Having a homemade chocolate syrup on hand that is healthy is a must when you have four growing boys. I remember growing up my mom had the Nestle’s Quick chocolate powder that we used to make chocolate milk. That is definitely not an option in my home these days as I am trying very hard to balance healthy eating habits, along with the occasional special item. My kids drink a lot of raw milk thankfully, but recently my five year old ditched drinking milk. Shortly after he decided he didn’t want milk anymore, I noticed he was cranky A LOT and starting to go through a serious growth spurt. It is very difficult to get enough nourishing fats into my growing boys, so I decided I needed to come up with a way to get him drinking milk again. Thus my recipe for homemade chocolate syrup was birthed into existence.
My hope is that he will not need to have chocolate milk all the time, but I am happy to get the nourishment of raw milk into him regardless. My homemade chocolate syrup is very low in sugar, utilizing only the healthiest sweetener options, such as maple syrup or alternatively some rapadura or raw honey. I use only a small amount in each glass of milk and it is very rich and chocolately so it goes a long way. I’d say he is only getting a minimal amount of sugar per glass, and thankfully milk is already somewhat sweet on it’s own. So if you are in need of getting your little ones to drink more milk, this chocolate syrup could be a good option. I do plan on weaning him of it, as I have done that in the past and it worked out well.
Homemade Chocolate Syrup
1 cup cocoa powder (raw cacao is best, or a good quality cocoa powder that contains high amount of cocoa butter)
1 cup water
1/2 cup maple syrup, grade B preferably (more or less depending on your tastes), alternatively you can use rapadura, honey is okay but will make it very thick
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (preferably gluten free)
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Directions:
In a small saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder, water and maple syrup. Bring to a slight simmer over medium heat, being careful not to burn and whisking constantly, cook until well mixed and thickened about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate. This syrup is very rich and thick, a little goes a long way.
Ounce for ounce, chocolate has more magnesium than any other food. However, chocolate is usually high in sugar making it not a good choice to satisfy your bodies magnesium needs. Thankfully, with this chocolate syrup you can rest assured that you are getting some good minerals thanks to the good quality cacao or cocoa powder and the maple syrup.
Are you a chocolate milk lover? Leave a comment letting me know………
This post contributed to Monday Mania.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been searching for a good, relatively healthy homemade chocolate syrup recipe without success, so this is really exciting!
Thanks for the recipe! We have the same raw milk supplier in our area!
My kids, especially my teenager, love chocolate milk. My husband got a gallon of raw milk out of the freezer by mistake this morning. By the time I realized his mistake, it was too late to put the raw milk back. My kids aren’t keen about raw milk yet, but a small helping of chocolate would change their minds.
I don’t like plain milk either – so chocolate milk is my solution to drink lots of raw milk. (Along with raw vanilla ice cream, of course
I usually use stevia to sweeten, but chocolate syrup to grab and go is excellent.
Oooooo. I make chocolate syrup too, but I never thought to use maple syrup. I may have to give it a try in my next batch as I hate to use refined white sugar.
Looks a great recipe. I have just started eating “clean” & eliminating sugars recently. I am going to try using agave nectar instead of the maple syrup. I live in a small town & my store has recently started selling agave, but still no organic pure maple syrup. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I would use raw sugar or even honey or non organic maple syrup before I would use agave – agave is highly processed and much like that of high fructose corn syrup
http://naturalbias.com/agave-nectar-healthy-or-hype/
Enjoy the recipe!!
Just found your blog this week. DEFINITELY adding it to my blogroll. THANKS!
If I want to make this a thinner consistency – like for dribbling over pancakes – would I just add more water?
Yes Tami!!
I can’t wait to make this and have chocolate syrup for our raw milk and raw milk ice cream
