This healthy hot chocolate mix in a jar is a fabulous DIY Christmas gift. I love making homemade healthy gifts for the holidays. Giving friends, family, and neighbors a homemade gift from the heart can be every bit as meaningful as something expensive. Sometimes even more so!
My healthy hot chocolate mix in a jar contains 5 dry ingredients. You’ll need unsweetened cacao powder, cacao butter, coconut sugar, freshly ground nutmeg, and a cinnamon stick. You can omit the spices if you want to keep this healthy recipe really simple. Write these instructions on the tag: simmer 2 cups water + 1 cup coconut milk; whisk in hot cocoa mix until smooth, then serve.
As you can see, it’s super easy to turn this healthy hot chocolate mix into a delicious dairy-free hot chocolate. You’ll get 3 large servings, or 4 medium ones from this dairy-free mix. My mix has cacao butter in it in order to make it super rich in the absence of cow’s milk. I haven’t tested my hot chocolate mix recipe without cacao butter. If I guessed, I would think it would be too watery without this ingredient.
Hot Chocolate Mix In a Jar
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 ounce cacao butter, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 one-cup quilted mason jar with red lid
Instructions
- In a one-cup quilted mason jar, layer cacao powder, cacao butter, coconut sugar, and nutmeg
- Tie cinnamon stick to outside of jar with ribbon
- In a saucepan, simmer 2 cups water and 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- Whisk in entire container of hot cocoa mix until smooth
- Serve
I’ve seen tons of gorgeous photos of hot chocolate mix in a jar over the years. Making my own healthy version has been on my list for a while now. The idea crystallized however, when my friend Helen sent me an email with a photo of Catherine McCord’s DIY Double Chocolatey Hot Cocoa in a Jar recipe. My healthy hot chocolate mix recipe is based on that one. For more DIY ideas on how to reduce consumption during the holidays check out this post. Here are some other DIY Christmas gift ideas:
Alayna says
Hi Elana,
I’m so happy you posted this cute gift idea! However, I was making these this morning and it only filled my 8oz jar half way. Any ideas? It looks like my cacao butter takes up less room then yours, so not sure if I need to add more than 1 ounce or if I need to chop it up even smaller (it’s pretty small already).
Thanks so Much!
Alayna
Elana says
Hi Alayna, when I make this my jar is a little more than 3/4 full, I wouldn’t chop the cacao butter any smaller as that will make it take up less room. You may need to weigh the cacao butter again to make sure you’ve used the proper amount. The cacao butter takes up a little more space than the cacao powder or the coconut sugar :-)
Llissa says
I have a lactose intolerant daughter who is not a fan of coconut. I could probably get by with the sugar and cacao butter, but not the coconut milk. Am I looking at almond milk then? Just not as creamy rich?
Elana says
Llissa, I haven’t tried that so not sure. If you do please let us know how it goes :-)
N says
To thicken u can add a touch of xanthan powder ….if tolerated.
Rita says
I found cashew milk or ground cashews or cashew butter mixed in with almond milk gives my drinks extra creaminess.
Elana says
Rita, totally agree!
Doug says
I made this for my wife…The coconut milk takes this to another level – It’s so rich and complex.
Carol Blanchet says
Darn, I wish I’d seen this sooner. I’d love to give this for gifts, but don’t have the cacao butter on hand. In fact, I didn’t even know about it until this post. Thanks so much, Elaina, for sharing. I’m stashing this recipe for next year’s gift giving! (and ordering the cacao butter so I can make this for my family now!)
Shari from NC says
How do you incorporate the cinnamon stick in this recipe? Simmer in saucepan with other ingredients? Whisk drinks? Leave in whisked drink? Thanks!!
Elana says
Shari, yes, simmer with the other ingredients :-)
Emily says
Do you think 3 cups regular milk would work in place of the water and coconut milk?
Elana says
Hi Emily, I haven’t tried that so not sure. If you do please let us know how it goes.