No-Refined Sugar Hot Chocolate

It's winter, it's cold outside, we're expecting snow (again), and hot chocolate sounds good. My go-to is the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder container. Yummy, but full of refined, white, table sugar. Full of..... junk.

 

What's a girl to do, though, when the kiddos are chanting "hot chocolate, hot chocolate" and something warm and chocolatey (yes, that IS a word!) sounds sooooooooooo delightful?

 

My solution was simple. Make some! Just without the refined sugar.

No-Refined Sugar Hot Chocolate (also dairy-free)
12-16 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup REAL maple syrup (not to be confused with pancake syrup)
3T. cocoa powder
Cinnamon powder, to taste

 

Oh yeah....

 

Warm the coconut milk in a saucepan until desired temperature has been reached.

 

In separate bowl, mix the maple syrup, cocoa powder, and cinnamon together.

 

Once the milk has reached the temperature desired, stir in the maple syrup mixture.

 

Serve and enjoy!

 

Nutritional Facts (per My Fitness Pal):
320 calories
10.5 grams total fat

3 grams protein
20% DV Vitamin A
26% DV Calcium
23% DV Iron

 

I split this between my daughter and myself and we both had plenty!

 

Health Benefits:
Maple syrup is a source of manganese and a good source of zinc. The zinc makes it good for your heart. These two are also good for the immune system. Plus, maple syrup is a much better alternative than white, processed sugar!

 

 

 

A tasty treat to go with the hot chocolate- especially if you have some you need to get rid of- is to make some cinnamon apples.

 

Peel and slice your apples.

"Fry" in some coconut oil.

 

Drizzle some honey (if desired) and sprinkle some cinnamon!

Once the apples have softened, serve and enjoy!

 

And this, my friends, is how we do cold, winter in a home that's trying to cut out refined sugars, but still find that they have a sweet tooth!