How to make homemade hot chocolate mix from scratch that your kids will love! This homemade hot chocolate mix is free of refined sugars and totally paleo, clean eating, gluten-free, and easily vegan!
I’m so excited for Winter to be here!
Okay, I am excited 😉
The colder weather has me craving all sorts of hot drinks, especially a hot cup of hot chocolate.
I used to typically keep a box of hot chocolate mix, usually one like Swiss Miss, in the pantry so we could have our little hot cocoa fix every now and then.
In the Fall and Winter, we would go through those Swiss Miss hot chocolate boxes pretty quickly.
The problems with hot chocolate mixes are:
- when you’re out, you’re out (no hot cocoa mix = no homemade hot cocoa = sad little puppy faces on the girls)
- very processed ingredients (and lots of them)
Ever wondered what’s in the hot chocolate mix? Well, the Swiss Miss hot chocolate recipe, for example, contains sugar, corn syrup, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, carrageenan, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and artificial flavor. No, thank you.
So, I decided to make my own hot chocolate mix recipe so we’d…
- never run out of hot cocoa mix (woot!);
- be able to control all the ingredients. My recipe for hot chocolate mix requires dark cocoa powder, coconut sugar, cinnamon, vanilla powder, and sea salt (plus the milk). Which means you can make healthy hot chocolate.
BIG difference.
IS HOT CHOCOLATE GOOD FOR YOU?
You probably expect a no. BUT I have good news. Hot chocolate is surprisingly good for you. WOOT.
I know, I know, how exciting!
- Chocolate, particularly dark chocolate is actually healthy and good for you. Not only because it can make you happy (literally! since chocolate can aid depression) but because it slows down the digestive process and it creates a feeling of fullness.
- Milk is a great source of vitamin D and calcium, which is also great.
Now, all those unhealthy ingredients that can be found in store-bought hot chocolate mixes I mentioned earlier are not ok.
But if you make a healthy homemade hot chocolate, you will get numerous health benefits. And a lovely warm and cozy feeling inside. Yay!
If you have kids, this is the best hot chocolate mix recipe to use because they get to see all the ingredients that go into the healthy hot chocolate. I love watching my kids break down recipes and see how simple they really can be.
I made this healthy hot chocolate recipe with Jordan and she got to do almost all the steps and really got a kick out of understanding the different powders, spices, and flavors that make up her tasty and healthy hot chocolate. She did all the mixing and pouring and I cooked it on the stove. Love that kid.
So, in summary, here’s the list of awesomeness for why you should totally learn how to make homemade hot chocolate mix and how to make hot chocolate (and why it’s the best!):
- Super, duper yummy — like, the best thing everrrrrr.
- Never run out of cocoa mix again (score!).
- Neat idea for homemade gifts for the holidays — just pour it into a mason jar and *poof* – hot chocolate in a jar – instant Pinterest-worthy gift.
- Your children and husband/wife will totally worship you (and will totally be happy and smiling with chocolate covered faces).
- Total kid-friendly recipe.
- Free of refined ingredients.
- Paleo, gluten-free, and clean eating. Vegan, too, if you use a non-dairy milk!
- How many calories in hot chocolate? 89 cal. OMG, amazeballs!
P.S. These pics are of Jordan making the homemade hot cocoa mix a few years ago. She looks so small in these pics — hard to believe how big she’s gotten. Still thinks this is the best hot chocolate mix recipe ever.
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY HOT CHOCOLATE MIX
Learning how to make hot cocoa mix is like the easiest and best thing in the world.
To make homemade cocoa mix all you have to do is mix all the dry ingredients together.
The flavors are so much more robust and deeper than the pre-packaged hot chocolate powders you buy and the creaminess and hot chocolatey deliciousness that you get from making it yourself will make you never want to buy it at the store again. Oh, the goodness!
Plus you can control all the ingredients so you don’t have to worry about corn syrup and granulated sugar being added, as well as crazy processed ingredients you don’t even know about.
