I’m a huge fan of hot chocolate. Rich, creamy, and full of chocolatey goodness, it’s one of those indulgences that makes living in the dark, cold north a good thing. However, with a strong diabetic gene running through my family history, I have to be very careful of how much sugar I consume. Add candida to the list of why sugar isn’t my friend, and I have to get creative. I know I’m not alone because many of you have requested sugar-free options for my recipes! That’s why I developed this sugar free hot chocolate recipe that is not only rich, creamy and delicious, but has enough fat to keep blood sugar from spiking.
If you struggle with diabetes, or blood sugar issues and you’re trying to eat a low fat diet, you need to seriously reconsider. Sugar makes us sick, fat, and addicted. Fat slows down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream, which keeps insulin from having to come out and clean up the mess. Imagine a pot boiling over. We’re the pot filled with sugar water, and when we take in more than our body can handle, the excess comes spewing out and makes a big mess. That’s what it’s like when we eat too much sugar. Our body can’t handle it, the sugar starts spilling over, and the maid with mop in hand, that comes along and cleans up the whole mess, turns down the heat, and brings everything back into balance is insulin.
Unfortunately that spillage doesn’t go down the sink like the contents of a mop bucket would. Instead insulin stores all of that extra “energy” for later, thus causing weight gain. So anytime you can keep insulin from having to show up to the party, it’s a good thing.
Fat accomplishes this. Just like if you pour a little olive oil on top of a pot of boiling water, it will boil right up to the tippy top of the pot, but it won’t spill over. Fat is your friend. Use the right kind (coconut oil, olive oil, home rendered lard or tallow), and it’s a healthy choice that will keep your blood sugar in check, keep you feeling full longer, and put a smile on your doctor’s face when looking at your LDL and HDL levels.
Please note that the recipe below is fantastic with both milk and dairy alternatives. I myself, use coconut milk, coconut cream, and whipped coconut cream, however if you can tolerate milk, then great, use that!
5 from 1 reviews
Sugar Free Hot Chocolate
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
15 mins
This decadent hot chocolate is diabetic and candida friendly and is easily made dairy free.
Author: Alison
Recipe type: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
2½ cups milk, coconut milk or milk of your choice, divided
¼ cup half and half or canned coconut milk
1 egg yolk
4 Tbs cocoa powder
3 Tbs *Swerve or sweetener of choice
5-6 drops liquid chocolate stevia (or to taste**)
dash sea salt
¼ tsp vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon, or if you want to spice things up, add a dash of cayenne pepper!
Top with unsweetened whipped cream or whipped coconut cream
Instructions
In a 2-cup glass measuring cup whisk egg yolk and Swerve with 1 cup of the milk.
Set aside.
In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, warm remaining milk, half and half, and cocoa powder over medium low heat, whisking constantly.
Once the chocolate and milk have incorporated together and are warm, stream about a quarter cup of the warmed chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs, whisk while streaming.
Then add the tempered egg mixture back into the hot chocolate in the pan, whisking constantly until just below a simmer.
Remove from heat.
Add salt, vanilla, and liquid stevia.
Add additional stevia or Swerve to chocolate until it is the level of sweetness you prefer.
Serve immediately with unsweetened whipped cream.
Notes
Swerve is a brand name for a sugar alcohol called erythritol. You can use other sugar alcohols such as xylitol, however please be aware that xylitol can cause gastrointestinal distress, while erythritol generally does not. **Please be aware, that although I am using sugar substitutes in this recipe, I have kept the level of sweetness quite low. Please feel free to add as much sweetener as you prefer.
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Please note in the recipe above that I’ve linked many of the ingredients used to Amazon. Although Amazon has very good prices, and is convenient for most people, I do also want to share another resource that I frequent. When it comes to buying sugar free and dairy free pantry staples, Vitacost.com is a one stop shop and has comparable prices (often better) to other online resources.
Shipping is FREE when you spend $49. (which is seriously easy to do), and first time buyers get $10 off their first purchase of at least $30 (click here to have coupon code emailed to your inbox).
Having touble getting up to $49? If you’re a smoothie drinker, Vitacost.com has amazing prices on protein powders. Additionally, I purchase the majority of my supplements and vitamins at Vitacost.com, as well as my personal care products. They have some of the lowest prices that I’ve found!