Enjoy this collection of easy vegan hot chocolate recipes which should definitely be enjoyed during the winter months! Creamy, rich, and warming, these hot chocolate recipes make for the perfect way to warm up!
Warm beverages in the winter time is an absolute must. These easy vegan hot chocolate recipes are made with 5 ingredients or less and you probably already have most ingredients in your kitchen!
My favorite part about making homemade hot chocolate at home is that you can decide how much sugar and chocolate are in each mug.
Pair a warm mug of hot chocolate with vegan cinnamon roll cookies and your tastebuds will be in heaven.
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Ingredients
The ingredients for these easy vegan hot chocolate recipes are so clean!
- almond milk
- cocoa powder
- dark chocolate
- sea salt
- maple syrup/date syrup
- vanilla extract
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let me show you how to make easy vegan hot chocolate recipes!
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring them to a boil.
Mix the hot chocolate liquid until smooth and there are no chunks of chocolate remaining.
Pour the hot chocolate liquid into a mug of your choosing.
Top with dairy-free whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate! Enjoy!
How to make hot chocolate like Starbucks?
So if you look at the ingredients of a hot chocolate from Starbucks, you will find the following ingredients:
Sugar, alkalized cocoa powder, coconut oil, nonfat dry milk, whey solids, sea salt, cocoa extract, sodium caseinate, natural flavor, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, steviol glycosides.
Some of those ingredients you probably don’t even know what it is (i.e. dipotassium phosphate?!).
“Can you go grab some dipotassium phosphate at the grocery store?” Said no one ever.
This is why I love to make my own version of vegan hot chocolate at home because I can control what is in the mug!
So to break down the Starbucks recipe into a healthy version & vegan version, this is what we need.
- Maple Syrup/Date Syrup – instead of using cane sugar
- Cocoa Powder – we will use both cocoa powder & dark chocolate squares
- Coconut Oil – no need
- Almond milk – instead of nonfat dry milk & whey solids
- Sea salt – we will use this
Easy Vegan Hot Chocolate Recipes – Variations
To make a variety of different easy vegan hot chocolate recipes, start with the base hot chocolate recipe, which can be found below. Then, choose the variation that you want to create.
Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate
Prepare the original hot chocolate recipe and then add 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree & 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice. Mix until smooth and hot. Top with whipped cream!
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
Prepare the original hot chocolate recipe followed by adding 5 drops of salted caramel drops. After the ingredients are smooth, pour the liquid into a blender. Add 2 dates and blend on level 10 for 30 seconds. Pour into a mug & top with whip cream!
Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
Prepare the original hot chocolate recipe followed by adding 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Mix until the nut butter has completely dissolved. Pour into a mug & top with whip cream!
Top Tip
Make 5 servings of the base hot chocolate recipe at the start of the week. Then when you would like to enjoy a hot mug, pour the appropriate amount of hot chocolate into a mug and enjoy the dessert!
FAQ
Starbucks uses 70% dark chocolate. To make Starbucks hot chocolate, they use the cocoa blend, which includes nonfat milk powder & whey powder. As a result, Starbucks hot chocolate is not vegan.
Check out Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Premium Hot Cocoa, which has the following ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa – Processed With Alkali, Unsweetened Chocolate, Soy Lecithin – An Emulsifier, and Vanilla. Because there is no dairy in the mix, it is vegan!
Vegan hot chocolate includes milk (dairy-free), sugar (i.e. maple syrup, date syrup, etc.), chocolate (i.e. powder or squares without whey), and salt.
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Hot Chocolate Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Almond Milk
- 2 Squares Dark Chocolate
- 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup Or date syrup works too
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Pinch Sea Salt
Instructions
- Add the ingredients to a saucepan.
- Turn the heat on medium high and allow the liquid to come to a boil.
- Keep mixing the ingredients until there are no clumps remaining in the pot.
- Pour the liquid into a mug & top with whipped cream & shaved chocolate!