Tis the Season for Hot Drinks! Chai-Spiced Hot Chocolate (You can make this non-dairy!)

I love hot drinks.  I love this time of year where hot drinks are necessary.  I love the great smells that can fill a kitchen or a house when you are making hot drinks.

Okay, enough.  I love it all.  I am going to share yet another recipe from epicurious.com that I modified.  The recipe is for Chai-Spiced Hot Chocolate.  Of course you can make traditional hot chocolate; but this is a nice and refreshing, spicy twist to a tasty hot chocolate.  Here is the original recipe:

4 cups low-fat (1%) milk
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
10 cardamom pods, coarsely cracked
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice, cracked
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
6 quarter-size slices fresh ginger plus 1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream

I made some changes because, first of all, this recipe would cost a lot of money if made this way.  Let's face it, most of us don't have the cash to just toss around on hot chocolate recipes.  Not me especially.  So, I made some changes and found myself and my roommate along with her fiance, very happy with the results.

I substituted almond milk with a little bit of heavy whipping cream (3-4 Tablespoons) instead of the 1% milk.  The almond milk gave it a nice nutty aftertaste and an interestingly silky/thicker texture.
I used Ghirardelli 75% cocoa for my recipe.
I omitted the cardamom pods
I used 2-3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
I substituted clove for allspice and added  1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg additionally.
I omitted the ginger as well

You are going to basically add the milk, chocolate and spices/extract all together and heat VERY SLOWLY on medium to medium-low heat until it hits a boil.  That is when you know it is done!

I know this is a ton of modifications; but it is also quite a bit less expensive and we LOVED the turn-out.  Of course, this recipe would probably be tasty as is; but we really loved this.  It didn't even need the whipped cream.  If anything, it could have used a few tasty, toasty marshmallows on the top!

 

 

Let me know if you try to make this!  Also, something to note, if you are vegan or lactose intolerant, all you need to do is omit the heavy whipping cream and use soy chocolate instead! *If you use the soy chocolate, you may want to add a bit more sugar*  :-D

I hope you enjoy this. Let me know how yours turns out!

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