Hot Cocoa Mix
Hot cocoa is almost a staple in the winter, but we don't appreciate the  artificial ingredients found in most store-bought mixes. Here is a recipe for making your own healthier hot cocoa mix that uses shelf stable ingredients from your pantry.
We love hot cocoa and we love a good hot cocoa mix. We use it for cocoa and for adding to our coffee when we want a special treat. Like with most things, it has become harder and harder to find a healthy hot cocoa mix that is affordable. We were buying a brand for a while that was decent, but the price kept getting steeper. We tried making our own hot cocoa mix years ago, but the recipe for powdered coffee creamer, which usually has terrible ingredients. We tried it anyway - it was awful.
We decided it was time to find a healthier hot cocoa mix recipe that actually tastes good. I found several online that call for powdered milk rather than powdered creamer. I saved four recipes and picked one to try. We mixed up a batch and gave it a try. It was okay, but we found it lacking in chocolate flavor. We added more cocoa and tried it again. It was better, but we felt like it could be richer. We then grated a small amount of baking cocoa (baker's chocolate) into the next cup to see if it made a difference. It turned out fabulous, so we added grated baker's cocoa to the final recipe.
The great thing about making you own cocoa is that you can adjust the flavor to fit your preferences. Use A2A2 milk powder, add more chocolate or use less, add a drop of peppermint extract as you mix it with the hot water for peppermint cocoa. There are so many possibilities!
Here is the recipe we ended up with after our modifications:
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/3 c. cocoa powder
2 1/2 c. powdered milk
2 t. tapioca starch
1 t. salt
2 1/2 squares of baker's chocolate, grated
Directions: Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a whisk. Store in an airtight container.
To make cocoa: Add 2 + tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of hot water. We usually don't measure. Some of us use two heaping teaspoons, others use two heaping tablespoons. It depends on your preference.
Some ideas we want to experiment with in the future:
Using powdered coconut milk for a dairy free version
Using monk fruit sweetener instead of powdered sugar
Using evaporated cane sugar instead of powdered sugar
Using white chocolate in place of the baker's chocolate
Hot Cocoa Mix Ingredients