Dark Hot Chocolate Recipe

Winter is hot chocolate season. I created this rich, dark hot chocolate for those who really love chocolate. While this recipe is lower in sugar than most hot cocoa, it is still very enjoyable. In fact, in the words of my 10 year old kiddo, “You don’t even need to add marshmallows or whipped cream to it.” But by all means, if that is what you enjoy go ahead and add those marshmallows and whipped cream. But I bet you won’t miss it if you don’t!

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Why this Hot Chocolate is so Good

Rich Chocolate Flavor

This recipe will be loved by anyone who loves chocolate. I purposely used less sugar than most hot chocolate recipes and hot cocoa packets call for. This helps the chocolate flavor become the flavor of focus. I find that for most traditional hot cocoas the flavor that tends to stand out the most is the sweetness of the sugar.

The chocolate flavor in this recipe is from two different forms of chocolate, chocolate chips and cocoa powder. I use dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate to make the chocolate flavor rich and oh so satisfying.

Nutrition

I also used less sugar in this recipe to improve it’s nutrient profile. Many people are trying to reduce the amount of added sugars in their foods. While this recipe is still considered a dessert recipe, it has 11 gm less sugar per cup compared to that of traditional hot cocoa packets when made with milk.

This recipe is also healthier because it uses real food ingredients. Have you ever looked at the ingredients on those packets of hot cocoa mixes? There are all sorts of additives and preservatives and unhealthy fats like hydrogenated oils. Corn syrup is often used as the main sweetener. Food companies also like to add emulsifiers to hot cocoa mixtures.

Ingredients Used to Make Dark Hot Chocolate

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This hot chocolate is homemade with just a couple of ingredients, and it doesn’t take much longer to make than pre packaged hot cocoa. The stars of the show in this recipe are the cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips; they provide for a chocolatey rich and decadent dessert. If you are concerned about using dark chocolate, read my recent post I wrote about regarding lead and cadmium in dark chocolates. While chocolate chips were not tested by Consumer Reports, I opted to use a brand of chocolate that was tested and did not show elevated levels of lead or cadmium for some of their other chocolate products. Here’s a link to the chocolate chips I used.

Melting the chocolate chips along with the cocoa powder, sugar, dash of salt and water is the first step to making the hot chocolate. Once these ingredients are melted and combined you slowly stir in the milk. After the mixture is combined you stir the vanilla extract in after removing it from heat. (This ensures that the vanilla extract does not evaporate).

Nutrition facts for this recipe are based on using 1% milk. You can always use your favorite milk of choice. Just remember that this will change the nutrient content of the hot chocolate.

Enjoy This Dark Hot Chocolate

I hope this dark hot chocolate helps keep you warm this winter season! While this recipe makes 2 servings, feel free to double or triple as needed.

Dark Hot Chocolate Recipe