Tea Time with Jo | Medicinal Hot Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients:

(2 servings)

-2 tsp of Cacao powder (not cocoa)

-1 tbsp of Coconut Palm Sugar

-1/4 tsp of Ground Cinnamon

-1/4 tsp of Turmeric Powder

-1 pinch of Ground Black Pepper (can substitute with cayenne or chili powder)

-1 tbsp of Grass Fed Butter, Ghee or Coconut Oil

-4 Hu Chocolate Gems (optional)

-1 Tablespoon of Honey or Maple Syrup (optional)

-12 oz of milk of choice (I like 4oz of full fat coconut milk and 8 oz of cashew or oat milk)

Steps:

-On Medium-Low heat, melt your butter, ghee or coconut oil. 

-Add Cacao, Coconut Sugar, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Black Pepper and Hu Gems, if using. Gently melt everything together until it turns into a paste. Be sure to do this gently as you don’t want your chocolate to burn. 

-Once the paste has formed, slowly add your milk, whisking it with the paste so that it incorporates thoroughly, a little at a time. Adding cold milk too quickly will cause the paste to not dissolve uniformly, leaving “chunks” in your finished beverage. 

-Once everything has dissolved and your milk is warmed to your desired temp, taste it for sweetness. If desired, add the honey, maple syrup or even more coconut sugar, to taste. 

Use a frother if you want to add that coffee shop feel to your hot chocolate. Serve in 6oz portions and enjoy!

Notes:

The reason this is called “Medicinal Hot Chocolate” is because it is full of medicinal benefits while also being a delicious warm, cozy drink. Cacao is full of anti-oxidants and methylxanthines like theobromine and caffeine, in a unique ratio, that supports healthy circulatory function. Cinnamon has a long list of benefits that include also supporting circulatory function as well as being anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, supporting healthy blood sugar regulation, and anti-viral/bacterial/fungal properties. Turmeric has many of the same benefits but is better absorbed in the presence of Piperine, which is a compound found in black pepper, chili pepper and cayenne pepper. 



Inspiration:

This hot chocolate is inspired by 2 things. 1 of them is an ex-coworker I had that taught me the technique of making the ingredients into a paste before adding the milk. That is where the magic lays in making a hot chocolate with real ingredients. The other is an old Starbucks drink that was called “Chantico”. It was a rich drinking chocolate that debuted in 2005 and was removed from their menu shortly thereafter. If you make this hot chocolate with full fat coconut milk, it will be thick and extra rich, reminiscent of the Chantico.

I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I do. Cheers!