As we all know, and as we all fondly remember…hot chocolate comes in a paper packet full of powder, right?  You know, the powder full of artificial flavors, hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup.  We would just heat up some water, rip open the packet, dump and stir!  This is what I remember of hot chocolate except the times my great-grandmother would make it on the stove with cocoa and white sugar and a pinch of salt.  That was my favorite.  I would make it for my family occasionally because nothing can beat the taste of homemade hot chocolate, right?  However, over the past year, I have been cutting out refined sugars from my life which kind of eliminates the homemade hot chocolate I used to make.   Bummer.  Until…I saw a post on Facebook by 100DaysofRealFood.com which inspired me to make homemade hot chocolate again.  It was simple.  Almost TOO simple.  I really kinda doubted it would taste good.  But it did.  AND my kids liked it, which is the true test.  Here it is:

• 1 1/2 cups of milk (I use raw milk, you can use regular or try coconut milk)
• 1.5 teaspoons of good quality cocoa
• 2 teaspoons of 100%  maple syrup

Warm up the milk on the stove (NOT THE MICROWAVE!) and stir in the cocoa and maple syrup with a small wisk.  The wisk is a great tool for this.  It really helps stir in the cocoa.  Be careful not to burn the milk.  Serve and Enjoy!

Isn’t is amazing how EASY it is to have real, healthy, hot chocolate?   Just put down the packet of Swiss Miss and walk away…