Sugar-Free Hot Cocoa Mix

recipe for sugar free cocoa mix using erythritol and stevia. Great for holiday gifts!

Going into the weekend, I wasn’t sure I would be able to get a Dare to Give Handmade post up at all.

Every year (you know, all three of them that I’ve been linking up with Dare to DIY), this is the hardest week for me. I guess maybe it says something about my character that I don’t have any trouble coming up with things to do for MYSELF the other weeks, but I draw a blank when it comes to giving people stuff. New Year’s Resolution: stop being such a selfish jerk. Presents for everyone! Two years ago the kids and I made coasters for people, but last year I’m pretty sure I didn’t post anything. At least not in time. We did end up making a few handmade gifts last year, but only very last minute.

So this year I started thinking ahead early and came up with some really exciting, ambitious plans.

And then it was Thanksgiving and we had family in town, and then it was tech week for Gus’ play and I was driving him to rehearsals every night….

So I made cocoa mix and stuck it in a mason jar instead.

When I did my Christmas home tour, I promised a post about our cocoa station (there’s a DIY project involved; I’m not just going to tell you we put cocoa mix in containers and now we drink it). So then I thought I would combine that post with this one and you’d get a SUPER COCOA-FABULOUS post.

Then I spent all weekend on Shutterfly making photo books, and now, as I’m writing this, it’s Sunday night, and I’m really tired.

So, to sum up this tale of thwarted ambitions, here’s a post about cocoa mix and how you can maybe make some and give it to people for Christmas. There’s a slight twist, though, because this is SUGAR-FREE cocoa mix. (Of course, you can also give regular cocoa mix, this recipe from Martha Stewart is the one we use for that. I like it because it doesn’t call for powdered milk like most do (we always like to use milk instead of water to mix it into anyway, so I’d rather not go buy powdered milk just for the mix)).

Every year in December, we mix up a big batch of cocoa mix, and every year I almost never drink it because I try not to have too much sugar and, especially, not to DRINK too much sugar. So this year I decided to make some sugar free mix so that I could have a cup every now and then myself, on Christmas movie nights and whatnot.

The mix I came up with (I found some recipes online and then tweaked them to fit the ingredients I wanted to use) uses erythritol and stevia as sweeteners. I avoid most sugar substitutes, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the lab rats, and it continues to look like erythritol is safe. It occurs naturally in fruit, doesn’t raise your blood sugar, and it doesn’t generally cause stomach upset the way some sugar alcohols can. But, of course, all things in moderation and do your own research and all that.

Anyway, here’s the recipe, in very easy to scale up or down amounts:

Sugar-free Cocoa Mix

*1 cup Erythritol

*1 cup cocoa

*1 tsp salt

*4-5 drops of liquid stevia per cup

*milk (I use whole milk, but you can make it lower carb/dairy-free/whatever by using almond or coconut milk)

Mix dry ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Heat 8 ounces of milk, then stir in 2 tablespoons of the cocoa mix until dissolved. Add 4-5 drops of stevia to taste.

 

Erythritol by itself has a sort of odd cooling effect…like it makes thing taste like they should be minty. I know that doesn’t make much sense. Anyway, that’s why you add the stevia; the two sweeteners act very nicely together (I think Truvia is erythritol and stevia already mixed, so you could also probably just use that). I buy Erythritol in bulk on Amazon (affiliate link), since I also bake with it and have a hard time finding it locally.

I made everyone do a blind taste test of this mix and regular one Sunday morning:

sugarfreecocoa02s

The results? Gus guessed wrong, Milo and Ari guessed correctly, and Dave just said he couldn’t tell which was which. I didn’t do a blind test, since I was the one who mixed them, but I did taste them one after the other, and I’ll say that the sugar-free one tasted slightly bitter to me immediately after tasting the one with real sugar, but it tastes good to me when I’m drinking it without anything to compare it to. Everyone except Ari said they liked the sugar-free fine.

Okay, so now I had my own sugar-free mix, and it occurred to me that it would also make a nice little gift for people on my list who are cutting back on sugar. So I completely strained the limits of my gift-wrapping abilities trying to make it all pretty with that red and white twine from Ikea and some little jingle bells that weren’t being worn by any brass animals. And here you go:

sugarfreecocoa03s Sugar free hot cocoa mix recipe

Back later this week with that cocoa station post I keep blathering on about!

maybe you would likeΒ to pin this?

Easy sugar free hot cocoa mix with erythritol. Just add milk and stevia. Use coconut or almond milk to make it low carb or keto friendly. Make a great handmade Christmas or holiday gift.

I’m linking up with the Dare to DIY party, hosted this week by Maybe Matilda. Go take a look!

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Comments

Sugar-Free Hot Cocoa Mix — 21 Comments

  1. I am like you, I have trouble with this week. And I solve it by making something edible(drinkable). I feel like you can’t really go wrong with that. When you said that Ari did not like it as the only one, my first immediate thought was – and don’t ask me why – I wonder if he is the only first born out of all of you?

    • Hmm…well, I’m my mom’s first born but not my dad’s. Dave has an older sister. Dave and Gus are our least picky eaters overall, so I think they both have the least discriminating taste buds πŸ™‚

  2. Love this Gretchen! And the recipe sounds and looks fantastic in your beautiful mason jar! Happy week to you friend! Nicole xoxo

  3. Awesome gift! It looks so cute all packaged up, and who doesn’t love hot cocoa? Also, don’t feel bad about struggling with gifts for other people–I do, too (no issues coming up with gift ideas for myself, of course) and more than once for Dare to DIY I’ve just made something for myself and called it good πŸ˜‰

    • Thanks, Rachel! Truth be told, this mix may wind up back in MY batch in a big jar. I was going to give it to my mom, but I found out last night she doesn’t keep stevia around, so I’m not sure she’d really use it. oh well. At least I have a cute jar now πŸ™‚

  4. I don’t think it’s a matter of being a selfish jerk. I always have trouble picking out gifts for others, let alone making them. I’m just always so certain they’ll hate it. We’ve got a few diabetics at work and I think this is a lovely way to include them too. I’ll definitely be using the recipe!

  5. This is a great gift – who doesn’t love cocoa? And with all the treats we are indulging in, sugar free would be a welcome change.

    I think it’s hard to share gifts because many of us haven’t actually GIVEN them yet. πŸ˜‰

  6. Oh Gretchen you know that his is perfect for my (sugar-free) daughter right? It’s going on our recipe Pinterest board for her and I will try to make it for sure

    • Abe calls anything more than lukewarm “HOT!” and refuses to taste it, so I don’t think this is his year for hot cocoa πŸ˜‰

  7. This is such a perfect little gift for anyone in your life who can’t have sugar or likes to avoid it. ‘Cause I mean who doesn’t like hot cocoa?!

  8. What a great idea! I hope Ony gets some of this from you! πŸ˜‰ This time of year there is so little he can have. Also, if Dave gets oatmeal cookie mix from any students again, you know where to send it!

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