Making Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

We love hot cocoa and we love a good hot cocoa mix. We use it for cocoa and for adding to our coffee when we want a special treat. Like with most things, it has become harder and harder to find a healthy hot cocoa mix that is affordable. We were buying a brand for a while that was decent, but the price kept getting steeper. We tried making our own hot cocoa mix years ago, but the recipe I had called for powdered coffee creamer. Powdered creamer usually has terrible ingredients. I tried it anyway, and it was not good. I love chocolate and even I didn't like the homemade mix.

With the cooler weather upon us, we decided it was time to find a healthier hot cocoa mix recipe that tastes good. I found several online that call for powdered milk rather than powdered creamer. I saved four recipes and picked one to try. We mixed up a batch and gave it a try. It was okay, but we found it lacking in chocolate flavor. We added a bit more cocoa and tried it again. It was better, but I felt like it could be richer. I grated a small amount of baking cocoa (baker's chocolate) into the next cup I made to see if it made a difference. It turned out fabulous. I highly recommend adding grated baking cocoa to your mix if it doesn’t already call for it. 

Here is the recipe we ended up using after our modifications:


Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

2 c. powdered sugar

1 1/3 c. cocoa powder

2 1/2 c. powdered milk

2 t. tapioca starch

1 t. salt

2 1/2 squares of baker's chocolate, grated

Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a whisk. Store in an airtight container.


Hot cocoa ingredients ready to be mixed

To make cocoa, add 2 + tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of hot water. Add more cocoa mix to taste. Some of our family use two heaping teaspoons, others use two heaping tablespoons. It depends on your preference.

Some ideas we want to experiment with in the future:

  • Using powdered coconut milk for a dairy free version
  • Using monk fruit sweetener instead of powdered sugar
  • Using evaporated cane sugar instead of powdered sugar
  • Using white chocolate in place of the baker's chocolate

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Glassed Eggs & Homemade Butter

Image
I love to experiment with new recipes, different methods of preservation, and ways to avoid waste.  Here are last week's efforts: Water Glassing Eggs  I finally tried water glassing eggs this past week.  I read about this method of preserving eggs a long time ago, but I needed to get unwashed farm fresh eggs in order to try it AND I needed to have enough eggs on hand to not cut us short in our weekly egg usage (we eat a lot of eggs throughout the week). Last week was finally the week. I got the pickling lime I had been saving for this purpose out of storage, picked out the cleanest unwashed eggs I had purchased from some friends down the road, and preserved 18 eggs in a gallon sized glass jar.  I followed the instructions from The Prairie Homestead, which can be found here . Why preserve eggs in this manner? Since we do not have our own chickens, we rely upon a couple of friends having extra eggs to sell. I wanted to preserve some eggs for those times when we cannot get them fresh
Read more

The Best Homemade Granola Recipe

Image
  My mom has been making homemade granola since I was a kid. When we started a family of our own, we began making it, too. In fact, we have used the recipe so often that the recipe card my mom wrote out for me has vanilla stains, has turned a bit yellow with age, and the ink is fading.  This is a great recipe for several reasons: 1. It is a great prepper recipe - most of the ingredients are ones you will have in your food storage. 2. It beats store-bought granola hands down. 3. It has healthy ingredients (with, perhaps, the exception of the sugar) 4. It can be snacked on as-is, served as a cold cereal, or soaked in warm milk to make it more like oatmeal. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to what they believe makes the best homemade granola, but my mom's recipe is by far our family favorite, so that is the recipe we are sharing today. Homemade Granola Ingredients 1 c. whole wheat flour 7 c. quick oats 1 c. brown sugar 1 c. coconut 1 c. sliced almonds, walnuts, or peca
Read more

The Best Homemade Chai Spice Mix

Image
Making your own chai tea mix gives you a healthy and frugal drink option. It mixes well with whatever black tea you happen to have on hand.  This mix is good enough to give away as a gift. Simply put the mix in an attractive jar, attach a bow, and include a card with written instructions. You can even add a mug and some black tea to make it a gift set. The chai spice mix is popular at our house - this batch is almost gone Chai Spice Mix for Tea   Ingredients 1 c. organic sugar ½ t. cloves ½ t. ginger ¾ t. Ceylon cinnamon   Mix Directions: Mix the ingredients well. Store in a glass container with a lid.   To Make Chai Tea or a Chai Latte: 1.      Steep black tea in hot water. 2.      Add 2 t. of mix. 3.       Add milk to taste for a Chai Latte. Notes: 1)     We like to use raw cane sugar. 2)     This tastes wonderful with mixed in Earl Grey tea in place of regular black tea.
Read more