Dairy Free Peppermint Hot Cocoa

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 dairy free milk (almond milk or So Delicious coconut milk would work best)

3 tablespoons cocoa (The higher quality the cocoa, the better tasting your hot chocolate will be!)

2 tablespoons organic agave nectar, or 2 – 3 tablespoons sugar, palm sugar, sucant, etc., or stevia 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.

14 thoughts on “Dairy Free Peppermint Hot Cocoa”

Terris@ Free Eats on November 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm said:

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.

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- MAID in Alaska on November 17, 2011 at 9:06 am said:
  
  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
  
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Tessa@TessaDomesticDiva on November 15, 2011 at 4:11 pm said:

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!

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- MAID in Alaska on November 17, 2011 at 9:07 am said:
  
  Totally froze my buns off! Thanks, Tessa!
  
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glutenfreealaska on November 15, 2011 at 4:46 pm said:

sitting down with a cup right now as I look at all the snow outside. A nice treat after shoveling it all! thanks

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- MAID in Alaska on November 17, 2011 at 9:09 am said:
  
  Awesome! Thanks for trying it, my friend!
  
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Heather on November 16, 2011 at 10:26 am said:

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?

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- MAID in Alaska on November 17, 2011 at 9:08 am said:
  
  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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Annaliese on November 29, 2011 at 8:03 am said:

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.

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- MAID in Alaska on November 29, 2011 at 8:11 am said:
  
  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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Angel on January 12, 2012 at 9:26 am said:

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.

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MAID in Alaska on January 12, 2012 at 11:15 pm said:

Hi Angel,
Thanks for following me! 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.

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

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