Has it been feeling gloomy and cold where you are? If you said yes, SAME! SF has been so cold and rainy that I’ve been trying everything to keep myself toasty. A great way to keep things warm and cozy is by making myself a nice cup of hot chocolate!
This is no ordinary hot chocolate—it’s a healthy and delicious vegan hot chocolate recipe, so you can sip away feeling less guilty about the extra sugar and extra calories. This super easy vegan hot cocoa recipe will taste so creamy you’ll be skipping the marshmallows! Did I also mention that coconut whipped cream is going to be your new dairy-free obsession? You’re going to LOVE it and it’ll be the best thing you’ve ever made!
Looking for more vegan recipes? This vegan mushroom stroganoff is one of my faves!
Vegan Hot Chocolate Recipe
SERVES: 3 Cups
INGREDIENTS
HOT CHOCOLATE:
3 1/2 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
5 tablespoon of cacao powder
3 tablespoon of coconut sugar
1 tablespoon of honey (optional)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM:
1 (13.5 oz) can of coconut milk (refrigerate overnight so you can scoop out the creamiest parts)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
STEPS:
HOT CHOCOLATE:
Whisk all ingredients together in a saucepan.
Heat saucepan on the stove, over medium heat, whisking occasionally.
Taste and adjust the sweetness to your preference.
Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon or dark chocolate shavings.
COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM:
Remove coconut milk from the fridge. Flip over. Open can and pour out the coconut water. Scoop the coconut cream into a bowl.
Add vanilla extract.
Using a stand mixer or hand beaters, whip the coconut cream on medium-high for about three minutes until soft peaks form.
A FEW RECIPE NOTES:
Coconut sugar is a create substitute that can interchange brown for white sugar, with a 1:1 ratio. It can be gritty so if you’re using it with liquids (like milk for example), let it dissolve for at least five minutes so it will behave more like white or traditional brown sugar.
You can also try melting vegan chocolate chips and mix them in with the hot chocolate steps to make it double chocolatey.
If you do not own any cacao powder you can always use cocoa powder (the Hershey’s brand is vegan!)
You may store any unused whipped coconut cream in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days. It will firm up a bit, but it can be re-whipped to make it fluffier.
Recipe by guest contributor Lindsay Kinder, of Food La La, your go-to for the hows, whats, and whys of cooking healthy, but delicious food!
Photography by Erica Garlieb.
Love this recipe? Be sure to check out my other recipes here.
FAQs
Hershey’s Cocoa powder is vegan and most cacao powders are vegan.
The best way to have thick coconut milk whipped cream is by scooping the cream out of the can and whipping it with powdered sugar.
Most hot chocolate mix packets have dairy inside of them. It is usually dried milk.
Both cocoa and cacao come from the same plant, however, they differ in the way they are processed. Cocoa powder is raw cacao that has been roasted at high temperatures while cacao powder has been made by cold-pressed non-roasted beans.
Elise Armitage is an entrepreneur and founder of What The Fab, a travel + lifestyle blog based in California. At the beginning of 2019, Elise left her corporate job at Google to chase her dreams: being an entrepreneur and helping women find fabulous in the everyday. Since then, she’s launched her SEO course Six-Figure SEO, where she teaches bloggers how to create a passive revenue stream from their website using SEO. Featured in publications like Forbes, Elle, HerMoney, and Real Simple, Elise is a firm believer that you can be of both substance and style.