So, yea, I guess you could say it’s pretty dang awesome.
All in all, this is the best hot chocolate mix any of us have ever had.
HOT CHOCOLATE MIX INGREDIENTS
The great thing about this hot chocolate mix is how versatile it is. For instance, you can easily make this entire hot chocolate mix without any dairy by using a non-dairy milk. My favorites are unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened coconut milk. Both make a surprisingly similar creamy, dreamy hot cocoa, but any milk will work perfectly.
Oh, the lusciousness!
As for the hot cocoa mix recipe, we have:
- cocoa powder;
- coconut sugar;
- sea salt;
- vanilla powder;
- ground cinnamon.
Simple, clean ingredients but totes amazing hot chocolate results.
HOW TO MAKE HOT CHOCOLATE WITH YOUR MIX
To transform the healthy hot chocolate mix into a delicious hot chocolate…
- heat a saucepan over medium heat;
- add the homemade hot chocolate mix into the saucepan;
- add the milk into the hot cocoa mix slowly, stirring constantly;
- stir frequently until you bring the hot chocolate mix just below a simmer.
I also made some homemade marshmallows which sent the girls over the edge into a blissful hot chocolate, marshmallowy heaven. And, yea, ok…me, too. These marshmallows are corn syrup free, but still need a few more tweaks to be free of all refined sugars. More to come on that!
If you’re not a marshmallow fan, you can enjoy this healthy hot chocolate with w.
HOT CHOCOLATE IN A JAR GIFT IDEAS
Since this homemade hot chocolate mix is a powder (dry), it makes the perfect gift for the holidays. I’m talking about a Hot Chocolate in a jar gift! You can either include instructions with the hot chocolate mix to just add the milk or you could even add dried/dehydrated milk so it’s just an “add water and go” kinda awesomeness.
In order to make this completely dry for gifts, you can follow this rule:
1 cup milk = 1/4 cup dry milk and 1 cup water
So, if you’re making the recipe as written, you’d need 1 cup dry milk and then explain in the directions just to add 4 cups of water. Bing bang boom.
If you’re not making for gifts and you’re making it right away, you can also substitute the vanilla powder with pure vanilla extract, since there’s no need to have it be dried. You can use a 1:1 ratio for the powder to liquid, but just add it to the hot chocolate mix once it’s heated through and you’ve removed it from the heat.
3 MORE HOT DRINKS RECIPES
Congratulations, you just learned how to make hot cocoa mix from scratch and how to make healthy hot chocolate! Are you thinking what I’m thinking? More Winter-perfect hot drinks? Yes, that’s exactly what I had in mind.
HOT APPLE CIDER
I love when my house smells like apples, oranges, and cinnamon during Winter. Not from a candle but from my Hot Apple Cider.
This Easy Hot Apple Cider is refined-sugar free, healthy, and it has all the best Winter flavors in one hot drink that will make you feel warm and happy. Get the recipe.
(BETTER THAN STARBUCKS!) EGGNOG LATTE
I used to love my occasional trip to Starbucks but my wallet didn’t and neither did my health. So I decided to make flavored lattes at home including this (Better Than Starbucks!) Eggnog Latte.
Made with light eggnog and other clean ingredients, my (better-than-Starbucks!) Eggnog Latte recipe is tasty, easy to make at home and you don’t even need an espresso maker! Get the recipe.
HOMEMADE HEALTHY PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE RECIPE
Speaking of popular Starbucks lattes, I have another latte recipe inspired by Starbucks that I decided to make healthy. Introducing my Homemade Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe.
You’ll get all the pumpkin spice goodness with this recipe but none of the refined and unhealthy ingredients. Awesome, right? Get the recipe.
How To Make Healthy Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
How to make hot chocolate mix from scratch that your kids will love! This homemade hot chocolate mix is free of refined sugars and totally clean eating.
