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Homemade Instant Hot Cocoa is rich and creamy, and just as easy to make as the store-bought instant pouch—without extra sketchy ingredients. Mix things up with fun flavor add-ins!
On a cold winter day, it’s only fitting to snuggle under a cozy blanket and unwind with a hot drink in hand.
Even more so, if snow is on the ground. When my kids come inside after playing in the snow (pretty rare here in Virginia!), there are two things on my mind: hot soup and hot cocoa (preferably topped with my easy homemade whipped cream)!
Instant Hot Cocoa Ingredients
If you’re like me, you’re more than a bit skeptical of the ingredients found in store-bought instant hot chocolate pouches. Just in case you haven’t read the label recently, here is an example, straight from the Swiss Miss box:
INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Whey, Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, Nonfat Milk, Calcium Carbonate, less than 2% of: Salt, Dipotassium Phosphate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Carrageenan, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Artificial Flavor. Contains: Milk.
Did you catch that? FOUR different forms of sugar (two of which are the first two ingredients!), hydrogenated fat (not too far behind), and other additives. Call me crazy…but shouldn’t delicious cocoa need no more than milk (or water), cocoa, and ONE sweetener??
Don’t get me wrong—I grew up on Swiss Miss. But in more recent years, I’ve quickly learned about refined sugars and their (not so good) effects on your body, and that is enough to make me run far away from the store-bought packets!
Instead, I’ve started to mix up my own homemade cocoa, and found it to be no harder or more time consuming than the store-bought version, thanks to using the microwave. Feel free to call me a hot cocoa snob, but I also think it tastes a hundred times better than the box!!
Another benefit to making homemade instant hot cocoa is that it is one less item to buy at the store. Rather than add hot chocolate pouches to my grocery list, the homemade version uses ingredients I always have in my kitchen, so we will never need to turn down the opportunity to indulge!
Cost of Homemade Hot Cocoa
If you’re interested in a cost comparison, here’s my best estimation. Swiss Miss (or similar store-bought hot chocolate pouches) cost about $0.15 each (per serving). The cost of my recipe below will vary, depending on which natural sweetener you choose to use, so here is a breakdown:
Cost per serving using honey: $0.14
Cost per serving using organic coconut palm sugar: $0.20
Cost per serving using pure maple syrup: $0.22
Whether you make just one cup at a time or an entire pot for a crowd, you’ll find this homemade instant hot cocoa to be a hit!
Serves: 1
Homemade Instant Hot Cocoa is rich and creamy, and just as easy to make as the store-bought instant pouch—without extra sketchy ingredients. Start with the basic recipe, and then choose a flavor add-in to mix things up!
2 minCook Time
2 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp raw sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
- (optional) flavor add-ins: 1 drop peppermint extract ; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 dash cinnamon
Instructions
- Fill your favorite mug 3/4 full with milk and microwave on high for 90 seconds. Add cocoa powder and sweetener of choice; stir well.
- Continue heating in the microwave for 30-second intervals and stirring until ingredients are completely smooth and dissolved.
- Serve as is, or choose a flavor add-in: 1 drop peppermint extract ; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 dash cinnamon.
- Top with homemade whipped cream , and enjoy!
Notes
To make more than one serving at a time, warm milk in a medium saucepan. Add cocoa powder and whisk until incorporated. Remove the pot from heat and stir in sweetener and flavor add-ins. Divide between mugs and enjoy!
This article was featured on Adore Them, a site dedicated to helping you find joy in parenting through weekly topical collections of articles, videos, shareable quotes, and more. View the full collection here.
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