Healthy Hot Chocolate with Coconut Whipped Cream

My daughter loves to have what we call a "mommy sleepover" when my husband is out of town.  We stay up later than her usual bed time and do something fun like paint pictures, watch a movie or play games.  Then we cuddle up on my bed with a cup of hot chocolate before we go to sleep.  I must admit, that when we do this, she absolutely expects the hot chocolate or the night would end in tears.  This was a challenge when we decided to go processed free because I didn't want to disappoint her, but I also didn't want her to have all that processed sugar in her system either, not to mention whatever else was added.  I set out to find a substitute, but all the recipes I tried were never quite what I wanted.  I found that I needed to take a little of each of them and come up with my own. 

1 cup almond milk
1/2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla

You can also add 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. of cardamom for a more sophisticated hot chocolate.  It has a great taste, but just a little bit of texture.

Heat the almond milk then add the remaining ingredients.  Then, you have one of two options.  Either put it in the blender for a few seconds, but be careful as steam will rise.  Or you can do what I prefer and use an immersion blender which I think is easier, faster, no worries about steam, and quick clean up.

Coconut Whipped Cream

1 can coconut milk (put in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, overnight is better)
a wholesome sweetener of your choice - sucanat, coconut sugar, stevia, erythritol, etc.

Open the can of coconut milk very carefully, you don't want to shake it!  Scrape off all the solidified coconut cream that has risen to the top and put it in a bowl.  You won't use the liquid underneath.  Beat the cream a little then add some sweetener to your taste, that's it! 

I wanted to explain just why this hot chocolate is so much healthier.  Of course taking out the refined sugar speaks for itself, but unsweetened chocolate is extremely healthy in small amounts.  There are all kinds of health benefits that I will explain sometime in more detail, but all of these are negated when sugar and dairy is added.  By using a nut milk as the base, replacing the sugar, and using coconut whipped cream, you have done all the right things to reap the benefits of this super food - and your end result was tasty too!