Ingredients:

4 cups unsweetened coconut milk (refrigerated in a carton)
1/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/3 cup Stevia
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of cayenne pepper

Craving something sweet on a cold night, but want to keep it healthy. Try my substitute for hot chocolate, Coconut Milk Mexican Hot Chocolate.

Whether it’s diabetes, lactose intolerance or simply watching your caloric intake, this is a great recipe substitute for hot chocolate.

A traditional hot coco made with melted chocolate or the instant powder, which is loaded with white cane sugar. White cane sugar is really one of the worst things you can put into your body. Everything in moderation, of course, but the less sugar (sucrose) in a day, the better.

Follow the super easy recipe in my step by step guide below.

Step 1:

Warm coconut milk in a saucepan

Fun fact: Coconut Milk has only 40-50 calories per serving and around 1g of carbs. Skim milk has 90 calories per serving and 12-16g carbohydrates. Many people avoid dairy today for a variety of reasons (lactose intolerance, simple dietary choices, fad diets, etc) but a simple serving to serving comparison shows that coconut or even almond milk options cut the total caloric intake.

Step 2:

Whisk in remaining ingredients, cocoa powder, Stevia, cinnamon and cayenne until thoroughly combined

Fun fact: Stevia or Splenda works well as a sugar substitutes in baking and sweet recipes. Some people don’t like intaking the chemicals in artificial sweetener, which in that case there are a variety of holistic, natural sugar substitutes out there. But people need to be careful as non-cane sugar subs, such as agave nectar, still have a lot of calories. I prefer artificial sweetener both to manage my diabetes and my waistline.