It’s hard to believe more than ten years have gone by since our Associate Editor, Sarah Hatfield of No Whey Mama, initially shared this single serve hot chocolate recipe with us. Since it has been so long, she wanted to revive the recipe with new photos and details.
With four kids in the house, I tend to make big batches of dairy-free hot chocolate these days. But it’s time to re-up this recipe I shared with Alisa years ago because a quick and easy single serve hot chocolate is still great for when you need just one mug of cocoa–or are out of dairy-free hot chocolate mix! It uses ingredients you probably already have in the house and is ready in minutes.
The marshmallow creme topping idea is one I got from a Diane Mott Davidson mystery. I love that it’s a quick and easy dairy-free substitution for whipped cream, but it still gives you that marshmallow flavor. The best of both worlds!
Go Dairy Free reader Morgan recommends using confectioner’s sugar instead of granulated sugar, which is a a great substitution. For a less sweet cup of hot chocolate, you can reduce the sugar by one tablespoon or use plain or unsweetened dairy-free milk instead of vanilla.
Special Diet Notes: Mama’s Easy Hot Chocolate
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, and peanut-free. Optionally soy-free, nut-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
- 2 tablespoons sugar (or your sweetener of choice)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, to taste
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup vanilla dairy-free milk beverage (optionally unsweetened)
- Marshmallow creme, for topping (vegan, if desired)
- Whisk the sugar, cocoa, and salt together in a large mug.
- Heat the milk beverage in the microwave on high for 90 seconds or until hot.
- Gradually whisk the hot milk into the cocoa mixture until smooth. Or you can use this fun self-stirring mug.
- Top with marshmallow creme, if desired.
Key Pantry Supplies: Single Serve Hot Chocolate
More Hot Chocolate Recipes
Healthier Hot Chocolate (vegan, gluten-free & allergy-friendly)
Crockpot Hot Chocolate (vegan, gluten-free & allergy-friendly)
Nourishing Spiced Hot Chocolate (vegan, gluten-free & allergy-friendly)
6 Comments
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Holy Grail of Cocoa: i adore cocoa so much that i drink it year round, cold in the summer. so when i became vegan i was distraught that every alternative milk i tried tasted terrible with cocoa. think of it like painting walls with red paint – it seems like a dark color but in fact, it’s the sheerest and if you don’t use dark primer, it will never look right. likewise, chocolate seems like an intense flavor but it is easily overwhelmed by anything other than cow’s milk, often leaving behind an aftertaste of rope (despite so many recommendations of adding cinnamon/cayenne) or too watery.
finally, in desperation, i tried the very last alternative milk on the market, Pacific Brand’s non-dairy OAT milk. cocoa nirvana at last: it’s creamy enough, doesn’t compete with the taste of cocoa and leaves no aftertaste. i sweeten mine with a PINCH of organic stevia (man, that stuff is potent!). NOW try all those vegan cocoa recipes!
if you just adore soy milk or some other variety, add all the cocoa to it that you want. but if what you want is the pure, unadulterated cocoa, Oat Milk is your ticket to enjoying a true cup of cocoa sans dairy.
Thank you, great recommendation!
This is super good! But, instead of regular sugar i used confectioners sugar which is way better!
This looks great! Could I used coconut palm sugar instead of regular sugar?
Megan, you can, but palm sugar doesn’t dissolve quite as easily. I would place it in a spice grinder to make a powder before stirring in and make sure your liquid is nice and hot. Coconut sugar is also less sweet than plain sugar, and has more of a coffee/caramel-y flavor, so you may need to adjust to taste.