Indulge your holiday hot cocoa cravings while giving your body the gift of nourishing fats, vitamins, and antioxidants with this Healthy Hot Chocolate recipe! Raw cacao powder packs in the antioxidants, while cacao butter makes this hot cocoa creamy, rich, and frothy. With no added sugar, this festive and cozy drink will satisfy you throughout the holidays.
I’ve been perfecting this recipe for healthy hot chocolate for weeks now. I love having a cup of cocoa over the holidays, but oftentimes the recipes are too sugary, too heavy, and too intense. While it tastes delicious going down, your mouth and teeth feel coated in sugar afterward. Sometimes the hot chocolate is so rich that it’s hard to finish a cup. And the real horror: You don’t have any room left for Christmas cookies after!
That’s why I came up with this healthy hot chocolate recipe. I wanted a cozy, warm, indulgent drink to enjoy during the holidays that wouldn’t make my blood sugar spike or ruin my cookie appetite. You can buy “healthy” hot chocolate mixes in the store that have no added sugar, reduced calories, etc. This is not that. My healthy hot chocolate is not low-calorie, but there’s also nothing “reduced” about it. I didn’t just want to make a hot chocolate recipe that’s not bad for you. I wanted to make one that’s actually good for you, in addition to being delicious and satisfying. (Don’t even try to tell me you’ve ever felt satisfied by that weak-flavored reduced calorie mix from the store.)
This hot cocoa uses raw cacao powder for its chocolate flavor. No, I didn’t just misspell “cocoa powder.” Cacao powder is made by cold-pressing un-roasted cocoa beans, whereas cocoa powder is raw cacao that has been roasted at high temperatures. Cold-pressing the beans preserves the nutrients that make chocolate so good for you. While processed cocoa powder has a more mellow flavor, cacao powder comes with tons of nutritional benefits: cacao powder has 40 times as many antioxidants as blueberries, is a quality source of iron and magnesium, has more calcium than cow’s milk, and is a known mood-booster that can help fight off depression.
Yeah, I’ll take a cup of that.
In addition, the healthy hot chocolate uses cacao butter to bump up the healthy fat content. It also makes the cocoa creamy, frothy, and smooth. Cacao butter is the by-product of cold-pressing cocoa beans. It is a key ingredient in many chocolate bars, as well as in white chocolate. It is also rich in antioxidants as well as essential fatty acids, which boost immune function, have anti-inflammatory properties, and support cardiovascular health.
You can boost the wellness benefits of this hot chocolate even more with other add-ins. I’ve added collagen powder, maca powder, ashwaganda powder, and cinnamon in the past (sometimes all at once!).
But this healthy hot chocolate isn’t just good for you. It’s also delicious, rich, satisfying. That’s the healthy fats at work for you. Stevia offers a little sweetness without going overboard, and you can customize your cocoa with flavor add-ins like peppermint extract, peanut butter powder, and Baileys. I particularly recommend the Baileys. I love being healthy about my indulgences, but it is the holidays after all. Have a little Baileys with your cocoa.
Prep Time:
Yield:
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PinIngredients
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 1/2 tablespoon cacao butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
- 1 scoop collagen powder (optional)
- 1 cup milk (dairy, almond, oat – whatever!)
For Peppermint Hot Chocolate:
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
For Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate:
- 1 scoop peanut butter powder
For Baileys Hot Chocolate:
- 1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream
For Cinnamon Hot Chocolate:
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat.
- While milk is warming, add all ingredients to a high-powdered blender.*
- When milk feels hot to the touch (gently touch a finger to the surface to test temperature), add to blender.
- Blend hot chocolate on medium-high, working up from the lowest setting, for about 1 minute until frothy and well-combined.
- Pour into a mug and enjoy!
Notes
* If making Baileys hot chocolate, leave Baileys out of the blender. Add Baileys straight to the mug you plan to pour the hot chocolate into. After adding hot chocolate, stir to combine.
