Save some money and make your own organic hot cocoa mix! I keep a little mason jar of this on hand and use it for making a nice café mocha or a cup of hot chocolate for the kids. It’s also a fraction of the price of the store-bought cocoa mixes…and tastes amazing! (Need a quick gift idea? Make a large batch and divide into mason jars with a little ribbon and gift tag!)

Organic Hot Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup organic raw cacao (or cocoa) powder
3/4 cup organic sugar (I use coconut sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
“Guts” from the inside of one vanilla bean pod

In a blender or food processor, mix the organic raw cocoa powder with the organic sugar or coconut sugar. Add in the salt and the “guts” from one vanilla bean pod. Blend until the sugar and salt have been powdered. Store in an air-tight jar and use as needed.

No vanilla beans on hand? No problem. Add a bit of vanilla extract to your cocoa when cooking (about 1/8 teaspoon per cup).

To Prepare a Cup of Hot Cocoa:

Mix about 1-2 spoonfuls of cocoa mix in 1 cup hot milk (or non-dairy milk alternative). Stir to combine. I find it best when prepared on the stove top.

Optional: melted some grated chocolate in with your cocoa! I’ve also tried adding the grated chocolate in the blender stage, and it works ok, but the clean-up isn’t as easy.

Another option: add a small pinch of various spices to your blend. I’ve tried: cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel, crystallized ginger, and cayenne pepper… though I wouldn’t recommend all at the same time.

Yet another option: add 1-2 teaspoons espresso powder in your mix before blending. I’m not confessing to anything, but there may have been an incident where I inadvertently added a full shot of espresso to my kids’ hot cocoa one morning. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Why organic chocolate? Read up on everything we learned about organic vs. regular chocolate.