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Hot Chocolate Mix with Cacao

What kid (and adult) doesn’t love a nice cup of hot chocolate on those cold Canadian days? I know it’s a favourite for us around the holidays. Nothing beats a fresh cup of hot cocoa after a day of skating on the pond. Truth be told, I’ve actually stopped drinking it years ago after I changed my diet. Have you ever actually read the list of ingredients in some of those pre-packaged things? Yikes.

While I choose to simply live without it, now I have a toddler in my house who wants what everyone else is having… so what’s my solution? We came up with our own, healthified (if you will), dry hot chocolate mix … that can stay in the cupboard just like any other hot chocolate mix you buy. That means it’s ready to go for when the kids come in from playing outside, or unexpected company shows up for a warm drink.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup raw cacao powder (or good quality coco will do)
  • 1 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla powder (omit if don’t have dry powder)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl. Transfer to glass jar for storage.

To make, simply dissolve desired amount of hot chocolate mix in boiling hot water (about half your cups worth of hot water). Top with warm milk of your choice. Note that because this mixture doesn’t contain any kind of powered milks, it’s best served with half hot water, and half warm milk of your choice (it’s AMAZING with homemade nut or seed milks).

This makes just over 2 cups of dry mix.

Tips & Ideas:

Freezes well!If you really want to go all out, you can top with homemade marshmallows. We always make a bunch around the holiday season and have ready to grab in the pantry. It’s easier than you think. Our FAVORITE recipe to date has been from Danielle Walker in her cookbook Celebrations (I HIGHLY recommend any of her cookbooks). For a quick look at how she makes them, click here.

This also makes an excellent gift idea for around the holidays. Who doesn’t love homemade hot chocolate mix with some homemade marshmallows!