February 20, 2014
Last November I shared this recipe on FIMBY Facebook and in my weekend newsletter. Quite a few people have told me they love it and asked me to post the recipe again.
I figured it was a good time to share on the blog.
If skiing, sledding, and skating (or watching the winter Olympics, which is competitions of those three activities) isn't getting you through this month, maybe this cocoa will.
Damien made up this recipe. Our family loves it and someone is making and drinking this every day.
This is a thick hot cocoa. You can thin it with more milk or water, if you like.
In a powerful blender mix:
Pour into pot. Set on high heat, whisk continually till cocoa is frothy and is starting to steam. Make sure to keep whisking so you don't burn it!
Remove from heat, pour and enjoy.
Don't cook the cocoa or it will become pudding, good also but not quite so drinkable.
I love starting my day with this for breakfast.
yum! we make something similar but with dandy blend (herbal coffee substitute) added for a mocha drink. i can't do that many dates at once without my blood sugar going wacky so i use a teaspoon of maple syrup - i handle the sugar from maple syrup better than dates, go figure. maybe because it comes from right outside my door so my body is more aligned and accepting of it. i wonder if you could get dandy blend up there? i think you'd like it. i don't ususally add vanilla to mine... going to try that right now! :)
I haven't seen Dandy, but I haven't looked. I'm more of a black coffee girl myself, one cup every morning, followed by this cocoa for "breakfast". But I would like to find an herbal coffee sub for when I want an mocha drink during the day. I add vanilla to everything (smile).
We love this "chewy" cocoa so much, it's made daily here too! I've also experimented with adding & subbing ingredients for delicious variations. I love it with just almond milk, dates and cocoa (& sometimes a drop of peppermint oil), but my kids like it with peanut butter in place of the coconut butter. I had actually been thinking about adding some sort of herbal coffee for a mocha variation, so now I'm going to see what I can find.
Just using the vitamix is a brilliant idea, I hadn't thought of that...I've been using an emersion blender to puree it right in the pan, but my old workhorse vitamix would probably make it even smoother...Yum!
Sounds awesome! I will definitely try this.
Chewy cocoa is the way to go. It looks delightful! Are we able to subscribe to your videos at this time, or will subscriptions start at a later time?
Not yet Shelly. But very soon. As soon as the first video is up, next week, you will be able to subscribe, or purchase individual episodes if you prefer. The $7.50/month subscription is a better deal though. Damien's been programming like mad to get this ready, and our editors are doing the final tweaks on the first video. We're really excited!
I'm excited for you. I'm looking forward to watching your adventure! Try to have a relaxing weekend! ;)
Work today, relax (by working our way up a mountain and skiing down it!) tomorrow. We have a six day work week which allows us to do fun stuff everyday, like skiing. We don't have 9-5 jobs and so our weekends look a little different also. I'm doing taxes today, hoping to finish my end of things (smile).
Oh my, this looks so good! I can not wait to try this recipe.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have a very picky 4 year old and I use chocolate milk to get her daily probiotic into her. I make the chocolate syrup to avoid high fructose corn syrup. This recipe made me realize that I could slip some dates into her daily milk. It's very much needed as I seriously stay awake at night completely horrified by her diet. Anyway, thank you! I started with 8 dates in her week supply of chocolate syrup and can hopefully get it up over time and reduce the sugar/honey.
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Trace on Feb. 20, 2014, 12:51 p.m.
We've been loving this cocoa since you originally shared the recipe, Renee! We do ours entirely in the Vitamix on the soup setting. It's so rich and thick, it reminds us of the hot chocolate we had in Paris!
renee on Feb. 20, 2014, 12:52 p.m.
Trace, you mean you don't whisk it over the burner? We don't have a soup setting on our Vitamix - is that heat setting? Sounds super easy. Damien's drinking his cocoa right now as I type this (smile)
Trace on Feb. 20, 2014, 1:03 p.m.
Right. I purée everything, then run the soup setting, which heats it, plus makes it smooth and creamy. Easy and delicious! (The Vitamix with the pre-set options is probably my all-time favorite appliance.)
Jennifer Ott on Feb. 25, 2014, 5:04 p.m.
Totally doing this later today for the kiddos! I will try the same method in my BlendTec and let you know how it goes (although I will have to use Medjool dates since that's is all I have in the house, and I am not leaving the cozy inside to venture out in 1 degree with a wind chill advisory for dates)!
Tracie Embi on Feb. 25, 2014, 5:38 p.m.
We use medjool. Works great!
renee on Feb. 25, 2014, 5:41 p.m.
I would use medjool too it's just that the price difference for neglet vs. medjool is significant and so we reserve medjool for raw snacking and use the cheaper dates as sweetener.
Julie on Feb. 26, 2014, 2:06 p.m.
We have a vita mix, but not with setting other than low and high. We just throw it all in and add a bit more water and blend until steam comes out the little top when removed. It isn't burn your tongue hot, but my kids don't like it that way. We use your recipe and have tweaked it for our preferences and we love it. To me this tastes like gourment chocolate and not overly sweet.
LOVE IT!! Thanks Damien.