Hot Chocolate for One

Intro: Hot Chocolate for One

Lately since it seems to get cold and dark in the middle of the afternoon I've been really craving hot chocolate. :D

I looked up some recipes online for making hot chocolate for one and didn't have much luck - they mostly ended up like extra sweet milk.

I tested out different ratios every night until I figured it out. I am happy to announce that this is awesome and tastes much better than the packet stuff, and is much easier to make than heating up the milk on the stove like I used to do. :)

P.S. - This also makes coffee taste great! Pour coffee over the sugar and cocoa instead of milk for a "dirty mocha" - that's what we called it at the bookstore I worked at.

STEP 1: What You'll Need

• 1 cup milk (more info below)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (more info below)
• pinch of salt (optional)
• pinch of cayenne (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Milk:
I use lactose free milk at home. Nut, rice and soy milks are just too watery. You might be able to get around the watery issue by using coconut milk, though! If you're feeling ridiculously decadent, I recommend using 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream. :D

Cocoa powder:
At home, I use Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder and that requires only a 1/2 tablespoon to taste really chocolatey. 
For regular Hershey's, Callebaut, and Ghirardelli, I think 1 full tablespoon works best. 

STEP 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients and Heat the Milk

Add the sugar and cocoa powder into a cup with the cayenne and salt if you're using those. :D

Mix together with a fork.

Pour the milk into a measuring cup and heat in the microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until nice and hot.

STEP 3: Pour the Milk Over the Dry Ingredients

Pour the hot milk over and mix quickly with a fork. (If using vanilla, add it here) A fork will allow you to get into all the corners that a whisk will skip! :D

I've yet to make one where the cocoa powder was entirely clump free, but having really hot milk helps quite a bit.

(Note that if you pour the dry ingredients into the hot milk, it mixes up really badly. CLUMPS EVERYWHERE)

Comments

[Mignon ArielK]

Following the recipe to the letter (minus cayenne), I made a perfect cup of hot chocolate. The fork makes short work of those lumps. Thank you!

[tgliang]

[tgliang]

My hot cocoa has zero fat, and that's why it causes clumps. I solve the problem by adding a few drops of omega 3 oil, or by using coconut "milk", which has beneficial vegetable fat. And that solves the problem! Coconut milk may be found in the grocery specialty section. Or, milk with some fat in it may work, too, but I haven't tried it.

[bgoldberg1]

For avoiding clumps when making hot chocolate, I use the following technique:

Mix the powder with a little bit of liquid, so it becomes a lumpy paste. Don't worry about the lumps (yet).

Microwave this for 15 seconds on high. This will get rid of the lumps.

Don't over-microwave it, as it can boil up and overflow from your mug.

Stir in the rest of the liquid.

[jjdebenedictis]

If you sweeten with honey, you can mix the honey and cocoa together to make a paste that then dissolves and mixes in well once you add the milk.

[Orngrimm]

the IKEA milkfoamer works wonders for clumpfree mixing... ;)

[utgoff]

For those with a tool obsession (like yours truly), a hand blender does a wonderful job of getting the sugar/cocoa powder evenly distributed.... just remember to leave it on the "low" setting...chocolate drink on everything can be a pain to clean up!

[gold20]

YUM!!!

[verence]

cayenne... interesting, 've got to try that!

Try tomix in the milk slowly. At first only a few spoons and dilute all the ingredients in it into a thick sauce. Stir up all the clumps - it's more easy as they are trapped in the thick liquid and there is not a lot of it. Then just thin it with the rest of the milk.

[Ninjakitty1981]

I add a little bit of thin mint coffee creamer, to give it the slight minty flavor

[lindarose92]

Sooo good!! Do you put anything in it to thicken it?
The high school I went to was a food and beverage school and teachers there taught us to put a little bit of potato starch (about half teaspoon) in the mix...that way the hot chocolate won't be too liquid. If you do that, the more you cook it, the thicker it will become so you need to adjust the time depending on your taste :)

[jessyratfink]

I typically don't when I just want quick hot chocolate - I'm used to it being runny!

If I want drinking chocolate, though, I thicken that up. Use heavy cream and dark chocolate and bring it up to temp on the stove. Much thicker than this :D

[wazzup105]

Ow, I like the option to make it thicker.. I really need to try that. I've added xantham gum to my cold shakes and they become awesome :)

[lindarose92]

Yes, I personally like it thicker too :)
Actually, right after I wrote that comment, I researched "hot chocolate" on google images and I realized that it tends to be quite liquid there and I didn't know that...I guess it's more like chocolate favored milk. If you type "cioccolata calda" (hot chocolate in Italian) you can see that we make it thicker and very creamy here.

[halfkrazy]

After you mix your dry ingredients, add 2 to 3 teaspoons of milk, stir it up good to make a paste, then add the rest of the heated milk, stir. It mixes up much better this way with no lumps. I have made hot cocoa this way for years. I will not go back to hot water cocoa.

[iburrow]

great work, I've found that if you mix the dry ingredients into a paste with a dribble of the hot milk, slowly adding more until all the chocolatey goodness is lump free and we'll tasty. Thanks again!

[Muhaiminah Faiz]

Looks delicious! can't wait to try :)

[Laynie]

Looks yummy!

[Mielameri]

Tried this. SO GOOD

[katiekat0601]

I finite best way to not have clumps is to pour a tiny bit of milk in first and mix it up, then pour in the rest and mix again.