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This easy Keto Hot Chocolate recipe takes only a few minutes and less than a handful of ingredients to make. In this post, I share how to make sugar-free hot chocolate and include variations, such as adding coffee, peppermint extract and sugar-free white chocolate chips. I also answer popular questions like, “what’s the difference between cocoa and cacao” and “can you even have hot chocolate while on keto”. If you’re dairy-free, I share a few tips for topping this dairy free drink with whipped coconut cream.
Can you have hot chocolate on keto?
You probably don’t think about hot chocolate and keto going together. And in most cases, you’re right. I grew up drinking Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate. I loved it. But it is definitely not keto friendly. According to Swiss Miss’ website, it has 34 grams of net carbs in the classic milk chocolate miss.
But hot chocolate doesn’t need to have that much sugar. In fact, my easy keto hot chocolate recipe has only 1 gram of net carbs and it tastes delicious!
What is in Keto Hot Chocolate Mix?
My keto hot chocolate mix uses only 3 to 4 ingredients. They include:
- 1 cup of almond or coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon of Truvia (that’s about 3 packets) OR 1-2 tablespoons of Truvia if you are using cocoa powder (about 6 packets)
- ¼ cup of sugar free chocolate chips or 1/2 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
You can also add MCT oil into bulletproof keto hot chocolate. If you are adding MCT oil, you only need 1 tablespoon.
How to Make Keto Hot Chocolate
Keto hot chocolate is very easy to make. It involves measuring the ingredients and heating up your preferred milk. After that, you can use a frother or a hand mixer to incorporate all the ingredients.
To make my keto hot chocolate, measure out a cup of your preferred milk. I use almond or coconut, but if you have other keto friendly milks on hand that you prefer, you can use them. Add in the chocolate chips or cocoa powder to a microwave safe mug. And then pour the milk into the same mug.
TIP: I usually add the chips first to avoid splashing the milk.
When the milk and chips are in the mug, heat it in the microwave for about 90 seconds. But keep in mind, your microwave may vary in strength. You may need to adjust the time just a bit to get it steamy without burning chocolate or milk.
When it is heated through, add sweetener and mix with either a frother or hand mixer. And finally, top with whipped cream or whipped coconut cream.
How to Make Bulletproof Hot Chocolate
If you want to make the hot chocolate bulletproof, it is easy. I often make mine bulletproof by adding in 1 tablespoon of MCT oil.
To do this, you follow the same steps, adding the chocolate and milk to a microwave safe mug and heating it for about 90 seconds. Next, add the sweetener and 1 tablespoon of MCT oil. Mix it all together with a hand mixer or frother. And to finish it off, add some sugar free whipped cream or whipped unsweetened coconut cream.
How to Sweeten Keto Hot Chocolate
One of the major differences between my keto hot chocolate and hot chocolate mixes or other homemade hot chocolate recipes for that matter is that I use only keto friendly sweeteners. This means they add no or minimal carbs to the hot chocolate.
In this recipe, I use Truvia but you don’t necessarily have to use it. Some other sweeteners you can use that are keto friendly include:
- Powdered Monk Fruit Erythritol
- Stevia
- Xylitol
Keto Hot Cocoa Variations
If you love hot chocolate, there are several variations you can try. And my keto version of hot chocolate is no different. Here are some of my favorite variations:
- Replace 1/4 cup of the almond milk with coffee (cold, hot, or instant) like I did in my Keto Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Add 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
- Use ¼ cup white chocolate or milk chocolate chips instead
Difference between Cocoa and Cacao
Cocoa and cacao couldn’t be more confusing if they tried. What is the difference? Well, to a certain degree, it can come down to product marketing and preference. There is no officially agreed upon time to use one term or the other to describe the cacao bean.
Here’s some insight into the naming. Chocolate comes from the Theobroma cacao tree. The tree produces a number of large pods containing beans that turned into chocolate as we know and love it. Some suggest that only whole the pods and their beans should be called cacao. Once they are fermented they should be called cocoa.
Some companies might sell what they refer to as cacao products that contain larger portions of the bean. And this may be correct.
But in many cases, companies will refer to their product as cocoa, which really just means they have fermented, dried, roasted, crushed, and ground up the cacao beans to make a wide variety of chocolate products.
You can read more about the difference between cocoa and cacao here if you are interested.
Is Cocoa Powder Keto-friendly?
Cocoa powder is a keto friendly ingredient as long as you buy a product that is just made of cocoa powder. Products like Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate use cocoa powder in their mix, but since they add so much extra sugar, their mixes are not keto friendly.
You should look for cocoa powders that do not contain extra ingredients. There are many products available that range in price and you can easily find them in stores. I prefer the cocoa powder that I get from Whole Foods/Amazon (sometimes I get it online, but other times, I pick it up in the store).
Click here to check out the cocoa powder I used
How to keep this Dairy-free
You don’t need to use any dairy products to make my keto hot chocolate. In fact, the base milk that I use is either almond or coconut milk. And though I may top it with a whipped cream or heavy cream, you don’t have to.
Instead, you could use whipped coconut cream to top it all off. Recently, I’ve been finding reasonably priced coconut cream whipped cream at Trader Joes.
Can you use heavy cream?
Heavy cream is keto friendly and you can use it in my hot chocolate recipe. There are two ways I use heavy cream:
- I use it at the end. You can finish the recipe off by adding heavy cream and using the frother to give it some extra body.
- I use it in place of MCT oil when I make the hot chocolate bulletproof
Since heavy cream has a lot of calories, I would not recommend using it as, say a substitute for the almond or coconut milk that I’m using in this recipe.
More Keto Chocolate Recipes
If you love chocolate (and who doesn’t?) you can check out some of these other recipes that are keto-friendly and use chocolate:
- Keto Mudslide
- Keto Chocolate Mug Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Chocolate Orange Truffles
- You’ll also find Keto Chocolate Cookies in my Keto Christmas Cookies recipes collection
Other Keto Drink Recipes
Hot chocolate is not the only keto friendly drink you should try. Check out some of my other favorite keto friendly drink recipes, like the one’s below:
Keto & Low Carb Pumpkin Spice Latte
Get this recipe
Keto Coquito (Low-carb Spanish Eggnog)
Get this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk or coconut milk
- 1 tbsp Granular Monk Fruit Erythritol use 2 tablespoons of sweetener if using Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Sugar-free Chocolate Chips or 1/2 tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 tbsp MCT Oil optional to make it bulletproof
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- Add the milk and sugar-free chocolate chips to a microwave-safe mug
- Warm the milk and chocolate chip mixture in the microwave for 90 seconds
- Add the sweetener and MCT Oil (if using)
- Use a hand blender to incorporate
- Top with whipped cream, whipped coconut cream, and/or sugar-free chocolate syrup (if you wish)
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