Lavender Hot Cocoa

Looking for a new relaxing take on the comfort classic?

Lavender hot cocoa is a fun way to get cozy at the end of a cold winter day!

Cocoa and lavender are both said to reduce stress and anxiety, so they make the perfect soothing pair in this warm drink.

Still, you might want to give it to the kids or grandchildren early in the evening and not right before bed!

The recipe comes from The Lavender Cookbook by Sharon Shipley and only has 8 ingredients, making it almost as easy to make as the store-bought packets.

Not all lavender can be used for culinary purposes and not all lavender is food-grade, so make sure you are using a culinary dried lavender. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about the lavender you are using.

Grinding the dried lavender helps to extract more of the lavender’s flavor. If you do not have a spice grinder, do not worry! You can use whole buds, which are easier to strain too.

Take care when heating milk on the stove as it is easy for the milk to boil over if you are not watching. Nobody wants to clean milk off the stove.

The heated milk will make it easier to dissolve the chocolate and cocoa powder, but you will want to use a whisker to make sure all the powder combines evenly.

Make sure you do not skip the vanilla extract at the end! It really helps to combine the flavors of the lavender and chocolate and makes the whole drink much smoother.

What an easy way to mix a lavender into your winter beverage collection. Does it make you wish you were walking through a lavender field on a warm summer day?

Make sure to tell us what you think!

Ingredients

• 1/4th cup (25g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons (36g) sugar
• 1/8th teaspoon (0.7g) salt
• 4 cups (946ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon (1.9g) dried culinary lavender
• 2 tablespoons (28g) dark, bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon (4.9ml) vanilla extract

Mix the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt together in a bowl.

Add lavender to a spice grinder, and pulse until the lavender is coarse.

Pour the milk and lavender into a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer but be careful not to overheat.

Turn heat off and let milk and lavender steep for 10 minutes.

Strain and discard lavender from milk.

Bring milk back to a simmer and turn heat off again.

Whisk chocolate chips into milk until melted.

Whisk cocoa powder until evenly blended.

Stir vanilla extract.

Serve, enjoy, and make sure to tell us what you think!