I am starting to think that chocolate is my favorite herb 😛 Gosh it has so many benefits but you can look at some of my older posts on that. This week I want to give you some different recipes to make hot chocolate. I am not really into the holiday spirits, the alcohol spirits that is, so hot chocolate has always been a really festive and heart warming holiday drink for me.
Basic Crock Pot Hot Chocolate Ingredients
There are a few different options on how to make hot chocolate and for some people that is just microwave some water and mix in some powdered mix and that is a great starter. You can skip this part of the recipes and scroll down for some festive herbal suggestions to add to your hot chocolate. But if you want to go all out and make hot chocolate from scratch, this section is for you.
Milk: You can choose whatever milk suits you best. It is not good to use alternative milks on a stove top to make this but if you are using a crock pot, the slower heating method will allow you to use alternative milks like almond, coconut, soy, or oat milk. I personally prefer real milk or a heavier grain milk, like oat milk for my hot chocolate.
Chocolate: Powdered chocolate options are the easiest to work with for this recipe but you can also use solid chocolate. There are a number of higher quality powdered chocolate options that are at grocery stores this time of the year that don’t have sweetener or are just actual chocolate. To find these simply look at the ingredient lists. Typically I look for a mix that is dairy and sugar free. Usually then it doesn’t have other ingredients and I can just add what I want. You can also use bakers chocolate powder but this is often very dark chocolate so it may not suite your desires.
If you choose to use solid chocolate, you may find your cost goes up quickly. For a crock pot of hot chocolate for about 8 people I would use at least 4-100g bars of chocolate, perhaps more, bringing your cost up pretty high. It will take a significant time for the chocolate to melt in your pot so you may want to melt your chocolate ahead of time in a double boiler. Even then, when you add it to already warmed milk, it may resolidify, making your hot chocolate granular. Overall, it is easier to go with a powdered chocolate option.
Sweetener: I tend to go with granular cane sugar, with all of its evils, when making hot chocolate. Other good options are honey or agave syrup. You run the risk of these not fully dissolving however. You can also skip the sweetener if you want a nice dark chocolate.
Making Your Hot Chocolate
Don’t just dump everything in to the crock pot and turn it on. You will want to start with just heating up your milk slowly to prevent it from burning, stirring every few minutes. Depending on how much you are making, I have had the heating process take up to an hour with a large batch. When your milk has reached a hot temperature you would want to drink, begin by adding your chocolate, powdered or pre-melted. You will then want to use a whisk to mix your hot chocolate continually with the heat still on so that it does not burn. Even will powdered hot chocolate mix, it can take a while for the chocolate to incorporate well into the milk. The heat is a necessity for this. When it is combined, add your sweetener to taste. Better to have too little than too much. When your sweetener is all dissolved and incorporated, your hot chocolate is ready to enjoy or add some delicious herbs for some holiday festive spirit!
Spicy, Warming Hot Chocolate
If you want a mildly spicy hot chocolate, I recommend adding some powdered cinnamon. You can also add a few cinnamon sticks into your milk when you are first heating up your milk but the flavor is harder to control this way and may easily become stronger than you want. I also like to add a sprinkle of powdered cayenne after my hot chocolate is all made. You do not need much cayenne at all when you are using this. I really like to add cayenne if I am planning to cool my leftover hot chocolate to drink another day. Cold, spicy hot chocolate is delicious! Other herbs that you can sprinkle into your large batch to taste are nutmeg, ginger, all spice, and any other herbs you enjoy in the winter months.
If you have a milk frother, you may want to froth some milk to put on top or use some organic/homemade marshmallows with a sprinkle of cinnamon for decoration. For the sweet and spicy chocolate lovers, this is a delicious winter treat.
Mint Hot Chocolate
This is a little different than our normal herbal additions. To make a nice mint hot chocolate you need to use mint extract. However, mint extract will start to evaporate in the heat so only do this right before serving. You may also want to turn off the crock pot so you do not keep adding more heat to the drink. It may not keep as well as the spicy hot chocolate simply because of the heat causing evaporation when you go to reheat this. I generally start with 1/2 tsp of mint extract for a crock pot filled with 8 servings of hot chocolate. Depending on the strength of your mint extract, you may want to use significantly more than that. Do not go by smell when determining if you want to add more mint extract. Mix and then take a small taste, away from the full pot, to best know how the flavor is. Your sense of smell will deceive you.
You may also be interested in making a mint whip cream to go with this! Sounds amazing to me! There are many recipes to make whip cream the way you like it and once it is all whipped and sweetened as you like it, add in a very small amount of your mint extract. You will need less for your whip cream than your hot chocolate because there is no heat to evaporate it away. Start with a few drops and go from there. Perhaps you may even want to color your whip cream red or green for the holidays.
Take a lovely glass, add your hot chocolate, mint whip cream, and top it with sprinkles or a candy! This drink can easily look delicious!
Jillian Carnrick is the owner/operator of The Dancing Herbalist, LLC which specializes in clean, natural, and simple topical herbal medicine products.
