Cozy Mint Hot Cocoa with No Extract or Added Sugar
I've always struggled making peppermint drinks and desserts at home because, like most extracts, peppermint extract contains alcohol. Alcohol is not halal. I don't have a peppermint plant, but I do have lots of mint in my backyard. Peppermint just contains a LOT more menthol than mint does, so I figured mint-in-concentration will taste close enough for my satisfaction. And thus my mint hot chocolate recipe was born!
Ingredients (2 servings)
1 1/2 cups of milk (375mL)
1/2 cup (packed) of mint (15g)
1/2 cup heavy cream (125mL)
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips (100g)
these contain sugar1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (2.5g)
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup heavy cream and a 1/2 tsp of powdered sugar for homemade whipped topping
Recipe
Heat the milk in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the mint leaves and stir.
Bring to an almost boil and then turn off the heat. Cover and let steep for at least 15 minutes.
In another saucepan, heat the heavy cream on medium-low heat with the dark chocolate chips.
Stir as it heats up, ensuring the chocolate melts evenly and is completely smooth. Add the cocoa powder and stir until fully incorporated. In the video, I forgot to add the cocoa powder here so I added it after step 5. It doesn’t really matter but it’ll incorporate more easily/quickly if you add the cocoa powder in this step.
Pour the mint-milk (it’ll be green now!!) into the saucepan through a strainer. Stir slowly at first and then faster to achieve a smooth texture.
Heat the mint hot chocolate until it has thickened to your desired preference, then serve immediately. If you want to, you can pour it through a strainer in case you feel there are small chunks of chocolate or something.
Top with homemade whipped cream—
With a hand mixer, beat the 1/4 cup of heavy cream until firm peaks form. Add powdered sugar to taste (1/2 tsp should suffice) and beat briefly. Dollop atop your mint hot cocoa and…
Enjoy!!
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Drinking Mason Jars (be careful pouring hot liquid into glass!)