A baby moose was hanging out in my driveway this morning. Momma wasn’t too far behind him, but this little guy was so cute – I just had to share his picture!
It is COLD outside! The high temp at my house for today was 1 degree (F). Supposedly the winds are supposed to pick up, and with the windchill, it’s supposed to be -15 to -30 (yes, that is a negative sign, so 15 to 30 degrees below zero). BRR!!
Time to warm up with some cocoa!
We love hot cocoa in this house, but we especially love peppermint hot cocoa. 
If you are not a peppermint fan, just simply leave the peppermint extract out and double up on the vanilla.
Dairy Free Peppermint Hot Cocoa
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
3 tablespoons cocoa (The higher quality the cocoa, the better tasting your hot chocolate will be!)
2-4 tablespoons coconut nectar, honey, palm sugar, etc. to taste
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Combine all ingredient in a saucepan over medium heat and stir occasionally until all the lumps from the cocoa are dissolved (do not allow your milk to boil!).
- Pour into two mugs and enjoy!
Stay warm!
Megan
This recipe is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and The Gluten-Free Homemaker.
Looks delicious and so comforting on a cold day! Wow, that moose is magnificent. Great shot Megan! Hope you and your family stay warm and cozy.
Hi Terris!
Moose are magnificent creatures – I just wish they weren’t so mean! We really have to be careful around them. They have been known to attack, and they are so big they can easily cause damage very quickly!
Wishing you and the family a very Happy Thanksgiving!!
Megan
How sweet is that moose?! I bet you froze your buns off taking that fun picture of the cocoa! We love cocoa here too, perfect on freezing days!
Totally froze my buns off!
Thanks, Tessa!
sitting down with a cup right now as I look at all the snow outside. A nice treat after shoveling it all! thanks
Awesome!
Thanks for trying it, my friend!
The mug of cocoa made me remember a lesson learned when I still lived up in Anchorage:
Do not set your piping hot mug of cocoa in the snow because you are burning your fingers. Not only will you lose your mug in shattered pieces, but you also will have MORE burnt fingers and no cocoa to soothe your poor spirit!
Ain’t Thermodynamics Grand?
Oh Heather… wow.
That would be a very sad situation!! Thanks for sharing (even though I did get a good laugh at your expense!!)
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Mmm. I love cocoa, and can’t wait to share a dairy free version with my son. Actually, I want to make a version with coconut milk for me, not just my son.
Hi Annaliese!
I’m sure you and your son will love this. It’s a favorite treat in this house for sure!
Megan
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Good morning, I loosely follow your FB page and was interested in this recipe for my youngest. My question is do you have a recipe for a dairy free, but not necessarily sugar free, hot chocolate that is of the instant variety? We go sledding with a large family next door and she brings instant that she makes in her fancy hot chocolate maker. I premake my daughters at home and bring it in a thermos. I’d like to have an instant variety that can be left at places like in the car (since we always have snacks and stuff in the car because you never know how the day will unfold here in Alaska), Grandma’s and other places she frequents.Thank you for your advice.
Hi Angel,
I would put together little baggies of 1 serving cocoas – and would use 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa and 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons of palm sugar (or organic cane sugar, sucant, etc) to each baggie. Then when you’re ready to make her cocoa, simply add the baggie contents to 1 cup of warm dairy free milk.
Thanks for following me!
Those are the measurements I would start with, but you can easily customize them to taste (a bit more cocoa, or more sugar…).
There are powdered vanilla flavorings out there, but I have no idea if any of them are gluten or corn free (if they are gluten and corn free it would be a nice addition).
Hope that helps!
xo
Megan
Got a peppermint hot chocolate craving out of nowhere today so I made your recipe. The recipe was perfect and was exactly what I had wanted! It was a delicious morning!
Hi Vienna,
That’s wonderful! Thank you!
Hugs,
Megan