It is Christmas time and there already is some snow outside which means that it definitely is the season for huge cups of tea and hot chocolate with a mountain of whipped cream. We all love either of that but to make this time of the year a little bit healthier without making it less delicious I am sharing a healthy Protein Hot Cacao Recipe with you, which contains 8g of protein in each serving!!
Drinking hot chocolate for me means sitting in the bed underneath a warm blanket in my PJ´s reading a love story or watching a Christmas movie. Or it means sitting in a ski hut with my friends or family and taking a break from skiing and escaping the cold. Either one of them bring back a lot of beautiful and meaningful memories. This is why I like to drink this since it gives me some good vibes and reminds me of lots of love.
To be honest I am not a huge fan of hot chocolate, if it is prepared as it is in Italy, with a tiny bit of milk and something like a molten chocolate bar. This is wayyy too rich for me! I am more on the tea side of hot drinks but I also do like hot Cacao. The only thing is that when drinking it, the store-bought ones are often packed with a lot of added sugars, and very little Protein. They are good, but unfortunately not healthy.
To make them less indulging I decided to change the ingredients a little bit. In my recipe I ask to use raw cacao. This is different from Cocoa because it is not roasted at high temperatures which helps to keep the health benefits of it and not make it lose any nutritional value. Cocoa Powder often contains a lot of added sugar and is a totally processed food. It sometimes even contains food coloring to make it look more appetizing and artificial flavoring. Cacao is the raw product that does not contain anything else then the bean. Without the heating process it is a food very high in antioxidants and a great source of magnesium, potassium, iron, and calcium. It also contains a healthy amount of protein and it is shown to improve memory and lowering blood pressure as well as insulin resistance! What a superfood?!
Ok, now I think we have enough theory about cacao. So next time you go to the store think about what you buy. When buying raw cacao, you can still add sweeteners but YOU know exactly what is in it and it does not contain a billion other add-ins.
Other than that, I like to use winter spices to flavor the (plant-based) milk, a dried fig to add sweetness and fiber and different seeds to give it a protein kick. To make a health substitute for the whipped cream, you can easily go for coconut whip. You can make tis by buying canned coconut milk. You place it in the fridge overnight and when making it, you open the jar, only take the solid part of the coconut milk, whip it up and tada.. a healthier and plant-based version of whipped cream! I hope that you will enjoy this recipe more than once in December and if you do, it would be great it you could tag me on Instagram with @uneptcuisiniere and leave a rating here on the blog, so I know that you like it!
Have a beautiful Christmas time!
Katie
Healthy Protein Hot Cacao
The Cacao Recipe to make your Christmas time healthier but not a tiny bit less delicious! Each serving contains 8g of protein!
What you will need
For the Milk:
- 500 ml Almond Milk you can use any milk you like
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 4 cloves
- 1 dried fig
- a pinch of salt
For the Cacao Mix
- 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 2 tsp hemp seeds
- 2 tsp pumpkin seeds
- 2 tsp sunflower seeds
How to
That is how it works:
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In a pot add the milk, along with the cinnamon, cloves, fig, and salt. Bring it to a boil.
Meanwhile add all of the ingredients for the cacao mix to a food processor and process until a very fine texture is reached.
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Through a sieve pour the milk into a blender (preferably a high speed one). This way the spices will be removed since we do not want them to be blended, they should only add flavor. Take the dried fig and add it to the blender aswell.
Add the cacao mixture and blend everything together until a smooth consistency is reached.
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Serve in jars and top with some whipped cream, coconut whip or with some freshly grated cacao! Enjoy!