Paleo Hot Chocolate Recipe

I hope you are having a great week. I've been busy trying to get things done before I leave for Europe next week. I leave a week from tomorrow! Since I've been so busy, I've also been taking some much needed time to relax at night and watch Christmas movies, which I love to do this time of year. I've also had a major sweet tooth for some reason and have been wanting to eat sweets like Christmas candy and cookies. Because of that, I've been making some Paleo hot chocolate as a healthier option to the sweets that I've been craving (although I have also had some candy).
Watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate brings back good memories from my childhood. We would always get this variety pack of instant hot chocolate mixes. I remember coming home from a long day of school, in the freezing cold, and usually with tons of snow on the ground, and there was nothing better than to make a cup of hot chocolate, topped with lots of marshmallows, and then relax in front of the TV, probably watching Christmas specials.
Not only does this hot Chocolate taste better and have a much richer flavor, it also doesn't contain all of the sugar or artificial ingredients that the instant hot chocolate does. It also is super quick to make and only contains 3-4 ingredients.
I thought I'd share the recipe with you, so here it is:
Ingredients
1 cup full fat or light canned coconut milk
2 1/2 TBSP raw cacao powder (give or take, add more or less as you wish)
5-6 drops liquid vanilla stevia (or regular liquid stevia and about 1 tsp vanilla)
Directions
Place all ingredients in a saucepan, turn burner on medium-low, and stir or whisk until all ingredients are mixed together. Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat. Pour into a coffee mug. This should make about 1 serving. You can also use regular stevia (without the vanilla) to sweeten it or some raw honey or maple syrup, although that will add sugar. Or, possibly try adding some peppermint extract or essential oil for a peppermint hot chocolate.
So, what makes this hot chocolate better? It doesn’t contain any sugar, and stevia is the only sugar free sweetener that I would recommend. Raw cacao powder is also way better for you than processed cocoa powder, and is considered a superfood. It has almost 4 times the antioxidant content than processed cocoa powder, and it has been shown to improve your memory, reduce heart disease, help you shed fat, boost immunity, and give you energy. Coconut has tons of benefits, so drinking coconut milk instead of regular milk will provide those benefits. And, drinking the full fat coconut milk will provide all of its natural fatty acids. I wouldn’t recommend drinking this all of the time as it is very high in calories due to the high calorie content of the coconut milk (which is why you might also want to use light canned coconut milk instead), but it is a nice treat every once in a while.
If you are interested in receiving more delicious chocolate recipes, I have put together a FREE guide with some additional healthy chocolate recipes that you can make without feeling bloated, sick, or having the other negative consequences that you might experience from eating the chocolate candy and treats that we're more familiar with. You won't have to feel guilty about eating these recipes and they will satisfy your chocolate craving. Click here to download your copy.
I hope you enjoy!