This healthy chocolate milk consists of only 4 simple ingredients. It's made with cocoa powder and there's no chocolate syrup or chocolate chips included. It can also easily be adjusted to personal taste.
Making your own chocolate milk at home is super easy and cost-effective. Most importantly you can decide what goes into it and create a healthy chocolate milk without any unwanted additives. It's refined sugar-free and lower in fat than more traditional chocolate milk drinks.
For more chocolate drink recipes see Oat Milk Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate, Cocoa Powder Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Milkshake, Peanutbutter Chocolate Protein Shake.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This recipe can easily be customized. You can choose your type of milk and adjust the sweetness yourself.
- It's made with unsweetened cocoa powder and there's no chocolate syrup or chocolate chips included!
- It consists of only 4 ingredients- no artificial flavors or added sugar.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Milk: We used oat milk for this chocolate milk recipe because it's naturally sweeter than other types of non-dairy milk alternatives. Feel free to choose your favorite type of milk such as soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk or regular dairy milk.
- (Medjool) dates: They act as a natural sweetener. Choose Medjool dates if you can, they have a gooey texture and caramel-like flavor. Regular "small" dates work as well though.
- Cocoa Powder: This recipe calls for real cocoa powder that's unsweetened. It gives this milk its chocolate flavors.
- Vanilla Extract (optional): Adding a splash of vanilla extract is optional but highly recommended as it tastes amazing in combination with chocolate. Choose pure vanilla extract without any additives.
How to Make Chocolate Milk with Cocoa Powder
To make this homemade chocolate milk, you will need a strong blender that can blend the dates easily to end up with a smooth and creamy smoothie.
Using a stick blender will not give you the same results because it won't be able to blend the dates perfectly.
Step 1: Blend
Throw all of the ingredients (milk, cocoa powder, dates & vanilla extract) into a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.
Step 2: Adjust
Taste and adjust sweetness. If you prefer a sweeter chocolate milk, add more dates or your sweetener of choice.
Adjust the texture. This healthy chocolate milk is slightly on the creamier side. Add more milk for a thinner milk.
Storage
This easy chocolate milk definitely tastes best when served right away but can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Give it a good stir or shake before drinking.
Top Tips
- High-Speed Blender: For this chocolate milk to turn out super smooth, it's important to use a strong blender that can easily break down the dates. An immersion blender will not do the trick here.
- Soft Dates: If your dates aren't soft, soak them in very hot water for about 10 minutes ahead of time.
- Cold Milk: Use cold milk to create a refreshing chocolate milk.
Variations
- Adjust sweetness: This chocolate milk is naturally sweetened with dates. If you prefer a sweeter taste, add more dates and a splash more milk. If you don't need this recipe to be refined sugar-free then you can add any sweetener of choice such as maple syrup, agave nectar, honey or (coconut) sugar. You can decide on the amount of sugar that goes into this recipe.
- Adjust consistency: Add more milk if you prefer a thinner consistency.
- Peanut butter: Peanut butter pairs really well with chocolate flavors, so go ahead and add a teaspoon of peanut butter for a creamier texture.
- Almond butter: If you can't have peanut butter, try almond butter instead.
- Peppermint extract: Peppermint tastes amazing in combination with chocolate.
- Pinch of salt: Adding a little bit of salt (really only a tiny pinch) will help to enhance the flavors.
Serving Suggestions
- Sweet Treat: Enjoy a glass of chocolate milk as a healthy sweet treat or afternoon snack.
- Brownie: This healthier chocolate milk tastes amazing alongside our Banana Brownies, Peanut Butter Brownies or Vegan Pumpkin Brownies.
- Cookies: Or alongside some delicious Chocolate Cookies or 2-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.
FAQs
Unlike store-bought chocolate milk which can often be packed with sugar and other unwanted additives, this chocolate milk recipe is made from only 4 ingredients. It's naturally sweetened with dates. Medjool dates are a great source of selenium, potassium and calcium. They are also high in fiber which helps you feel full for longer. You can read more about the nutritional benefits of dates here. Cocoa powder contains antioxidants such as iron, zinc and selenium. Make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder.
There are different types of cocoa powder. Raw cacao powder and cocoa powder are very similar. Both are made from cacao beans but the way they are processed is different. In general, the darker the chocolate, the higher the cacao content and therefore also the mineral content. You can read more about the differences between cocoa and cacao powder here.
Cocoa powder doesn't dissolve easily in milk which is why this recipe calls for a blender.
No, I do not recommend using chocolate milk powder instead of raw cocoa powder. Chocolate milk mixes are much more processed and oftentimes filled with added sugars and artificial flavors.
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📖 Recipe
Healthy Chocolate Milk with Cocoa Powder
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold oat milk (or other milk of choice) *see notes
- 2 (Medjool) dates (or 4 "regular" small dates) *pitted
- 2 teaspoon unweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Throw all of the ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until smooth.
- Taste and adjust sweetness. If you prefer your chocolate milk sweeter, add more dates or your sweetener of choice.
- Adjust the texture. This chocolate milk is slightly on the creamier side. Add more milk for a thinner chocolate milk.
Video
Tips & Notes
- High-Speed Blender: For this chocolate milk to turn out super smooth, it's important to use a strong blender that can easily break down the dates. An immersion blender will not do the trick here.
- Soft Dates: If your dates aren't soft, soak them in very hot water for about 10 minutes ahead of time.
- Milk: Any milk of choice works here. For a vegan version try almond milk or soy milk instead. The recipe also works with regular whole milk.
- Adjust sweetness: This chocolate milk is naturally sweetened with dates. Adjust the sweetness to taste by adding more dates and a splash of milk. If you don't need this recipe to be refined sugar-free then you can add any sweetener of choice such as maple syrup or honey.
- Adjust consistency: This chocolate milk is slightly more on the creamier side. Add more milk if you prefer a thinner consistency.
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