5 Ingredient Creamy Hot Chocolate

I got a package of Christmas goodies from my adorable pen pal Sarah, of @primalbites on Instagram. She really is the best. Of course, I could not wait to dig in. I stuffed my face with one of each cookie and the homemade marshmallows she had made, as soon as I opened the box. When I saw the marshmallows, I knew I had to make my 5-ingredient hot chocolate. This hot chocolate is no ordinary hot cocoa, it is essentially a custard. It is rich, creamy and decadent. You could even chill it overnight and throw it in an ice cream maker the following day and voila! you've got chocolate ice cream. 

5-Ingredient Creamy Hot Chocolate

What you'll need:

• 2 oz chocolate (I used 85%), chopped 
• 1 TBSP cocoa/cacao powder
• 2 TBSP/6 tsp coconut sugar or other granulated sugar (If using semi-sweet chocolate, reduce sugar by 1-2 tsp) 
• 2 1/4 cup milk (dairy or nondairy)
• 2 egg yolks

What to do:

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 1 TBSP coconut sugar and cocoa powder together until combined. In a sauce pan, heat the remaining 1 TBSP coconut sugar, dark chocolate, and milk over medium heat. 
2. Stir the milk mixture together until the chocolate and sugar have dissolved. Don't worry if not all the chocolate has melted into milk mixture. Remove the milk mixture from the heat when it starts to steam but not boil. 
3. Slowly pour a little bit of the heated milk mixture into the egg yolks all the while whisking. This will temper the eggs and prevent hot chocolate scrambled eggs. Continue whisking and pouring the heating milk into the egg yolks. When about 1/2 - 3/4 of the heated milk mixture has been added to the eggs, return the egg yolk/milk mixture (now a custard) back to the sauce pan. 
4. Turn the heat down to medium low and using a wooden spoon swirl a figure 8 pattern to keep the custard from curdling. The mixture is done when the back of your spoon is coated nicely with a layer of the custard. 
5. Serve with homemade marshmallows, coconut whipped cream, a shot of espresso and a drizzle of melted chocolate for some ultra decadence. Makes 2-4 servings. 

Fluffier Almond Flour Pancake [Puffs]

 

I've been neglecting this blog for months now. Honestly, I find it simplier to just post on Instagram. I can photograph, edit, and type up a recipe on one little machine, my iPhone 5S! Oh technology, I love you. Anyway, I've updated my almond flour pancake recipe to be even fluffier and turned them into cute little powered coconut sugared Aebleskivers. These were baked in a cake pops maker used as makeshift Aebleskivers pan. What the heck are Aebleskivers? I'm still trying to figure out the pronounciation, but Aebleskivers or "appleskives" are traditional Danish pancakes that are a cross between a popover and a pancake. They're served with a dusting of powdered sugar, squeeze of lemon juice and a side of jam for dipping.

 

They're totally time consuming, but so cute! Of course, you can just make tradtional pancakes with this recipe too. 

Fluffier Almond Flour Pancake [Puffs]

What you'll need:

• 2 eggs, separated whites and yolks
• 1 TBSP coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut or almond milk
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 TBSP arrowroot starch
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• coconut oil or butter, for frying

What to do:

1. In two separate bowls, whisk the egg yolks with the coconut sugar and anilla until combined. In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, set aside.
2. Sift the almond flour, arrowroot, baking powder, and salt together in the bowl with the egg yolk mixture. Add the milk and mix the until there are no lumps.
3. Using about 1/3 of the egg whites, stir into the eggyolk batter until combined. You dont need to thouroughly mix, just enough to most of the egg whites are incorporated. Working in thirds, add another 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Again you dont need to thouroughly mix, just mix until you only see a few streaks of egg white. Fold the remaining egg whites in the batter. By now, the batter should be pretty light and fluffy.
4. Heat a pan or griddle over medium low heat. Add a little bit of coconut oil or butter to the pan. Swirl to coat it all around.
5. Turn the heat down to low and add 1/4 cup or 1 ice cream scoop full of batter. Cook on low for ~2 minutes. Carefully flip and cook for another 30-45 seconds on the other side. Repeat for remaining batter. Makes about eight 4 inch pancakes.
6. If using a cake pop maker, pre-heat it according to manufacturer's instructions. Spray cake pop maker with coconut oil, or add tiny tabs of butter in each well. Using a cookie scoop, add batter to about 3/4 full (the batter will rise a bit). Cook with lid open for about 2-3 minutes. Use a knife to run along the edges of the pancake puff and carefully flip over. Alternatively, you can just use the cake pop maker as manfacturer specified and close the lid.