Vegan Homemade Hot Chocolate

NNothing warms me up better when winter strikes than a steaming mug of hot cocoa. Ditch the store-bought packets and whip up this healthy and tasty homemade hot chocolate recipe. It’s a favorite for both my family and our friends all season long.

Ingredients You’ll Need

My homemade hot chocolate recipe uses whole food ingredients, which means everything has nutritional value and exceptional flavor. Translation: you can drink this and know you’re nourishing your body, too. Healthy never tasted so good!

• Cacao powder is rich and dark. This ingredient provides the classic chocolate taste, but also boasts many health benefits with it’s natural antioxidants. Explore my other cacao powder recipes next.
• Maple syrup is a natural sweetener that enhances the flavor with a hint of caramel richness.
• Vanilla extract adds a warm, aromatic essence that elevates the overall taste of the drink.
• Sea salt enhances the sweetness and balances the flavors for a more rounded profile.
• Oat milk is the creamy and dairy-free base that adds an uber smooth texture to the hot chocolate. Trust me on this! You can swap this for any milk that you prefer.

How to Make Homemade Hot Chocolate

What makes this the best homemade hot chocolate recipe is the blender method. Yep— we’re blending all these ingredient together to create a rich, creamy and frothy hot chocolate. If you’ve seen Santa Claus, remember “shaken… not stirred.” Well, blending takes hot cocoa to the next level

1. Heat the oat milk in a microwave-safe mug.
2. Pour the hot oat milk with cacao powder, maple syrup, sea salt, and vanilla extract in a blender.
3. Blend until smooth and well combined. Use a towel to cover the top of the blender to protect yourself from steam.
4. Serve this frothy, chocolatey delight immediately in your favorite mug.

Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate Swaps

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 68% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant. While the star of homemade hot chocolate is the rich cacao powder, the liquid base is also important. Here’s my homemade dairy-free milk options you can use in this healthy hot chocolate recipe:

• Homemade coconut milk: This light dairy free milk is great for hot cocoa smoothies, cereal, hot chocolate and more!
• Homemade oat milk: When you just need an ultra-creamy base, oat milk is a winner. It’s my preferred base for my homemade hot chocolate.
• Homemade almond milk: I actually just finished a seasonal 21-Day Cleanse, and used homemade almond milk throughout the whole cleanse.
• Homemade cashew milk: A super creamy option just as easy to make as the rest!
• Homemade hemp milk: There are so many nuts/seeds/etc. that can be turned into milk, so don’t limit yourself to the first three choices! Change it up every time you make this vegan diy hot chocolate, until you find the perfect blend for you.

Cacao Powder vs Hot Chocolate Mixes

Store bought hot cocoa mix often contains dairy in some form, as well as a host of processed ingredients. For example, Swiss Miss ingredient list is as follows: white sugar, corn syrup, modified whey, cocoa, hydrogenated coconut oil, nonfat milk, salt, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, natural flavor. Cocoa is 4th on the list!

Meanwhile, the hot chocolate ingredients list for my homemade hot cocoa recipe includes: cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt. Four recognizable, minimally-processed ingredients to create a healthier hot chocolate. I dare you to do a test comparison of both versions and let me know which mix you like the best for hot chocolate.

More Healthy Homemade Chocolate Drinks

This hot chocolate recipe might have you craving other decadent recipes using cacao. Not to worry, I’ve got you covered with smoothies that are rich in cacao, too: