Looking for a healthy hot chocolate?

I have had a mild obsession with hot chocolate for as long as I can remember. Mmmm so comforting, creamy, and sweet. What I can't remember is the last time I actually had a hot chocolate due to fear of the heinous ingredients in your average Carnation hot chocolate powder.

So in our last blizzardy burst, I created this delicious sugar-free, dairy-free hot chocolate! The frothy top and rich, creamy chocolate hit the spot without disrupting my gut and general wellbeing!

I love that this is sweetened with vanilla stevia, as stevia is just an extremely sweet herb, so it contains no sugar at all. In fact, it helps balance your blood sugar! I know many don't enjoy the taste of stevia, so I had a friend try this that does not like stevia and she said in low doses it's not bad at all!

Coconut milk is an excellent substitute for cow's milk, as it is thick and sweet, and it can come with less additives than other alternative milks, just containing coconut milk and water (but look at the ingredients, because it's certainly not all of them that are simple like this!). Coconut milk also contains really healthy fats, improving everything from weight loss to Alzheimer's dementia.

Cocoa/cacao is also health-promoting as it's packed with incredible polyphenols, improving our antioxidant status, plus many minerals including a solid dose of magnesium. Raw cacao powder contains the most polyphenols, then natural cocoa powder, and Dutch-processed cocoa powder coming in last. This is because the latter types are put through higher heat processes, which damages the phytonutrients.

Furthermore, dairy actually prevents you from absorbing the polyphenols in cocoa/cacao, so you're absorbing the most that you can from this recipe!

So this is a drink we can feel really good about, instead of the Carnation junk....

Delicious Nourishing 3-Ingredient Hot Chocolate Recipe:

1.5 tbsp cocoa/cacao powder 3-4 tbsp canned coconut milk (I like Aroy-D or Cha's because there are no additives) 8-9 drops vanilla stevia (I used Sweetleaf) 1 cup boiled water

Blend, and enjoy!

Let me know how it goes for you, and keep warm!