Peppermint Hot Chocolate is easy to make, and far better than the instant hot chocolate that comes in a package, which is loaded with sugar and definitely not dairy free. Additionally, I find this soothing and healthy beverage to be a great substitute for all of the peppermint candy floating around this time of year.
I make this dairy free hot chocolate with coconut milk, and thankfully, it does not contain a coconut-ish flavor; it is a rich and chocolatey hot beverage. Use a high quality organic chocolate for a healthier and tastier result.
This Peppermint Hot Chocolate recipe is easy to make and full of nutritious ingredients –just don’t tell your children!
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- ¼ cup full fat coconut milk
- 1½ cups water
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 peppermint tea bags
Instructions
- In a saucepan bring coconut milk, water, and peppermint tea to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
- Remove from heat and remove tea bags
- Stir in chocolate chips and honey, mixing until melted
- Pour into mugs
- Serve
Equipment
Dark chocolate is a great treat during the holidays when we are inundated with sugary, unhealthy desserts.
Chocolate is a functional food that is both low on the glycemic index and full of powerful antioxidants. The heart healthy flavonoids in dark chocolate lower blood pressure and decrease blood clotting. It is also thought that dark chocolate fights cardiovascular disease, as well as premature aging and cancer.
Go ahead and get yourself some chocolate, and let us know what your favorite dark chocolate recipe is.
Erika K @ Best Food Processor Info says
Have to say, I’m surprised by the peppermint tea in this. So creative! The girls have their favorite hot cocoa drink they have now and then. This might become “Mommy’s hot chocolate”.
I drink at least a couple of cups of tea during the day now that it’s cold out, but this might be a way to change it up and still be pretty healthy. Thank you so much for this creative recipe. :)
Erika
Michele says
Coconut milk – brilliant! I’ll have to see if we have peppermint tea otherwise I might experiment with peppermint extract. I love love love peppermint!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Holy yum! I love the fact that this recipe is dairy free and uses my favorite, coconut milk!! Thanks for sharing :D
Hannah Willette says
Great recipe!
As for the BPA comment… its my understanding that there is a small amounts that is leached into the food. How much depends on the acidity of the food. The higher the acidity level the more BPA contaminate will be drawn out. Take for instant canned tomatoes – they will have higher levels of BPA than coconut milk.
I think if you rarely used canned food and coconut milk is one of your exceptions you should be ok.
Anna says
I read an article stating that canned coconut milk actually has a far higher level of BPA than canned fruits and veggies, due to the high fat content.
I switched to Native Forest brand.
Rebeca says
Oh, yumm! Thank you for this!
Chris C says
I used powdered Fair Trade dark Cocoa, Agave and fat free cows milk, sorry not a vegan. Also I added a candy peppermint stick hung on the cup for a little fun.
Yummy!
Michele says
Well technically honey makes Elana’s recipe vegetarian, not vegan. :) Elana makes a lot of recipes DF, I think maybe because someone in her family is sensitive. I’m wondering why she didn’t use agave like you did as it’s the sweetener she seems to use most.
Renee says
You don’t have to be a vegan to use coconut milk! In fact, milk is actually not that great for you body (more info here: http://whole9life.com/2009/07/dairy-manifesto/). Plus, fat-free dairy is heavily processed. Furthermore, since calcium and vitamin D are fat-soluble (you need to eat it with fat to absorb it), and there’s no fat in fat-free milk (duh!), you can’t absorb the “good stuff”.
Cat says
Sounds lovely. When does the honey get added?
Steph@DairyFreeOmnivore says
I never would have thought to use coconut milk to make hot cocoa. Or peppermint tea bags- YUM! Before I was dairyfree I LOVED peppermint hot cocoa. I still make it for my family all the time, and now I’ll be able to make it for myself too!
Jose says
What’s the word on BPA levels in canned coconut milk? I love coconut milk but am not a big fan of the canned part. What do others do about this?
Heather says
Native Forest coconut milk is supposed to be in BPA-free cans. However, they’ve diluted it some more recently as the fat content is now done to 10 grams.
Michele says
I don’t worry about it. Coconut milk and the occasional beans are all that I eat out of cans. Well, at least when I am eating out of MY kitchen. Who knows what comes out of cans in a restaurant!
Elana does have a DIY version of coconut milk that you can make if you’d like.
catherine says
Check out the coconut milk from Aroy-D: the kind that’s preservative free and comes in packages similar to tetra-pak. Nothing is added to it and best of all, it DOES NOT TASTE LIKE A CAN. A few stores carry it in Montréal, Qc, but I don’t know how easy it is to find elsewhere. I’ve never tasted a better coconut milk.
Elana Dweck says
I’ll have to try this with the cocounut milk and tea bag. I usually make my hot chocolate with almond milk and the organic dagoba cocoa mix. Have you ever tried using peppermint oil instead? I have seen that in several recipes as well.