On the menu today: a delicious hot chocolate made with plant milk. Thanks to ChufaMix, we’ve discovered the wonders of seeds when it comes to making plant milks, which is amazing, since it opens up more combo possibilities involving lots of different flavours, textures and scents. Would you like to know which are the best milks to get a smooth, rich hot beverage which everybody will go crazy for? It works well with churros, croutons, cookies and anything, really. Talk about a perfect cosy drink!

Let me start by telling you some basics about our star ingredient: cacao.

Good cacao is crucial to make a great hot chocolate. You can go for defatted cacao

Katti working at the cocoa plantation / Fernando Carrizales.

powder, a piece of dark chocolate or cacao panela. There’s also the option of nibs (little bits of dry cacao rind), but I personally don’t think that’s too great of an option since they’re hard to dissolve and they also make the drink extra bitter. My favourite thing to use is defatted cacao powder which I get from fair trade shops, but you could also get it from any health food store.

Here in ChufaMix, we really care about the sourcing of the ingredients we use, so I can only but recommend you to always look for the most ethical option, paying a fair price. I recommend you this documentary about cacao´s world named “The dark side of the chocolate”. Can you really enjoy a hot drink when you think about the awful impact it has on the Earth and the people working to bring you those cacao beans? That’s why it’s always best to consume organic fair trade cacao (bonus points: it’s delicious too!).

That being said, let’s move onto these recipes, which I’m sure you’ll adore!

I thought I’d for for oat grains for this one, as they are super nutritious and also sweet and creamy. However, you’ll see that there’s plenty of other cereals you can choose from according to your needs: rice, spelt, barley, etc… This should be good for those of you who are intolerant to gluten or simply feel like eating a certain grain you need to use up. It’s an easy recipe: all you have to keep in mind is that you have to maintain the same ingredient ratios when switching grains. Simple, right?

RECIPE 1: ORANGE HOT CHOCOLATE MADE WITH ROLLED OATS

Serves 1:

• 250 mililitres rolled oat milk
• 10 grams defatted cacao poder
• 1 tablespoon syrup (or 2 tablespoons cane sugar)
• A pinch of sea salt
• A small piece of orange rind (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First of all, we need to get the oat milk ready.
2. Measure 250 ml. of oat milk and warm in on low heat for approximately 10 minutes.
3. Once the milk is warm, add cacao powder, a pinch of salt, the orange rind and the sweetener you’ve decided to go for. Make sure that it’s an organic orange you’re using, as conventional are usually filled with pesticides you won’t likely want in your drink. A small piece of about 1 cm will be all you need. Also, it’s important not to cut the white part of the orange as it will make the drink rather bitter.
4. Don’t forget to stir the chocolate often while you’re heating it so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and you avoid lumps.
5. Serve right away as it will get pudding-like as it sits!

In case you have leftovers and you need to keep it for following days, you’ll need to add a bit more of water/milk so it remains smooth. You can also use it in baking, such as a muffin filler or a yummy frosting!

If you don’t like orange and aren’t a fan of other natural flavourings such as cinnamon and vanilla, you can keep things simple – it’s still delicious with only sugar and the pinch of salt!

Don’t feel like using oats? You could also try barley flakes! Simply cook barley milk following the same recipe and use the same heating method. It’s the same recipe, really!
Cereals like kamut, spelt and buckwheat do not work in flake form. If you want to use them, refer to the following recipes, not this one.

RECIPE 2: VANILLA HOT CHOCOLATE WITH RAW OAT MILK

There’s two options to choose from when making raw milk from raw grains. You can either use previously soaked grains or skip this step. The first choice produces a smooth and rich hot chocolate, so thick you could eat it with a spoon. However, the second one, although still creamy, will be thinner and slightly bitter. That’s why we’ll add some vanilla and natural sweeteners to make up for the bitterness.

2.1 HOT CHOCOLATE MADE FROM SOAKED RAW OAT GRAINS:

Serves 1

• 250 mililitres oat milk made from soaked raw grains
• 10 grams defatted cacao powder
• 1 tablespoon syrup (or 2 tablespoons cane sugar)
• A pinch of sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare oat milk following the recipe for rice milk made with soaked raw grains, but using only 50 grams per litre of water instead.
2. Heat 250ml. of that milk on low heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Once milk is warm, add cacao, salt and the sweetener.
4. Make sure you stir the mixture often so it doesn’t go lumpy or stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. This recipe yields a super thick, rich hot chocolate which goes perfect on toast or paired with churros. Keep in mind however, that it gets even thicker when it cools and becomes pudding.
6. Not a bad thing though! You can pair it with nuts, seeds and fruit to obtain a healthy and delicious dessert! It would work SO well with some orange rind as well!

Other options would be rice, barley, buckwheat and wheat grains – they yield a fantastic hot chocolate! Spelt and kamut do work too, but they make a thinner drink.
Quinoa could work as well, but it’s nutty, bitter aftertaste doesn’t really fit the ideal of a rich hot drink – your choice, though!
You’ll need to use 40-50 grams of raw grain to produce a litre of milk with any of the aforementioned grains.

2.2. VANILLA HOT CHOCOLATE WITH RAW OAT MILK (NOT SOAKED)

Serves 1

• 250 mililitres raw oat milk (click here for recipe)
• 10 grams defatted cacao powder
• 1 tablespoon syrup (or 2 tablespoons cane sugar)
• A pinch of salt
• A small piece of vanilla bean (about 2cm long)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First thing is to make the milk (recipe here)
2. Heat 250ml. of milk on low for about 10 minutes.
3. Once warm, add cacao, salt, sweetener and vanilla. It’s nice to add vanilla or even cinnamon because this recipe would be a tad bitter otherwise.
4. Stir the mixture often so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan or go lumpy.
5. Foam might form on top – if this happens simply remove it from the pan and throw it away.
6. This recipe yields a creamy but thin drink.
7. You can serve it straightaway or keep it for later, as it won’t get too thick sitting on the fridge.

Which other grains work well ? Rice, barley, wheat and buckwheat yield the best results, but spelt and kamut would work as well.
Quinoa could work as well, but it’s nutty, bitter aftertaste doesn’t really fit the ideal of a rich hot drink – your choice, though!
Prepare the milk following the recipe for oat milk and follow the same instructions listed here.

That’s all for today! I hope you all enjoy these lovely recipes! I know I have 😉