The past few days I've been obsessing over my morning cup of Coconut Hot Chocolate. I like it, I love it, I want some more of it!
It started out with wanting to find a recipe for homemade hot chocolate. I wanted something with less calories but maximum flavor. This nailed it, well with my coconut addition anyway! I actually used a recipe from Jillee at One Good Thing. It's her Homemade Nesquik recipe, but instead of sugar I used Truvia Natural Sweetener which is Stevia. And now for me to get out my soap box. Use your own best judgement on what kind of sweetener you use. There are SO many views on each and every sugar/sugar substitute, so do your research and then decide what you think is best for you and your family. I can't stand seeing people bashing one another when it comes to what sweetener you use. Okay, end of my rant.
I've been storing my chocolate mix in a mason jar and then just scooping out of it when I want to make a cup of hot chocolate. I haven't tried this mix as a Nesquik replacement, so I can't vouch for the flavor when mixed with cold milk.
Now I must admit I also add a few drops of liquid stevia when I make each cup. I use around one and a half to two teaspoons for one 8 oz mug of hot chocolate, but I never really measure it. I also like a more subtle chocolate flavor so add more if you like strong hot chocolate.
Add the mix to a mug, add water, then heat it in the microwave.
You might be wondering where the coconut comes in because at this point it's simply hot chocolate. Want to know my secret ingredient? It's not coconut extract. Nope...I've been adding a teaspoon or two of Unrefined Coconut Oil. This adds AMAZING coconut flavor! I just stir it until it's melted and then if I don't drink the whole cup right away, I've found it's best if you stir before you take a sip, to help mix the oil back in. If you haven't ever tried coconut oil in your coffee or hot chocolate before this might sound really gross to be adding oil to your drink. But trust me! It doesn't taste greasy or gross, because believe me if it did, I wouldn't be drinking it!
You can read HERE about the many health benefits of coconut oil. Two thumbs up for healthy fats! Now about my coconut oil. Gotta brag on one of my favorite stores - Aldi's Do you shop there? I love it! I've had really good experiences with their products and can get incredible deals on produce. Last week's buy was a 5# bag of flour for $0.89! Yes, eight-nine cents! Love it!
Anyway, coconut oil is new at my store, I just saw it last week and HAD to buy some to try out, even though I have large quantities of Vitacost brand coconut oil. SimplyNature is Aldi's line of organic items.
When looking for coconut oil there are a few things you want to pay attention to. First you want to make sure it's "Unrefined" or "Virgin" which means it maintains the wonderful coconut flavor and hasn't been processed and hasn't lost its health benefits. "Cold-pressed" is how they extract the oil from the coconut - without heat, again maintaining its health benefits.
As you can see, this brand meets those guidelines and cost me $4.99. Which comes to $0.36/ounce which is a pretty decent price. I've had coconut oil in both glass and plastic containers and prefer the glass by far. So I'm happy to report Aldi's brand is in glass jars. The only unfortunate thing is that they don't sell it in anything larger than 14 oz. jars. Now on to the flavor - it's amazing! I actually prefer this over what I've purchased from Vitacost. I feel like it smells more like coconut whereas the Vitacost brand I purchased has a bit of a fake coconut smell. Hard to describe, but I'll definitely be purchasing SimplyNature Coconut Oil from now on!
What have you added coconut oil to that knocked the flavor out of the ballpark?
I've been storing my chocolate mix in a mason jar and then just scooping out of it when I want to make a cup of hot chocolate. I haven't tried this mix as a Nesquik replacement, so I can't vouch for the flavor when mixed with cold milk.
Now I must admit I also add a few drops of liquid stevia when I make each cup. I use around one and a half to two teaspoons for one 8 oz mug of hot chocolate, but I never really measure it. I also like a more subtle chocolate flavor so add more if you like strong hot chocolate.
Add the mix to a mug, add water, then heat it in the microwave.
You might be wondering where the coconut comes in because at this point it's simply hot chocolate. Want to know my secret ingredient? It's not coconut extract. Nope...I've been adding a teaspoon or two of Unrefined Coconut Oil. This adds AMAZING coconut flavor! I just stir it until it's melted and then if I don't drink the whole cup right away, I've found it's best if you stir before you take a sip, to help mix the oil back in. If you haven't ever tried coconut oil in your coffee or hot chocolate before this might sound really gross to be adding oil to your drink. But trust me! It doesn't taste greasy or gross, because believe me if it did, I wouldn't be drinking it!
You can read HERE about the many health benefits of coconut oil. Two thumbs up for healthy fats! Now about my coconut oil. Gotta brag on one of my favorite stores - Aldi's Do you shop there? I love it! I've had really good experiences with their products and can get incredible deals on produce. Last week's buy was a 5# bag of flour for $0.89! Yes, eight-nine cents! Love it!
Anyway, coconut oil is new at my store, I just saw it last week and HAD to buy some to try out, even though I have large quantities of Vitacost brand coconut oil. SimplyNature is Aldi's line of organic items.
When looking for coconut oil there are a few things you want to pay attention to. First you want to make sure it's "Unrefined" or "Virgin" which means it maintains the wonderful coconut flavor and hasn't been processed and hasn't lost its health benefits. "Cold-pressed" is how they extract the oil from the coconut - without heat, again maintaining its health benefits.
As you can see, this brand meets those guidelines and cost me $4.99. Which comes to $0.36/ounce which is a pretty decent price. I've had coconut oil in both glass and plastic containers and prefer the glass by far. So I'm happy to report Aldi's brand is in glass jars. The only unfortunate thing is that they don't sell it in anything larger than 14 oz. jars. Now on to the flavor - it's amazing! I actually prefer this over what I've purchased from Vitacost. I feel like it smells more like coconut whereas the Vitacost brand I purchased has a bit of a fake coconut smell. Hard to describe, but I'll definitely be purchasing SimplyNature Coconut Oil from now on!
What have you added coconut oil to that knocked the flavor out of the ballpark?
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