There was a distinct chill in the air last night which lead me to put on slippers and make a cup of gluten free, dairy free hot chocolate. This quick and easy beverage can be simply made from scratch in a matter of minutes.
Hot Cocoa
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (raw) cashews
- 1 cup water (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
- 20 drops stevia
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Place cashews and (room temperature) water in a vitamix; puree on high until completely smooth and no lumps of cashew remain
- Blend in cacao, agave, stevia and vanilla
- Divide cacao mixture evenly between 2 mugs
- Top off each mug with ½ cup boiling water
- Serve
Equipment
My younger son and his friend Kai were my taste testers for today’s hot chocolate. I make sure to test the recipes that I post on someone besides myself, often making each one several times.
Here’s what they had to say, “It tasted really good with the stevia.” Initially I had a mere 10 drops of stevia in the recipe, however the boys said it was not quite sweet enough, so I doubled up to make it taste more like regular hot chocolate by adding 10 more drops, resulting in the 20 drops you see in the recipe above.
On another note, while this site is still a well kept secret, my recipes are often reviewed by others online, generally in a positive tone. Today I saw this review of my simple bread. While it was nice that the review was honest (I always appreciate the feedback) the tone wasn’t something to which I’m accustomed.
I would have to agree though that my recipes are not for those looking to save on food costs (see Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma for more on that). They are very filling (making many more servings than average dishes) and far more nutritious.
How do you view food? What priority does it take in your life? Leave a comment and let us know.
Velita Hickle says
Where do you get your raw cashews from? I haven’t found them locally.. Is there a website you can recommend? Thanks!
MARIA says
My fav recipe is the Hot Chocolate…I don’t’ have a Vita Mix so I use my Bullet mini blender!
Thank you!
marla {family fresh cooking} says
If I won that Vitamix this cocoa would be made immediately!
Lydia says
Firstly I want to say that I love your blog and your creativity but I had a few problems with this recipe. Firstly it was not even chocolatly! I added in 3 T of coco instead. Also, I only used 10 drops of stevia, i cannot imagine how sweet it would be with 20. Although you did say that your kids wanted it sweeter so you added more… It was also too watery, next time i’ll add less hot water. Also it was too cold so I stuck it on the stove to heat it up and to thicken it, I also stuck in a pinch of arrowroot. Also, I added a little bit of cinnamon.
Maybe I’m just more used to spanish-style hot chocolate which is always thick and chocolaty, I never grew up on Nestle instant with hot water…
But great ideas! I love your blog!
Thanks, Lydia
Kai says
Nice drink!! I loved it!!!!!!!
Kai
kai says
I agree it was the greatest!!!!!
elana says
Ruth,
Thanks for the report!
Elana
Ruth says
HI!! I just made this cocoa today (11/16/08) and used 1/3 teaspoon of NOW Stevia powder and it tasted great, IMHO.
elana says
Daphne,
I have not ever used xantham gum or guar guar and am not sure exactly what they are.
This would be a great question for the forums.
Thanks,
Elana
Primrose says
Both xanthan and guar gums need to be whisked into other ingredients very vigorously, preferably with a blender. If you try adding them by hand to a wet or moist mixture they just lump as Daphne found.
However the gums can be successfully added to gluten-free dry flour mixes making sure they’re fully mixed in prior to adding any liquids.
I love adding just a tad (about 1/3 tsp) to dairy-free ice cream mixtures and let the blender amalgamate the gum fully. The gum gives a gorgeous creamy silky mouthfeel to the ice cream. If too much is added the ice cream will feel slimy in the mouth, so the rule with the gums is “less is more”.
Hope that helps.
Daphne says
Elana, can you tell me how to use Xanthan Gum or Guar Guar for thickening? I made a pineapple sauce (using crushed pineapple)for a chocolate bundt cake that fell apart. I decided to thicken with Xanthan Gum rather than cornstarch but when I added water it lumped badly. However, since it was mixed with the crushed pineapple it didn’t make that much difference as it was almost transparent when cooked so the lumps really didn’t show.
You have a wonderful website and I’m really going to have fun trying some of your recipes.
Thanks so much!
elana says
Kitty -I haven’t had much success in using macadamias for nut milks. Cashews and almonds seem to work much better.
Tara -I couldn’t agree more with everything you say. Thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it!
Ruth -Thanks so much for getting back to us on this.