Vegan Maple Hot Cocoa

With the first significant snow fall of the year comes something special... hot cocoa!  I like to have it thoroughly mixed & heated up by the time the kids come inside from playing in the snow.  Besides Christmas Eve, the only other time that I make hot cocoa is when the kids come inside from playing in the snow & are thoroughly chilled through so a warm cup of hot cocoa tastes extra good!  So it's a treat in our house, which makes it something special since it's not an "every day" thing.  ;)

Until this year, I'd used organic cane sugar to sweeten my hot cocoa.  That's fine, but it takes quite a bit of heat over quite a bit of time to melt the sugar crystals in the milk, & you have to stand there for quite a while whisking it so the cocoa doesn't burn over the higher heat setting.  And then one of my Facebook friends mentioned maple hot cocoa...  Brilliant!  Why didn't I think of that?  I'm always using real NH maple syrup to sweeten when I'm cooking & baking.  The maple syrup mixes instantly, plus it's a local product & healthier than sugar.  Win-win-win!

The only cocoa powder that I buy is organic & fair trade because, well, I believe farmers should get paid a fair price for their product, never mind the fact that being organic means it's better for the environment & better for my family.  However buying an 8 oz. container of organic fair trade cocoa is a bigger up-front cost than purchasing, say, those god-awful packets of premixed "hot cocoa" (I use quotes because there's so much extra unnecessary crap in them, they shouldn't be allowed to call themselves hot cocoa).  So I use both carob powder & organic fair trade cocoa powder in my hot cocoa recipe.  I find, on average, carob powder costs the same as organic fair trade cocoa, however, the package of carob powder is twice as big - 16 ounces of carob powder to 8 ounces of cocoa powder.  So I get more "bang for my buck" by using half carob powder & half cocoa powder, without sacrificing taste!  My kids aren't shy, they'd tell me if they didn't like it.  ;)  

Now I prefer organic rice milk over organic soy milk when making this hot cocoa.  I find soy milk taste quite soy-y, & that taste comes through quite a bit in the hot cocoa.  It's not a bad taste, in my opinion, I just prefer the more mild rice milk for hot cocoa.  

So here it is, my Vegan Maple Hot Cocoa recipe!

Mix the following ingredients in a sauce pan over medium-low heat, whisk until thoroughly mixed, & serve warm.  This makes two large mugs of hot cocoa, or three smaller ones.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups organic rice milk, organic soy milk, etc
• 1/4 cup local maple syrup (use 1/2 cup for more maple flavor)
• 3 tbsp carob powder
• 3 tbsp organic, fair trade cocoa powder

Enjoy!  :)