Healthy Hot Chocolate with Medicinal Mushrooms
My healthy hot chocolate recipe has been a balm for my sensitive nervous system. Picture this: it’s dark, early morning. I’ve taken to waking up as early as I can drag myself out of bed to sit in the black-ness. It feels like a cocoon, the dark quiet, where my sensitive mind can wander without feeling over-stimulated.
Overstimulation can be a problem. There are some people for whom it feels as though there is no boundary or separation between them and the world. This can be a wonderful thing— the birdsong outside right now, while I type it is playing in my body, warbling over my upper abdomen. Cars drive by and blend into this music, their baseline cutting a diagonal from shoulder to hip. This lack of separation can also be a challenge, however. In our increasingly overstimulating world, it can be challenging to cultivate a sense of peace in your nervous system. Luckily, we can reach for our herbal and fungal allies to support our bodies. One of my go to recipes for soothing my nervous system is my healthy hot chocolate.
Healthy Hot Chocolate
Full of rich cacao and medicinal mushrooms like reishi and turkey tail, this nourishing drink is my go-to companion when I’m having a stressful day.
Healthy Hot Chocolate Blend Ingredients
- 1 lb black cocoa (King Arthur makes a nice black cocoa)
- 1/2 lb dutch cocoa (Droste is my favorite, but Valrhona is also great)
- 2 oz powdered turkey tail mushroom
- 2 oz powdered lion’s mane mushroom
- 1/2 oz powdered reishi mushroom
- 2 oz powdered porcini mushroom (optional)
- 2 oz powdered chanterelle mushroom (optional)
Directions
- Put all of these dry ingredients in a bowl and mix until fully combined.
- Label and store in a glass jar.
Yield: makes enough cocoa blend to last for a long while.
2 Cups of Healthy Hot Chocolate Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 2 T hot chocolate blend
- 1 T sugar
Directions
- Place your milk and cream in a sauce pan. Heat them up to a very mild simmer.
- Meanwhile, bring a cup of water to boil. Pour a few tablespoons of that just-boiled water over your cocoa blend in a cup. Stir the mixture together until it’s a slurry with no clumps.
- Add this slurry to the sauce pan. Gently simmer the milk and hot cacao for 15 mins, stirring to prevent the chocolate from burning.
- After 15 minutes, add your sugar to the hot milk mixture.
- Remove the cocoa from the stove and let it cool to a drinkable temperature.
- Serve the cocoa in a mug and enjoy with a friend.
Yield: 2 cups of hot chocolate.
Cacao (Theobroma cacao) Benefits
Cacao is cardioprotective, meaning it has an affinity for strengthening and nourishing the heart. Cacao can also enhance mental clarity and promote a gentle sense of euphoria in the nervous system. Want to learn more about the benefits of cacao? Check out the Cacao Monograph on HerbMentor. HerbMentor is LearningHerbs’ hub for herbal learning: boasting a forum, herbal classes with legends like Rosemary Gladstar, and in-depth plant monographs, HerbMentor is a fantastic place to take your herbal knowledge to the next level. Get started with HerbMentor for $1 here.
Mushrooms Benefits
A lot of medicinal mushrooms help us build up our ability to handle stressors, with our ability to process that which is “not-self,” be it a tumor, a virus, a deadline, the noise of the city around us.
Mushrooms tap us into that connectedness, the openness. They raise the threshold of what we can handle, so that we can remain open and connected in more situations. So that when we are faced with more stimulus, we can process it more easily, because we have been absorbing that ability to be open and connected and still separate.
They obviously don’t have the same energetics across the board— reishi affects the psyche, nervous and circulatory system more than, say, turkey tail which acts more on the immune system. That said, there is that similarity. The underlying thread of tolerance, reserve-building, building our capacity for stress in response to stressors. Here are a few frequently asked questions about hot chocolate, cacao, and mushrooms.
How do I powder my mushrooms? Or where can I buy powdered mushrooms?
If you can, buy turkey tail and reishi already powdered. The process of running them through a Vitamix turns them to fluff, making extracting any usable amount of powder from them painstaking and hair-pulling.
Porcinis and chanterelles are available dried at speciality food shops, and those can be run through the blender to be powdered quite easily. Lion’s mane also powders easily, though it is much more difficult to find commercially. My favourite source for powdered mushrooms is Mushroom Harvest, where the powders are excellent quality.
Can I use my milk of choice for this healthy hot chocolate recipe?
Yes, you can absolutely use your milk of choice. You might opt for nut milk like unsweetened almond milk. Or you might enjoy oat milk or canned coconut milk. All of these dairy-free milk options are a tasty option for your hot chocolate.
I want to add a little extra pizazz to my hot chocolate. What additional ingredients should I consider adding?
It’s all about personal preference: there are so many fun, simple ingredients you can add to your hot chocolate! You could add a few drops of vanilla extract, some mini marshmallows, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne, a pinch of salt, a spoonful of coconut oil, chocolate shavings from a dark chocolate bar, some mini chocolate chips, a dollop of coconut whip, regular or vegan marshmallows, or a drizzle of caramel or chocolate sauce. The possibilities are truly endless!
Can I use my sweetener of choice for this recipe?
Yes, you can substitute the sugar in this recipe for a natural sweetener like coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, or monk fruit sweetener .
Can I substitute the black cocoa and dutch cocoa for cacao powder?
Yes, you can absolutely substitute these.
What kind of whipped cream can I add to my hot cocoa?
You could use full-fat milk or full-fat coconut milk (unsweetened coconut milk) to create whip cream. Both of these types of milk work well and offer a creamy consistency. You could add a dash of cinnamon or a sprinkle of cardamom to make a spiced whipped cream—cardamom whipped cream is my favorite. Cardamom whipped cream always gets a 5-star rating in my book.
How do I give my hot chocolate a spicy kick?
For a little extra warmth, you could add a cinnamon stick or pinch of cinnamon to your hot chocolate. For even more heat, you can add a dash of cayenne.
What can I do to bring out the flavors more?
To bring out the flavors of all your natural ingredients, a pinch of salt helps. I especially like a little coarse sea salt sprinkled over my cup of cocoa.
Why do you use unsweetened cocoa powder?
I chose unsweetened cocoa powder for this hot cocoa recipe because it allows me to choose exactly how much sugar I want to add to my bitter cocoa powder. This way I get to satisfy my hot cocoa cravings and enjoy the health benefits of the cacao without ingesting excess sugar.
What other cold weather drinks can I enjoy?
Hot chocolate is just one of the many drinks you can enjoy during chilly weather. Some other healthy drink ideas include a pumpkin spice latte, tulsi tea, and dandelion root latte. Though these don’t have cocoa content, they can still satisfy that longing for a hot, cozy drink.
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