was browsing through recipes of Hot Chocolate, your picture and ingredients captured me.
I am tasked to post on healthy drink on facebook next week. Please please Let me know if it’s alright to do so.
I Would have a hyperlink to your site too.
Regards
Juverl
I meant this friday! i am tasked to post this Friday. I would like to post a healthier alternative of Chocolate Drink To suit the christmas atmosphere. Please let me know if its ok.
PS: I could screenshot for you that i did credit it back to your blog.
Thank you.