Written by I’m working from home this morning and with the sudden onset of dreary weather (the past few days have been in the 80’s and bright, but this morning it was a chill 57 and grey out), I was in the mood for something warm and comforting. “Coffee?” I thought, “No… Maybe tea? No. Maybe, later.” I sighed, I wanted something but I wasn’t sure what. So I tidied up my breakfast dishes and started to make my way downstairs to my office.
Now, I know from experience that hot chocolate made with coconut milk and baking cocoa powder isn’t naturally sweet (I foolishly thought it might be the first time I made it, haha). So, I knew I would have to add something… sugar, maple syrup, stevia, honey…? I decided on raw honey because maple just didn’t make sense, sugar didn’t sound appealing at all (in fact, the past few months, every time I’ve had the opportunity to use sugar, I’ve felt somewhat adverse to it because of this vague sense that it’s “fake,” but I’m not really sure where that came from, lol), and stevia leaves a weird chemical taste in my mouth.
So, here we go… my attempt at a dairy-free mocha latte. 🙂
Ingredients and Tools (yeilds 2 6-oz mugs)
- approx. 10 oz of coffee
- approx. 2 oz of coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon raw honey
- 1.5 teaspoons baking cocoa
- a blender (I actually used our MagicBullet, but you could use a regular blender, immersion blender, etc.) OR just a jar or cup with tight sealing lid
Method
- Put all ingredients in the blender.
- Mix it up really well.
- Serve, sip and savor!
Then, I suddenly remembered we had coconut milk in the refrigerator, leftover from my attempt to make icing for carrot cupcakes this weekend. “I could make hot chocolate! Oh, but I could really use some caffeine… Mocha latte! Yay!”
that paleo couple 
found you from chowstalker. you didn't say how it tasted, and as an sbux barista, i want to know! i'm just completing my own whole30 today–and my wonderful cup of morning comfort USED to be a soy latte, extra foam please. now i can drink–for the first time in the almost 5 years i've worked there–a short latte without ANY sugar in it and enjoy it. so, satisfy my curiosity–was it sweet enough, dark chocolatey enough? instant VIA would be fantastic as a substitute for the coffee; then you could use more coconut milk. just a suggestion.
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Hi Jenn,
First, congrats on completing your first Whole30!! I hope you're feeling as awesome as I did. 🙂
Second, that's a good point–I'm sorry I didn't think to describe the flavors of this beverage in my post. I suppose I was in a hurry when I wrote it.
If memory serves me correctly, I actually started with a half teaspoon of honey (just to be safe) and ended up adding another half to get it to the level of sweetness I prefer. It was not super sweet like the lattes of Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc. I'd say it's probably about 1/2 or 3/4 as sweet…? That's a guess. But personally, that is just enough for me. As for the chocolate flavor, I don't think it was “dark chocolate” enough. It was certainly chocolately good, but I wonder if a different baking cocoa powder would be better. I've seen dark chocolate baking powders at the store, I just haven't bothered to try them yet.
Also, thank you for your tip about the instant VIA. I have tried those before (just to make a quick coffee to go), and I think you're absolutely right. They would be perfect with a little extra coconut milk.
Thanks, and best wishes on your journey with “clean” eating!
Heather
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