Dairy Free Keto Hot Chocolate

Wow, that meringue on top is such a good call! I thought a dairy free version would taste thin and this one doesn’t at all.

Came out thick and smooth. I made it twice this week.

Have everything except grabbed hemp milk by mistake, does that work or does the fat ratio from coconut/macadamia actually matter for texture?

Happy with this overall, but if you’re using Lily’s chips, the full Swerve tips sweet. Pulled it back a tablespoon and the chocolate came through better. That two-chocolate combo is honestly why this tastes like actual hot chocolate and not just cocoa.

One thing I needed to figure out before committing to batch prep: whether the coconut milk base would hold in the fridge without the fat separating. It doesn’t separate. Quadrupled the base, portioned into four jars, reheats low and slow on the stovetop and the texture stays smooth. I use Lily’s chips and the cocoa butter content probably helps with the emulsification. Bloom is already built into the batch so you skip it on reheat days. Meringue I do fresh each morning, two minutes with a hand mixer. Weeknight hot chocolate is now just a warm jar and two minutes of whipping.

4 net carbs got exactly zero eye rolls when I brought this to Saturday brunch. The coconut milk base is no joke. Converted two people who actively hate dairy-free.

My grandmother was firm about hot chocolate needing two forms of chocolate, cocoa for depth and actual melted chocolate for body. She’d say anything else was cutting corners. I thought about her the whole time I was making this because the cocoa bloom plus the chocolate chips is exactly that same two-step logic she swore by, except I never understood why until I tasted it here. The coconut milk makes it richer than I expected, honestly closer to what I remembered from her version than I thought possible. Four stars because the meringue took some warming up to for me, she would have left it plain, but it changes each sip in a way I can’t quite explain. Made it three times in two weeks and I keep thinking about her stovetop method every time.

Making this Sunday for a group of 8, if I quadruple the recipe, does the meringue still come together right or should I beat that many egg whites in batches?

Made this on a weekend and brought my daughter a mug with the meringue topping before she’d seen me put it together. She spent the first few minutes poking at it trying to figure out if it was ice cream. Once it started dissolving into the hot chocolate she called me back in to watch, like it was actually doing something. Not helpful feedback, but she’s been asking for it on weekends since and I’ve started making a double batch of the meringue because she puts extra on everything.

Was skeptical about the coconut milk base since most dairy-free versions taste thin and flat, but this one actually has some weight to it. Blooming the cocoa first plus the chocolate chips at the end is what makes the difference.

Add a small pinch of cream of tartar while beating the egg whites. Keeps the meringue stiff for close to an hour instead of weeping into the drink. Worth knowing if you’re making a batch for more than one.

Added a pinch of cinnamon to the cocoa bloom on a whim and now I can’t imagine making it without. The coconut milk base is already so creamy I didn’t expect the cinnamon to even come through, but it really does.

Was skeptical about dairy-free hot chocolate (every version I’d tried tasted like sad cocoa water) but the coconut milk actually has body to it and I haven’t touched my usual mix since.

Tried maybe four or five of these over the past year. This is the only one that doesn’t taste watered down. The coconut milk base actually delivers where the others didn’t. Four stars because the meringue is a bit fussy for a weeknight, but worth it when you have time.

The meringue topping sounded like extra for no reason and now I’m the person who won’t make it without it.

Added a shot of espresso when I bloomed the cocoa and it turned into basically a mocha. The coconut milk already makes it so thick, the espresso just took it over the top. Can’t go back now.

Been making this on repeat since winter and this week I tried bumping the cocoa to 5 tablespoons instead of 4 before blooming it, and the depth just changed completely. The coconut milk base already does so much but that extra bloom pushed it into something I’d choose over actual hot chocolate without even thinking about it.

The coconut milk makes it so much creamier than regular hot chocolate.