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla powder (can substitute with pure vanilla extract if not needing to keep mixture dry)
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 cups unsweetened almond milk (can use any preferred milk)
-
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, coconut sugar, sea salt, vanilla powder, and cinnamon) and stir to combine.
-
Heat a sauce pan over medium-high heat and add the dry cocoa mixture.
-
While stirring or whisking constantly, slowly add the milk until all the milk has been added and the dry powders are fully dissolved.
-
Bring the mixture to a just below a simmer, taking care to stir frequently and to not allow the mixture to boil.
-
Serve hot, preferably with some whipped cream.
Recipe Video
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Hi. I made this for a small gift for my cousin. I added some nutmeg and pumpkin spice. I’ll let you know what she thinks!! I couldn’t find powdered vanilla so I left it out.
I’ll be making more so will send a picture of how I packaged them in mason jars with ribbon around the lid with cute tags!!
What kind of vanilla powder do you use and where do you buy it please. Thanks!
I get madagascar vanilla powder from my local spice shop 🙂
Is there a way I can keep mixture without milk sot hat I can just have this whenever I like.
Yes, you can use 1 cup dry milk to replace the regular milk – then just add 4 cups water when ready to cook.
Hi there,
I’m in Australia and we don’t have vanilla powder…. I can order it online but it’s really expensive. I want to make this for gifts so ingredients need to be dry. Would Vanilla Sugar work or should I just leave it out? Also did I read that half this mixture is suitable for one serve. I want to put recipe instructions with the jar.
Many thanks,
Lisa
I’d probably just leave it out, unless you’d like to add in vanilla sugar as a replacement for the other sugar in the recipe. Yes, depending on the size of the mug, it will serve 2-4. To be safe, I’d say you’re correct that 2 servings will work from this recipe.
I would really love to make this with powdered milk in it, so you just need to add water. Any suggestion for the amount of powdered milk to add to this recipe for this size of servings?
Thank you!
YES, I’ve actually been wanting to try to do that for a while now, too! I’ve read that 1 cup liquid milk can be converted to 3 tbsp. dry milk plus 1 cup water. So, since my recipe calls for 4 cups milk, that would be 12 tbsp. or 3/4 cup dry milk (plus 4 cups water to reconstitute). If you try it out, I’d love to know how it goes!!
Both my wife and I are hot chocolate lovers. This is, by far, the best hot chocolate we have ever tasted. Thank you introducing us to this heavenly bliss.
YES!! This comment made my morning, Joey 🙂 I’m so glad you feel the same way about this hot chocolate recipe as we do. SO GOOD 🙂
Fabulous photos that showcase your super cocoa recipe. Hope you plan to share the marshmallow recipe.
Thanks, Julie! Sorry I didn’t add the link in before, but here’s my marshmallow recipe: https://www.asweetpeachef.com/sweets/homemade-marshmallow-recipe/ 🙂
I love this recipe for hot cocoa. The touch of cinnamon and the 2 different types of sugars just gives it a zing. I also add a 1/4 tsp of espresso powder. I am making this for XMAS gifts; will put it in pretty jars.
Thanks so much
Hi Susan. I’m so glad you enjoy this hot cocoa. We love it, too. I’m really intrigued by the added espresso powder – what a great idea! Yay for pretty jars 🙂
Hi Lacey
I want to make this cocoa mix for gifts. If used as individual servings, how much cocoa mix should be used for 8 oz of milk?
Hi Susan. Yay, what a fun gift 🙂
I would use exactly half of this recipe for individual servings.
I like making hot chocolate from scratch and have tried several recipes. My kids complain because the milk will form a skin, and they don’t like that. Any suggestions to prevent that?
From what I’ve read, the best way is to watch it as closely as possible when cooking and to stir very frequently so as to reduce it. And to drink it fast 😉
This is so good and I love the stuff Jordan does super cute to see her in the kitchen cooking 🙂
Yea, it’s so fun to cook with her and to have that time in the kitchen with her 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you for this! Prefect little gifts for the office;)
Yay! You’re very welcome, Judy 🙂