Holiday Hot Cocoa

Ingredients:

2 cups of almond milk

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1-2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1) Warm the almond milk in a small saucepan, then whisk in the cocoa powder, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to remove any lumps from the cocoa.

2) Serve warm!

3) Optional: add whip cream on top of your hot cocoa once it is in your cup

This recipe is paleo, unless you decide to add whip cream to your hot cocoa. I add whip cream to my hot cocoa because it is low in carbs and I do not have a dairy allergy, but the hot cocoa tastes just as good without the whip cream if you do have a dairy allergy. Also, I like to use one cup of unsweetened almond milk and then one cup of sweetened plain almond milk. I also prefer to use 1 Tbsp. of maple syrup because maple syrup does have a good amount of carbs, about 13 carbs per tablespoon. So if you are trying to cut carbs then I would recommend doing half unsweetened and half sweetened almond milk and only 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, but if you are just looking for a good paleo hot cocoa recipe then feel free to add both tablespoons of maple syrup. This is my new favorite holiday recipe (or winter recipe). I love hot cocoa, but hate the amount of carbs that come along with hot cocoa. This recipe has given me great taste and it has about 21 carbs in the whole serving and this recipe serves two. That is about 10.5 carbs per serving with the changes that I suggested for the almond milk and maple syrup. Hard to beat the amount of carbs and tastes better than the hot chocolate powder from the store. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!