For years I've been making a great, easy hot choclate mix, using a recipe I found on the internet ~ actually, I've been using a combination of two recipes I found on the internet, with my own adjustments, because I liked elements of both of them, and then I just sort of fgured out how I preferred to make it my own (and, of course, how my family liked it). The recipe included powdered milk, and every time I made it, I told myself I should make some without the powdered milk, so I could just heat up whatever type of nondairy milk substitute I preferred, and have a cup of hot chocolate, too. I never did. That is, I never did, until today.
And so, today, I give you what I think is the perfect homemade dairy-free hot choclate mix. It's rich, chocolately, and delicious. I enjoyed mine mixed with with hot oatmilk and cinnamon vanilla coffee, which, I have to say, was divine. I haven't yet tried it with almond milk, my other go-to dairy substitute, but I have to assume it would be fairly delicious, 'though perhaps a bit less rich and creamy (because oatmilk does have a rich creaminess about it). On the other hand, there is a LOT of chocolate in the recipe, so, it might still be fairly rich.
On Christmas mornings, Kaia likes to make beautiful mugs of hot chocolate for the family (I usually get coffee, instead, but this year, i can have hot chocolate, or a mocha ~ oh, boy!). She tops them with whipped cream (mine gets a dairy-free version) and colourful sprinkles, and tucks in a candy cane, which not only looks cute, but also gives the drink a nice minty-chocolate flavour (can be left out, of course, or subbed for another flavour of candy cane, because they come in all sorts of flavours now).
Well, I guess that's probably mre than enough talk. ou're probably starting to wonder if I will ever actually get to the recipe. Okay. Here it is. It's really simple:
Whisk together in a large bowl:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
stir in:
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (see note)
or
1 cup chocolate (semisweet or dark) cut in small pieces
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a food processer and pulse 10-15 seconds at a time, until everything is well combined, and chocolate pieces have been broken down into much smaller bits and incorporated into the mix. (You might need to process this in batches, and pause occasionally, so your machine does not heat up and melt the chocolate. It depends on your food processor.) Store in a jar that seals tightly. To serve, heat milk of your choice (dairy, soy, oatmilk, almondmilk, etc.), Stir in desired ammount of powder. Tastes vary, so try it and see what you like. In about 6 oz. of oatmilk + 8oz of coffee, I think I used roughly 2 TBS of mix, but that's just a guess (sorry, I just used a couple of heaping spoonsful, tbh).
NOTE: While many semisweet morsels (or dark chocolates, for that matter) are dairy-free, not all are allergen-free. If you or the friends/family members for whom you are making this recipe have allergies (dairy or other) be sure to purchase chocolate that is free of allergens. If you have allergies, you already know this, I'm sure, but for those who might be making this for friends/family, maybe we can provide some links (you can add yours in comments). I like these: https://enjoylifefoods.com/products/semi-sweet-chocolate-mini-chips-1?variant=20209502879855
Also, I'm sorry I don't have any photos of the actual hot chocolate (or the mix), but I might try to come back and add one soon. I promise, it's good stuff (hence the lack of photo ~ I drank mine before I finished writing this!
