Chai Spiced White Hot Chocolate Recipe

This luscious Chai Spiced White Hot Chocolate is full of enticing, sweet and spicy flavors, paired with extra rich, creamy white chocolate - and none of those store-bought white chocolate chips. This is the real deal, homemade white hot chocolate with wholesome ingredients.

That’s right! Did you know that you can make homemade white hot chocolate and skip the sugar-laden, heavily processed white chocolate chips? Well, you can! It’s so easy too. This homemade white hot chocolate is made with real food ingredients and pure, food-grade, high-quality cocoa butter.

Cocoa butter is the extra special ingredient that makes white hot chocolate rich and creamy, with a chocolaty taste. It provides some healthy, good-for-you fats too!

Chai spices are the other stars in this non-traditional hot chocolate. These distinctive spices bring a warmth and comforting flavor to this nourishing drink.

Fresh ginger, cinnamon, fennel seeds, cloves and tiny amount of black pepper slowly infuse in warm milk to create the lovely chai flavor.

For an extra, superfood, protein boost, grass-fed gelatin is added. Gelatin is known for helping improve skin, hair and nails, support gut-function, restore and build muscle, support joint health and so much more. It’s amazing stuff!

I love adding gelatin to warming drinks like hot chocolate or creamy turmeric ginger tea because it makes the most delicious foamy marshmallow-y top when blended up. It doesn’t alter the flavor either, it just creates a beautiful foam with a taste that’s reminiscent of marshmallows. This chai spiced white hot chocolate is truly something special. It doesn’t take long to make on the stovetop, making it an easy and fun drink to share with those you love. You can also double or triple the batch if you’re serving holiday guests.

The holidays are on the way! Enjoy the delightful flavors of the holiday season wrapped up in a cozy mug of chai spiced white hot chocolate.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups milk of choice – full fat coconut milk is my favorite dairy free option

- ¼ tbsp freshly grated ginger

- 1 organic cinnamon stick

- ½ tsp fennel seeds

- ¼ tsp whole cloves

- 1 black peppercorn (omit if pepper is a health issue)

- 1/4 cup good quality food-grade cocoa butter, broken into chunks

- 2-2 1/2 tbsp honey or maple syrup (stevia can be used instead for a sugar-free version)

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/8 tsp sea salt

- 2 tbsp grass-fed gelatin

Optional Add-Ins:

- 1 tbsp grass-fed butter, ghee, coconut oil or MCT oil

Instructions:

1. In a medium-size saucepan, add milk of choice, grated ginger, cinnamon stick, fennel seed, cloves and peppercorn and gently heat over low heat for 10-13 minutes (do not bring it to a

boil or it will scald), until the milk is fragrant with the chai spices. Remove from the heat and strain into a heat-proof container. Discard the spices and pour the infused chai

milk back into the medium-size saucepan. Add the cocoa butter, sweetener of choice, vanilla extract and sea salt and gently heat over medium-low heat, whisking until the cocoa butter

has melted, about 1-2 minutes – carefully test to see if the temperature is to your liking and gently heat longer if needed. Remove from heat.

2. Using extreme caution, pour the very hot white hot chocolate into a high powered blender (making sure to leave at least a 3-inch gap at the top since hot liquid expands in the

blender).Add the gelatin and any other optional add-ins and blend for about 25 seconds or until the white hot chocolate is frothy and has a foamy top.

3. Serve immediately and top with optional whipped cream or homemade marshmallows.

Notes:

- Yield: 2-3 servings

- Serving Suggestions: This white hot chocolate is extra special topped with homemade , whipped coconut cream or homemade cinnamon marshmallows.

- Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for holiday gatherings.

- Grass-fed collagen can be used instead of the gelatin, you just won't get the frothy, marshmallow-y, foamy top.

- If using non-dairy milks, make sure to look for versions with no fillers, added oils or gums.

About Emily:

Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri is a water kefir- and chocolate-loving, holistic-minded wife and mom of two little loves. She’s the author of the cookbook The Art of Great Cooking With Your Instant Pot and the founder of Recipes to Nourish, a gluten free blog focusing on real food and natural living. Emily is a contributing writer at Traditional Cooking School and her work has been featured on feedfeed, foodandwine, foodgawker, Nourished Kitchen, Delicious Obsessions, Homemade Mommy and in the cookbooks Beautiful Smoothie Bowls and 30 Minute Clean Eats on a Budget. She’s a real foodie, passionate about nourishing home cooking, lover of seasonal food and an advocate of "green" living, essential oils and a mindful lifestyle. Her passion is to make healthy, natural living as uncomplicated and enjoyable as possible. Find Emily’s latest recipes and natural living tips at Recipes to Nourish.