Sweetened with real food, unprocessed sweeteners such as honey and coconut sugar, this homemade chocolate syrup is everything good in a bottle.
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Supermom Powers
Have you ever found yourself short of supermom powers when your kids, eerh, reached for that bottle of store bought chocolate syrup laden with high fructose corn syrup and other questionable ingredients to make themselves some chocolate milk? You know the one, where 'cocoa' is on the bottom of the ingredient list?! The one that's almost better NOT to read the ingredient list for fear of grief, sorrow and nightmares that may ensue.
Fear no more, dear friends! Next time you're in a frenzy for some chocolate milk, you can whip yourself a batch like this in no time. In literally under 10 minutes of work, you can have yourself (or your kids) a tall glass of chocolate milk with {{real}} chocolate syrup.
What I love the most about this recipe is that by adding this to raw milk from pastured cows (or goats if that's your choice of animal), this is transformed into a super-drink. How's that for some superpowers!
In our home, we have no limit to how many glasses of this the kids can drink. In fact, you can often find this on the dinner menu. Just kidding.
But really, I've found that a tall glass will usually suffice a child's craving for chocolate milk because raw milk is chock full of healthy fats that are very filling.
GAPS or Paleo variations
Another thing I love about this recipe is that versatile. You can use any sweetener that your heart desires. If you're paleo, go with honey or coconut sugar. If you're healing your way through GAPS, you may want to stick to honey only. It may alter the flavor a bit, but that cocoa is pretty overpowering that you probably won't be able to tell what sweetener was used.
These days, I use regular organic cane sugar. Because, cocoa is chock full of antioxidants and raw milk contains a plethora of vitamins, I really don't mind a small serving of sugar. In the past, I've used real maple syrup, honey and coconut sugar and all have turned out great. If using honey, I would wait until the mixture is off heat and then add it so as not to destroy the raw enzymes and nutritional value in the raw honey. I would also recommend going a tad smaller on the honey as it's sweeter than other sweeteners.
It keeps great in the refrigerator in a bottle (I reuse store-bought Kombucha bottles) for up to 2 weeks, maybe even longer, but I wouldn't know since ours doesn't last that long. I like to stretch my chocolate syrup down to the last drop so when I *think* it's empty, I just pour a cup of milk straight into the bottle and give it a vigorous shake to get the littlest of little drops of the chocolatey goodness. It's amazing how much of the syrup is stuck to the bottom and walls of the bottle. I'd like to think it's my way of not wasting food around here.
Homemade Chocolate Syrup
For using all sweeteners except honey:
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, sweetener, cocoa, pinch of salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes. Take off heat, pour into a jar or bottle. Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks.
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, cocoa, pinch of salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. No need to continue to cook for additional 5 minutes since we have no sugar to dissolve. Add honey and stir well to combine. Pour into a jar or bottle. Store in refrigerator up to two weeks.
Printable Recipe
Homemade Chocolate Syrup (GAPS, Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ c. filtered water
- 1 ½ c. organic cocoa
- 1 c. sweetener honey*, real maple syrup, coconut palm sugar, even organic cane sugar all work great*
- 1 T vanilla make your own
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
For using all sweeteners except honey:
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, sweetener, cocoa, pinch of salt and vanilla.
- Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
- Reduce heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Take off heat, pour into a jar or bottle. Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks.
For using honey:
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, cocoa, pinch of salt and vanilla.
- Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
- Remove from heat. No need to continue to cook for additional 5 minutes since we have no sugar to dissolve.
- Add honey and stir well to combine.
- Pour into a jar or bottle. Store in refrigerator up to two weeks.
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided for your convenience by an online calculator. It should not be considered as a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our complete Nutritional Information Disclaimer.
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P.S. This syrup is also delicious on homemade vanilla ice cream. Yummo!
Kaylin@EnticingHealthyEating says
What a wonderful idea! I've seen a lot of "you should make this at home rather than buying it in the store" posts, but I've never seen chocolate syrup as one of the food items mentioned. I never knew it was this easy.
Anya says
Yes, Kaylin...super easy! It's along the lines of making homemade mayonnaise and ranch, looks intimidating but in reality easier and quicker than going to the store for a bottle. 🙂
Marla says
Hi Anya,
I love this recipe. My husband loves drinking chocolate milk & hot cocoa. I have been looking for a easy homemade healthy alternative besides Hershey syrup & this seems to fit perfectly. We use raw milk and I don't like the idea of all those additives in the chocolate syrup. Thanks for sharing On Real Food Fridays. Pinned & twitted.
Anya says
Oooo..raw milk. Yes - this is perfect to go into a tall glass of raw milk.
Marla says
Hi Anya,
Just a note to let you know that I have chosen your posts as one of my features for this weeks Real Food Fridays blog hop that goes live every Thursday @7pm EST. Thanks for being part of Real Food Fridays mission to make this world healthier. Have a healthy happy blessed holidays.
Anya says
Thanks Marla for the feature. Happy Holidays to you as well. 🙂
Emily says
It burnt! This recipe sadly didn’t work for me and what a shame to waste all of the maple syrup and cocoa!! It burnt before it reached a boil.
Anya says
Hi Emily,
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. Did you have it on high heat? Stoves vary but be sure the heat isn't too high. 🙂