Rich, creamy low carb hot chocolate recipe with a kick of cinnamon and chipotle. The very thing to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. It also doubles as a delicious dessert!
As I sit here writing this, it is raining out and there is still a good foot of snow on the ground, so it’s little wonder that I have perfected my sugar-free hot chocolate recipe. Up until the beginning of February, it seemed like we were getting through this winter relatively unscathed in terms of the white stuff. We’d had a few dustings here and there, but nothing that required the use of a shovel or a snowblower. Then the biggest storm of the winter, and one that dumped a good 2+ feet of snow, came sailing in our direction on February 8th. And the timing was utterly impeccable, as we had a trip to Florida planned for February 9th, where we would see my father for a few days and then head up to Orlando for a few days at Disney World. Needless to say, we had to scramble to change our plans and unfortunately we ended up going straight to Orlando and did not get to see my dad at all. But as it was my kids’ first time at Disney and they were beyond excited, being able to save that portion of the trip was imperative.
I would be the first to tell you that I am not really a “Disney person”. As a mother of two girls and a boy, I’ve long been annoyed by what I would term the “pushing” of the Disney Princess on little girls these days, everywhere you turn. I want my girls to grow up using their own intelligence and resources to make their way in the world, not to rely on their looks (oh, but they ARE beautiful girls!) and wait for a prince to make them happy ever after. And the classic princess stories still push that theme, although the times are a-changing and many of the more recent movies have strong, interesting heroines (have you seen Brave? That Merida is a kick in the pants!). But I’ve always poo-pooed Disney a bit and have been reluctant to make a trip there.
And now I need to eat my words and tell you just how awesome our little trip was and how I wish we’d stayed longer and I can’t wait to go back. I have to hand it to Disney…in terms of family vacations, they think of just about everything. From the accommodations to the food choices to the Magic Kingdom itself, they make it easy on families to just relax and enjoy each others’ company. We had an absolute ball and given the amount of activity we managed to pack in for 3 days, my children held up admirably, with few to no breakdowns despite late nights and missed naps. And it is delightful to watch your children be as purely happy and excited about everything around them. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I had tears in my eyes watching the princess parade, because my littlest child was so happy and thought they were doing it all just for her. She kept yelling out “Cinderella, Cinderella, your castle is over there!”, and “Belle, Belle, this is my Mommy!”. It near broke my heart, it was so cute.
And then it was back to reality, to cold and snow and we’ve had a little bit of snow every weekend since the big storm. February has been relentless and I have made countless mugs of hot chocolate to stay warm and cheer myself up. And a little addition of cinnamon and chipotle powder take it to a whole new level. This really could be dessert too, because with all that heavy cream, it’s about as rich as chocolate mousse. With a spicy kick!
Mexican Hot Chocolate – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup almond milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, gluten-free
- 1 tbsp Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 to ¼ tsp chipotle powder
- Dollop whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine almond milk, cream, cocoa powder, Swerve, cinnamon and chipotle powder.
- Whisk until well combined, then bring to a gentle simmer.
- Remove from heat, divide between two mugs, and top with whipped cream and cinnamon.
- For an extra kick, add a shot of strong coffee or espresso.
Notes
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If youve been off sugar awhile this hot cocoa is terrific!
I made this last night and OMG it is so good.
No dairy for me so I used coconut milk instead of the heavy cream… Delish!!!
Thanks again Carolyn.
Glad you liked it!
I wasn’t too sure about the chipotle powder so I put 1/3 less than recommended and it was just enough kick for me. Lovely recipe and perfect for a chocolate craving on a cold evening like tonight. Thanks!
Thanks for the great recipe…I was looking for some form of low carb chocolate goodness. This was perfect as it is getting chilly. Just skipped the Chipotle and added a splash of my low carb pumpkin spice ‘baileys’ at the end. Yummy
Love this recipe! I have made it twice, and used coconut milk in place of the almond milk the second time around. I am the only one in my family who likes low carb, so I put the leftovers in a mason jar and refrigerated for later. I drank some reheated, and later had a cold glass as chocolate milk. Super yummy!
Being from Texas, I love the idea of adding chipotle. We just booked our first family trip to Disney World with my 3 kids under 6. I was adament we take them while they still believe in magic. This is my first time going as a Type 1.5 diabetic. Do you have any tips or restaurants you would recommend? I control my daytime blood sugar with diet (thanks to you!), but need to take insulin at night for my fasting.
That’s a toughie. No real restaurant recommendations…I just try to stick to the meat and veggies when going out and Disney has tons of buffet style restaurants that work. Oh and there’s a restaurant in Tomorrowland that does a great hot lunch – half a chicken with some veggies and potatoes. Just don’t eat the potatoes! We stay at places that have kitchens so I do a lot of cooking for the family at home for breakfast and dinner but lunches are tougher.
What a nice treat for a cold day, I like the idea of drinking dessert!
Sounds like you had a great trip-this hot chocolate sounds great!
Love your Disney story! My husband and I are very much Disney people, and we had SUCH an amazing time taking our four-year-old son for the first time last October. My absolute favorite tears-in-my-eyes moment was when he stopped to pick up a piece of Mickey-shapped confetti off the ground. “Mommy!” he shouted, “Look at this fairy dust! It’s from my wish! It’s from Tinkerbell!” He so genuinely believed in that magic. Gosh, I’m tearing up now!
What a treat Carolyn! My kids love a good hot chocolate.
First off I LOVE your mugs. I have brown ones as well. They don’t have the white in the middle though and second off…YUM!
The mugs are just from Ikea! 🙂
I think I’m just going to have to scour all your old recipes and get inspiration to kick-start getting (the bad kind of) carb-free. This looks really good, although I’m not sure if I can get unsweetened almond milk. I’ll have to see.
We’ve gone to EuroDisney a couple of times and the first time I planned our trip really well so that we had a great time. The second time had lost its magic for us (not that there was much there to begin with) but I know this is the kind of stuff kids LOVE. For that one reason it’s worth it.
This looks so yummy. I have to switch out the heavy cream for coconut cream (vegan) but I thank you so much for this beautiful recipe.
I think coconut cream would work very well!
Carolyn, L.O.V.E the Disney adventure details and the recipe – Thank you! I will be trying it very soon – love hot chocolate! I just need to find the right cocoa powder.
I was actually reading your post from Nov. 7, 2012 about Unsweetened Cocoa Powder & Unsweetened Chocolate. If you have a chance, would you be able to recommend a brand for the unsweetened cocoa powder, gluten-free &/or Unsweetened Chocolate.
Oh! and on a different note (you may already know it), did you ever use this little kitchen tool call “AeroLatte”, it works great to give extra fluff to your hot/cold creamy beverage!
Cheers!
Carolyn,
Your Mexican Hot Chocolate with the chipotle powder is perfect for the weather that we have been having in February. We didn’t get two feet of snow, but all of our snow has come in February, like you.
Carolyn,
Your Mexican Hot Chocolate is perfect for the weather that we have been having in February. We didn’t get two feet of snow, but all of our snow has come in February, like you. I like the addition of the chipotle powder. I will have to try this one.
Totally sweet story about your “littlest” child. Aaaw – I loved that! I passed this recipe on to my new daughter-in-law. I think she and Jon will love it! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Honestly, my littlest is a tough kid, Jen. So when she was just in pure delightful happiness like that, it was so good for all of us!
Looks perfect for today!
We’ve been having hot chocolate weather here too lately–and here I thought spring was right around the corner!
I drink Mexican Mochas ALL THE TIME. This is perfect for when you could use a little less caffeine.