Vegan Hot Chocolate
With winter nearly upon us and the holidays in full swing, I have been craving all sorts of hot drinks. In years past I’ve gone the easy route and just created pre-packaged drinks with the most effort being that I boil water. But this year I want to allow myself a little decadence. Those little bags of powdered flavorings and sugar just don’t equate being pampered if you ask me.
Aside from the usual tea and coffee, my first seasonal hot drink was real hot chocolate. Since deciding to learn to make it, I’ve discovered that hot chocolate is not the same as hot cocoa. Hot chocolate is made from chocolate bars, and hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder. The former winds up being thicker, richer and higher in calories – which is of course the one I wanted to make. Plus I’ve had so many chocolate bars burning a hole in my cupboards lately, that I knew I needed to get creative and turn them into delicious drinks.
The following is a very easy recipe, but as soon as you have the chocolate on the stove melting, you’ll need to act fast to avoid having your chocolate burn. It’s so thick and rich, too, that I recommend you serve these in espresso cups.
Vegan Hot Chocolate
Makes about 4 espresso-sized servings
Adapted from the Belgian Hot Chocolate Recipe found on www.davidlebovitz.com
- 1 cup vegan milk
- 3 ounces vegan chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vegan sugar, optional if you want your drink to be less sweet
- Tiny pinch of salt
- Ground cinnamon, optional
- Vegan whipped topping or vegan marshmallows, optional
Select your chocolate. I used a 3-ounce bar of Sharffen Berger dark chocolate.
I used a 3-ounce Scharffen Berger chocolate bar
Chop or grate your chocolate. Reserve some for garnish if you like.
Chopping a chocolate bar
Warm about one-third of your vegan milk with the chopped chocolate, vegan sugar, and salt, stirring until the chocolate is melted.
The chocolate melts very fast
Whisk in the remaining vegan milk, heating until the mixture is warmed through. Continue to whisk until it is completely melted and the remaining vegan milk is well incorporated.
Whisking the hot chocolate
Remove from heat and pour into cups.
Yum.
Add whatever garnish you like – a dash of cinnamon, a few pieces of the remaining chopped chocolate, vegan whipped topping and/or vegan marshmallows. I added a dash of this lovely Roasted Saigon Cinnamon and some chocolate pieces.
Roasted cinnamon on my hot chocolate
Serve warm. Or turn this into a dessert by letting this sit in the refrigerator for a few hours where it becomes very thick like a pudding and can be eaten with a spoon.
Vegan Hot Chocolate
This so hit the spot. It was decadent, it was smooth, it was warm. Now that I know how to make this, next time I might experiment a bit. I’m thinking cinnamon (not just adding a dash, but mixing it in from the get-go), coffee, vanilla, peppermint…so many ways to continue the deliciousness.
What is your favorite way to have or make hot chocolate?
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This sounds like the recipe for me for Xmas Eve – maybe with a dash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier as well !
What is the difference between egan chocolate and regular chocolate?
Vegan chocolate is just chocolate that doesn’t have any animal products. You’ll find that many (although not all) dark chocolates are vegan, but milk chocolate is not. There are also some specialty chocolates that have other animal products in them like bacon, which is obviously not vegan. Be sure to read the ingredients if you are concerned about ingesting milk or other animal products.
I made this yesterday and it was incredible! It was SO cold out and we got lots of snow so my little ones were pleasantly surprised to see me making this on the stovetop. I used vegan chocolate chips, almond milk, some cinnamon and some rice milk whipped topping and it was SO good! I think next time I will double the recipe because I made 1 1/2 of the recipe and it was barely enough for chocoholics like us. I bet coconut milk would be good, too!
That’s awesome – I’m glad you enjoyed it! You guys have a stronger tolerance for it than me! I was only able to drink half the recipe, and the rest got turned into pudding. :)
I wonder if maybe I didn’t use as much chocolate since chips have spaces between them in the measuring cup. :) I bought more chips yesterday so I bet we will make some more today!
If you have a kitchen scale then you can know for sure that you are using the correct amount of chocolate – but in this case, you can probably just add more chocolate chips. Of course, it probably really boils down to taste. If it doesn’t taste like enough, then you can always add more next time. :)
This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
That looks amazing! I’ve got to try that!
This looks wonderful! I had never thought to do this. Most of the hot chocolate mixes I find in stores aren’t vegan. I started making my own with almond milk, cocoa powder and sugar. I like to add a dash of cinnamon, too.
Yours looks a lot more creamy though! I think I’ll have to try this with vegan chocolate chips. And I think for the holidays, I’ll try it with a little peppermint. :) Thanks!
that is one gorgeous hot chocolate. reminds me of the movie “chocolat”, the hot chocolates in that movie made me drool. looks decadent :)
One of my favorite movies! You’re making me want to watch that again. :)