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Chia and Coconut Vegan Hot Chocolate

Prep 5 min
Total 15 min
Ingredients 6
Servings 2

The best vegan hot chocolate I ever drank was in Italy. I remember it was rich, dark, and so thick that I had to drink it with a spoon. After this, I was completely infatuated with thick hot chocolates, and when I prepared them at home I discovered I could add cornstarch to give them the consistency I so loved. This past winter I began my usual hot chocolate making in the afternoons, and I started playing around with different ways to make it nice and thick. Chia is one of my favorite ingredients these days, and all of a sudden it came to me that it would be the perfect hot chocolate thickening agent. After all, this super seed absorbs many times its weight in water, and creates a gelatin-like texture! I tried it with a vegan hot chocolate made with coconut milk, which is creamier than regular milk. The result was just what I was looking for. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Ingredients

1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon ground chia
Stevia/yacón/raw honey/coconut sugar, to sweeten

Directions

1

Put the coconut milk, cocoa powder, cinnamon powder, and vanilla essence in a small pan over low heat. Use a hand mixer to dissolve the cocoa powder completely.
2

Fill 1/2 the empty coconut milk can with water, add it to the pan, and keep stirring until the hot chocolate is very hot. Remove from heat.
3

Add the chia to the pan, and stir well until it dissolves.
4

Add your sweetener of choice, stir well, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes so the chia thickens. Serve.

If you have chia seeds and a coffee grinder, grind the seeds yourself. Otherwise, buy ground chia.
For a more dramatic effect, you can sprinkle the hot chocolate with dried coconut flakes.
You can use almond milk, rice milk, regular milk, or water instead of coconut milk. If you like to drink hot choco very often in the winter, I recommend you vary between these milks each time. You will get a different flavor and consistency with each one.
Another delicious way of making hot chocolate is by melting actual chocolate in the pan with the milk. Use the darkest chocolate you can find.

No nutrition information available for this recipe

The best hot chocolate I ever drank was in Italy. I remember it was rich, dark, and so thick that I had to drink it with a spoon. After this, I was completely infatuated with thick hot chocolates, and when I prepared them at home I discovered I could add cornstarch to give them the consistency I so loved. This past winter I began my usual hot chocolate making in the afternoons, and I started playing around with different ways to make it nice and thick. Chia is one of my favorite ingredients these days, and all of a sudden it came to me that it would be the perfect hot chocolate thickening agent. After all, this super seed absorbs many times its weight in water, and creates a gelatin-like texture! I tried it with a vegan hot chocolate made with coconut milk, which is creamier than regular milk. The result was just what I was looking for. This recipe is definitely a keeper!