This healthy hot chocolate recipe is dairy-free and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Sweet, creamy, and ready in 10 minutes, it's a perfect cozy treat for a cold night.
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I’d take a mug of this healthy hot chocolate over a store-bought mix any day! This healthy hot chocolate recipe calls for 7 simple ingredients, is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and is vegan and dairy-free. Still, it’s sweet, creamy, and full of rich chocolate flavor—the ultimate cozy treat for a cold night…or morning. (Jack and I may occasionally drink it for breakfast…)
We love mugs of this healthier hot chocolate on their own, but like classic homemade hot chocolate (or even Swiss Miss!), it’s great with toppings too. Load up your cup with a scoop of coconut whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and/or mini marshmallows. A few gingerbread cookies or peanut butter blossoms on the side wouldn’t hurt either. I hope you love this healthy hot chocolate as much as I do.
Healthy Hot Chocolate Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make this healthy hot chocolate recipe:
- Raw cacao powder – Cacao powder is a less processed form of cocoa powder, and it’s high in antioxidants, iron, and magnesium. It makes this recipe rich and chocolatey, but good for you, too! Feel free to substitute unsweetened cocoa powder if you don’t have cacao on hand.
- Maca powder – Its malty flavor adds depth to this healthier hot chocolate. But that’s not all! It has health benefits too. It’s chock-full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and it’s said to improve brain health.
- Almond milk – I use almond milk because it’s what I keep on hand, but feel free to substitute any type of milk you like. Cow’s milk, coconut milk, or my homemade oat milk would also work here.
- Maple syrup – It sweetens this healthy hot chocolate naturally. Plus, I love the maple flavor with the malty maca and rich cacao. If you prefer, you could use another natural sweetener like honey or agave nectar.
- Coconut oil – For richness and healthy fats! Don’t worry—this nourishing treat is still far lighter than a hot cocoa recipe made with whole milk and/or heavy cream.
- Cinnamon – It adds warm depth of flavor.
- And a pinch of salt – Don’t skip it! It makes all these delicious flavors pop.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Healthy Hot Chocolate
I make this healthy hot chocolate recipe in the blender because it’s a quick and easy way to get all the ingredients to combine smoothly. Just combine the almond milk, cacao, maca, maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Alternatively, you can whisk the mixture together by hand or use an immersion blender to blend it until no lumps of coconut oil or cacao powder are remaining.
Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and warm it over medium-low heat on the stovetop until steaming.
Taste and adjust the healthy hot chocolate. You’ll know it’s right when you can’t stop tasting spoonful after spoonful. Pour it into mugs, top it with your desired fixings, and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Make peppermint hot chocolate: Omit the maca powder and add a drop of peppermint extract.
- Make spicy hot chocolate: Add a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Make it extra-chocolatey: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips to the saucepan with the hot chocolate. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking often, until they melt into the mixture and it becomes smooth. Be careful not to bring it to a boil, or the chocolate could separate.
More Cozy Drinks to Try
If you love this healthy hot chocolate, try one of these hot drinks next:
Healthy Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 2½ cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon maca powder
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon coconut oil
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Tiny pinch of sea salt
Optional toppings:
- Coconut whipped cream
- Shaved dark chocolate
Instructions
- In a blender, place the almond milk, cacao powder, maca, maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon, and salt and blend until smooth. (You can also whisk this together by hand in a bowl).
- Transfer to a small saucepan and warm over medium-low heat until steaming, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the sweetness if desired. If it's too thick, add a little more almond milk.
- Pour into mugs and serve topped with coconut whip and shaved dark chocolate, if desired.
Because of a nut allergy, I make this hot chocolate with oat milk but that is the only substitution. It is absolutely delicious. I made it on a whim because I wanted something a bit healthier for my kids and have made it multiple time since.
This sounds delicious, but I don’t like maple anything. What can I substitute to sweeten this?
Hi Catherine, you could use honey (I’d start with half the amount and add more to taste), agave, or brown sugar. Hope you enjoy!
Would like to know the measurements of each ingredient.
Hi Edith, you can find the full recipe with measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Can’t wait to make this! What do you recommend as a substitute for Maca powder.
Thank you!
I hope you enjoy!
I’ve been drinking this for some years now, try the cacao butter make a much more creamy drink. I believe when cacao is processed into powder the fats of the bean are removed along with some of the benefits.
I’ll have to give that a try!
No almond milk on hand so threw everything else in the vitamix with some soaked cashews, extra water and some coconut. Blends up just hot enough to enjoy immediately! A bit rich for my taste, but a great base to fool around with, wonderful consistency and everyone else absolutely loved it!
This looks great! Can’t wait to make it later today. Two questions for you: Could I just pop this mixture into a mug and microwave it to save the step of using the saucepan every morning? Additionally, how do you think this would keep if I premixed it, refrigerated it in mason jars, and then took them out in the mornings to heat up? Considering making 2 or 3 days worth at a time.
Thanks again!
Hi Brett, I think the microwave would be fine, just whisk well to make sure there are no lumps from the powders (or sift them first). I think the pre-mixed jars would be fine if you have a tight fitting lids so that you can shake them well before pouring.
I am allergic to coconut, thus coconut oil. Can it be made without or with a substitution?
Hi Elisa, you can leave it out!
Great! I just finished it last night and the result was unexpected, my wife and daughter both liked it, which made me happy. Thanks for your recipe
Delicious! I made it for my kids – left out the maca and used oat milk and they never knew it wasn’t dairy. Thanks!
Thankyou so much, this hot cacao has been a game changer. So nourishing and yet so comforting and delicious. My new favourite 4pm drink 🙂
This was wonderful! Not overly sweet and didn’t leave me feeling sick like hot cocoa usually does. I used coconut milk instead of almond milk and it was very coconut-y which I loved! Cannot recommend this recipe enough 🙂