I’m a big fan of hot drinks, especially in the winter.
Teas of all sorts, flavored coffees, spiced cider, even just plain old warm water with some lemon squeezed in..heat it up and I’ll happily drink it.
Here’s one of my absolute favorites, though…real hot chocolate (meaning there is no water or processed hot chocolate mix involved) with homemade marshmallows.
I make my real hot chocolate with raw milk. That’s right- milk straight from the cow that I purchase from a local farm. If raw milk is unavailable to you or if you wouldn’t dream of drinking it, you can use organic milk. If you don’t do dairy, try this with homemade or store-bought almond milk (or hemp milk).
Besides the milk, all you need for hot chocolate made from scratch is raw cacao powder (or organic/high quality cocoa powder), a little sweetener of your choice (can be organic sugar, honey, agave syrup, etc), and an optional pinch of salt and/or cinnamon…yum…..
If you want your hot chocolate to be on the decadent side, you can whisk in some dark chocolate. In fact, you could skip the cocoa powder and just use more dark chocolate (about 3 oz. per serving) if you’re looking for something really rich; top it with real homemade whipped cream for an over the top hot chocolate experience.
While the idea of regular marshmallows is gross to me, I feel differently about the once in a while consumption of homemade marshmallows. If you’ve never made them before, don’t be intimidated; I made this recipe from Not Lazy.Rustic. over the weekend…it’s easy and the marshmallows have a nice touch of cinnamon and cocoa…definitely a fun treat. I gave most of them away as gifts, but did save a few for hot chocolate purposes!
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Homemade Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- *1 1/2 cups raw or organic milk or milk alternative of your choice
- *1 Tb. raw cacao powder or organic unsweetened cocoa powder
- *1 Tb. organic white or brown sugar or honey or agave syrup
- *1/2-1 oz. dark chocolate preferably organic (there are many brands I love; my newest favorite discovery is Valhrona 61%- not super dark, but really good)-optional
- *pinch of sea salt and/or ground cinnamon- optional
- *homemade marshmallows for serving-optional
Instructions
- 1. In a small pot on the stove, heat the milk until it is just short of boiling. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Serve with the marshmallows, if desired, and sip very slowly so you can thoroughly enjoy every last bit.
