Whenever Christmas time comes around, I like making gifts to hand out to family and friends. Who doesn’t love hot cocoa? Well, I’m sure there’s a few people here and there, but I don’t think I need to describe how good a hot cup of cocoa with marshmallows or whipped cream is when it’s cold outside.

I have a bunch of vegan and dairy-free friends and I really try not to hand out a ton of sugary things to people. Why would I give something that I wouldn’t want to consume myself?

Along with this recipe, I made some labels you can print out on full sheet label paper if you like. If you use pint jars, I suggest shrinking the labels down or cutting them like I did. I put the ingredient portion of the label on the back of the jar.

Anyway, here’s my recipe for dry hot cocoa mix that you can give as gifts (or keep for yourself)…

Low Carb Vegan Hot Chocolate Mix

Yields about 42 quarter cup dry mix servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Enjoy Life brand allergen-free chocolate chips (plus a 1/2 cup extra if you want to have whole chips in the dry mix for added cuteness)
• 1/2 cup cocoa butter (or chocolate chips if you don’t want to invest in this ingredient)
• 1 lb (about 3 cups) dry coconut milk powder – I used Anthony’s brand
• 8 oz container of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered erythritol – I used Swerve brand confectioners
• 1 teaspoon finely ground pink salt or sea salt
• Dandies brand vegan marshmallow minis (optional)

Materials:

• Food processor (or a big knife and a lot of patience)
• Hand mixer
• HUGE bowl
• Air tight containers for gifting purposes
• Printable adhesive pages for printing and cutting out labels

Method:

1. Lightly chop cocoa butter and put into food processor with the cup of chocolate chips and a 1/2 cup of your cocoa powder and process until it’s as fine as you can get it without melting it in the processor. Alternatively, you can use a big kitchen knife to mince the chocolate chips and cocoa butter very fine.
2. Dump the minced chocolate, whole chocolate chips if you chose to add them, coconut milk powder, cocoa powder, erythritol, and salt into your gigantically huge bowl.
3. Use your hand mixer to evenly and completely blend all the ingredients together. Note: I tasted the dry mix to make sure it was good. It should be a little too sweet and a little salty. Once it’s mixed into milk or water, it will calm down the flavor and be SUPER tasty.
4. Once you’re satisfied with your mix, scoop 1 cup of mix into each of 10 pint-sized mason jars, fill in the empty space with marshmallows, seal it up, and make a label for it. You can make your own label or print the one I’ve included on this page. Tie a ribbon around it and you’ve got a cute little gift!
5. There’s two servings left out of the jars, so make yourself a cup or two! You earned it. Mix 1/4 cup of dry mix with your favorite milk, non-dairy milk, or plain water, heated up and stirred well. Add marshmallows or whipped cream or coconut cream and enjoy!

Link to labels:

Printable Multicolored PDF of Hot Cocoa Labels