Raw Cacao Hot Chocolate

As we are now coming to the end of September, we can see the season becoming increasingly autumnal and the evenings slowly get darker. Although I’m a summer gal through ‘n’ through, I do love the colours of autumn, as the leaves fall off the tree and their being a slightly cooler sunshine. This week I’m preparing you for cozy evenings in with a simple and easy raw cacao hot chocolate.

This recipe consists of only 4 ingredients and is perfect to quickly whip one up! I use Funktional Foods cacao powder, as it’s affordable, simple and easy to obtain from my local Aldi or Asda.

Why use raw cacao? Essentially, raw cacao is a food with the highest number of antioxidants in the world. Cacao powder contains more fibre as it is much less processed that traditional cocoa powder. The higher number of antioxidants come from the fact the whole cacao bean is still intact. Due to the low process rate, the cacao powder is very bitter, which is why it is best paired with fruit or a natural sweetener. I have written a couple of posts on the benefits of cacao, check them out here:

• 'Chocolate for breakfast' Cacao Overnight Oats

• What superfoods are in my cupboard?

• Chocolate - Could it really be good for you?

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Serves: 1. Cooking Time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 300ml milk if choice (I use oat or almond mylk, but my other half loves it with semi skimmed dairy milk)

• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder

• 1 tbsp maple syrup

• ½ tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

1. Heat the milk in a pan on a medium heat until steaming hot.

2. Add in the cacao powder, maple syrup and vanilla essence.

3. Whisk all components together with a hand whisk until smooth, and then use an electric whisk to get a bit of froth (!) then pour into a mug and enjoy.

Happy Cooking!

Ruth xxx