To make this vegan Hot Chocolate Without Cocoa Powder recipe, in addition to some delicious craft chocolate, you'll just need access to a microwave or a small saucepan & stove top burner.
For other delicious chocolate treats, try my brigadeiros or classic hot fudge sauce.
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✔️ Why This Recipe is Great
Trick to Hot Cocoa Without Cocoa Powder: use chocolate! Unlike a typical powdered hot cocoa mix from a packet, or even a homemade version made with cocoa powder, this recipe calls for just 2 common pantry ingredients. A pinch of salt always helps to enhance a chocolate drink, but this can be easily incorporated by using a salted chocolate for your base.
Delicious DIY: not only can you adjust the sweetness of your hot cocoa depending on the type of chocolate you use, but you can also adjust the flavor. Since this recipe only calls for two ingredients, it's not much more trouble to grab a couple more hot chocolate add-ins to dress up your cup.
Quick & Thick: with just five minutes and 2 ingredients, you can make this simple, thick hot chocolate without cocoa powder or a long wait. Plus, it's easily made vegan-friendly!
🍫 Ingredients
Milk of Choice: whatever your chosen milk, make sure it's got a bit of fat in it. I'd recommend coconut milk, if you don't tolerate dairy, though oat milk is another good pick.
Chopped Chocolate: vegan or not, you can use any chocolate you'd like, but to increase the nutrition of your hot chocolate, I recommend using a craft chocolate with at least 70% cacao.
See recipe card for exact measurements and quantities.
❓ Substitutes and Variations
Rich Hot Chocolate: to make a more decadant hot chocolate, substitute half & half or canned coconut milk for your regular milk of choice.
Thick Hot Chocolate: for a thicker hot cocoa, you can add ½ teaspoon starch to the mixture at the same time as you add the chopped chocolate.
Hot Chocolate Without Sugar: you could use any type of sugar-free chocolate chips or chocolate bars in place of the usual chocolate bar.
- Nutty Hot Chocolate - add a heavy scoop of homemade gianduja or other nutty chocolate spread when you're adding the chopped chocolate, to create a more nutty hot cocoa.
- White Hot Chocolate - just swap out the traditional dark or milk chocolate for white chocolate.
- Vanilla Hot Chocolate - use white or blonde chocolate in place of dark chocolate, and then mix in up to ⅛ teaspoon of vanilla powder at the end of the production process to create a smoother, creamier hot chocolate.
- Spiced Hot Cocoa - incorporate a small amount of cinnamon and clove when you add the chopped chocolate for a unique flavor twist.
🔪 How to Make Hot Chocolate Without Cocoa Powder (Instructions)
Step 1. This is the real trick to perfect hot chocolate without using cocoa powder: chop your chocolate very small, and heat the milk only. So first measure (image 1) and then chop up your chosen chocolate, whether it comes in bar or chip form, until it's in little slivers (image 2).
Step 2. Then take your water or milk of choice and heat it in a saucepan over the stove (or nuke it in the microwave for about 1 minute) (image 3), warming it with either method until it's just a bit too hot to touch.
Step 3. Turn off the heat and move the pan to a different surface. Add in all of your chosen chocolate (image 4), and let the pan or mug sit alone for two minutes. Don't touch it.
This rest allows the chocolate to melt naturally, and if you over-heat your milk, it could burn the chocolate or even separate the cacao solids from the cocoa butter, so stick to a low heat.
Step 4. After a couple of minutes, slowly stir or whisk your drink together (image 5), combining the milk and chocolate from the bottom of the container up. If the fat and solids in the chocolate do separate, never fear.
Just use a high-powered whisk or an immersion blender to re-combine everything; this will also make for a frothier drink. This is when I usually add a pinch of salt to contrast the sweetness, but serve your hot cocoa however you'd like and enjoy! (image 6)
👨🏻🍳 Recipe Notes & Tips
Which Chocolate to Use: Remember to use a high-percentage craft chocolate in your hot cocoa! Otherwise your chocolate will end up flatter-tasting rather than complex.
Picking a Milk: When you're using a non-dairy milk in hot cocoa, I'd recommend using a creamier option, like macadamia or coconut milk, rather than the more common finds like oat or almond milk. If regular dairy is your preference, then that's even easier.
🙋🏻♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't have cocoa powder for hot chocolate, you can substitute it with your favorite chocolate or even hot chocolate mix, which typically contains some cocoa along with sugar and sometimes powdered milk, although the flavor profile might be slightly different due to the additional ingredients.
Yes, you can use melted chocolate as an alternative to cocoa powder when making hot cocoa. Melted chocolate will give a richer taste and creamier texture to the drink compared to cocoa powder. But for an even richer homemade hot cocoa, you can skip the cocoa powder and instead reach for whatever chocolate chips are in your pantry, melting them into your choice of milk or milk substitute.
Yes, chocolate chips can be used to make hot chocolate without cocoa powder. By melting chocolate chips into hot milk or a milk alternative, you'll get a richer flavor and smoother texture than when just using cocoa powder. Plus you can still adjust the sweetness to your preference by choosing different types of chocolate chips, such as milk, dark, or semi-sweet.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Hot Chocolate (Without Cocoa Powder)
Ingredients
- 6-8 oz. of milk of your choice
- 2 oz. of chopped chocolate white, milk, or dark, but make sure it's sweet enough for your taste
- Optional: a pinch of salt or pure monk fruit extract
Instructions
- This is the real trick to perfect vegan hot chocolate: chop your chocolate very small, and heat the milk only. First, chop up your chosen chocolate, whether it comes in bar or chip form, until it's in little slivers.
- Then take your milk of choice and heat it in a saucepan over the stove (or nuke it in the microwave), warming it with either method until it's just a bit too hot to touch.
- Turn off the heat and move the pan to a different surface. Add in all of your chosen chocolate, and let the pan or mug sit alone for two minutes. Don't touch it. This rest allows the chocolate to melt naturally, and if you over-heat your milk, it could burn the chocolate or even separate the cacao solids from the cocoa butter, so stick to a low heat.
- After a couple of minutes, slowly stir or whisk your drinks together, combining the milk and chocolate from the bottom of the container up. If the fat and solids in the chocolate do separate, never fear. Just use a high-powered whisk or an immersion blender to re-combine everything; this will also make for a frothier drink. This is when I usually add a pinch of salt to contrast the sweetness, but serve your cocoa however you'd like and enjoy!
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