Whip up a hazelnut hot chocolate and it will change your whole day. My love affair with hazelnuts has gone to new heights of expression. Everyone knows that hazelnuts and chocolate are a special combination, rich and satisfying. Even better, hazelnut milk is a super-easy, high-nutrition snack. The creamy, real-food taste of homemade nut milk is so superior to expensive store-bought beverages, you’ll never want to go back. Why do we pay more for imported chemical dilutions, when we can have the original flavor in minutes? Coconut milk gives it a richer, creamier flavor. I prefer toasted hazelnuts, because they taste much richer and sexier than raw ones. To soak and toast them, see All About Nuts. For a lasting energy boost, try adding your favorite protein powder per the variation at the bottom of the page. To make this you will need 5 minutes, any blender, a saucepan, a nut milk bag for straining hazelnuts, and two large mugs. Serves 2.
Blend hazelnuts in warm filtered water.
Pour the blended milk into a nut milk bag in a saucepan.
Squeeze out the liquid. Heat, stir in remaining ingredients, and drink.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, soaked and toasted if possible for maximum flavor (See All About Nuts)
- 2 pinches unprocessed salt
- 2 cups warm filtered water (not boiling hot)
- 1 cup of the thickest creamiest coconut milk from the top of a can such as Native Forest organic Full-fat coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons sweetener such as Just Like Sugar Table Top natural chicory root sweetener, or 1 1/2 teaspoons PureLo Lo Han Sweetener by Swanson, or 2 tablespoons raw honey, or your favorite sweetener.
- 2 tablespoons pure cacao powder
- Dash vanilla
- Sprinkle cinnamon
Instructions
- In any blender, add hazelnuts, salt and warm water. Blend well for about a minute. Stop to rest, and blend again for another a minute.
- Place a nut milk bag into a saucepan. Pour the milk into the bag. Lift the bag out and squeeze out all the liquid into the pan.
- Add coconut milk, sweetener, cacao, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk well to combine. Heat to boiling but do not boil. Pour into 2 mugs and enjoy!
- Stir in 1/4 cup of your favorite protein powder with the coconut milk.
