Serious Hot Chocolate for Hard-working Grown Ups

The promise of hot chocolate makes chores like shoveling the driveway and knocking icicles off the roof feel almost worth it. Your fingers are cold, your back is sore, and you deserve a treat. You can simply veganize the recipe on the side of the cocoa canister, but your hot chocolate will be thin and sickly sweet.

You need a thick, dark, sinister mug of Aztec liquid chocolate.

For hot drinks, I like hemp milk: it's rich like soy milk, but its flavor is understated. I mix it with coconut milk and swap real chocolate for cocoa powder to create a tongue-coating, eye-watering, all-consuming chocolate drink. Since the chocolate and hemp milk are already sweetened, no additional sugar is necessary. You'll want a spoon to scoop the last few drops from the bottom of your mug.

Grown Up Hot Chocolate

2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate (bittersweet or unsweetened if you are a badass)
2/3 cup hemp milk
1/3 coconut milk

Warm all ingredients over medium heat, whisking frequently until chocolate is melted and liquid is steaming. Stop short of boiling. Makes 1 large or 2 small servings.

For real excitement, try serving this hot chocolate with a slice of orange or candied ginger. Or for nostalgia, plop in a few dense vanilla Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows (square marshmallows feel so rustic and artisan).

Let the kids have their Swiss Miss and their dehydrated marshmallow pebbles; you should celebrate the end of another long, chilly day with a steaming cup of real chocolate.