This almond orange hot cocoa is a delicious and nourishing twist on a classic winter drink. Made with almond milk and sweetened with honey, it’s a healthy and warming treat.

Paleo + GAPS Almond Orange Hot Cocoa #hotcocoa #hotchocolate #drinks #paleo #gapsdiet #glutenfree #primal #nourishing #chocolate #almond #orange
That hot cocoa life.

By a quick look through my drinks category you might think that all I drink is hot cocoas and smoothies. You might be right. I honestly don’t think there’s a point in drinking anything other than hot chocolate drinks in the winter. Chocolate eggnog, chocolate coffee… yep. Hot chocolate is life in the winter months!

You also might think that it can’t be all that healthy to drink so much hot chocolate. You’d be wrong there, though. 😉

A nourishing beverage.

While store-bought hot cocoas might be full of unnecessary ingredients (and sadly lacking in any real chocolate, for the most part), homemade is quite different! I love being able to cram all sorts of nourishment into my drinks, and this almond orange hot cocoa is no different.

I like to start off with a base of good quality cocoa powder – usually from Azure Standard – and add to it from there. Kosher, non-GMO, grass-fed gelatin is always next for some added protein, along with some minerals from Himalayan salt. And to sweeten I use local honey, which is full of vitamins, minerals, and anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. Of course, I always add the honey in at the end so that the heating process doesn’t damage too much of the honey’s benefits. 

top shot of almond orange hot cocoa from raiasrecipes.com

Almond orange hot cocoa.

Usually I make my hot cocoas from coconut milk, since it’s easy to make at home and fairly cheap (when you make it yourself). Plus I love the taste of coconut. But for this delicious drink I opted to go with some organic almond milk I found at my local Aldi. It wasn’t expensive, and that almond orange chocolate flavor combo is golden! If you’d rather make it yourself, my friend Joni has an easy how to over on her blog. 

You could also totally use store-bough oj for this treat, but I loooooove freshly squeezed orange juice with all my heart. (Actually, with like 1/4 of my heart, the other 3/4s goes to chocolate… but anyway.) Freshly squeezed is always healthier when it comes to juice of any kind. You don’t have to own a juicer to make the oj for this hot cocoa, either. I just slice the orange in half and squeeze the juice straight into the hot cocoa. Easy peasy, yo.

side shot almond orange hot cocoa from raiasrecipes.com

More chocolate drinks.

Almond orange hot cocoa not sounding super good to you? If you made it this far you must like chocolate in some way, shape, or form, so why not hop on over and check out some of these other delicious and nourishing hot chocolates?

This almond orange hot cocoa is a delicious and nourishing twist on a classic winter drink. Made with almond milk and sweetened with honey, it's a healthy and warming treat. #hotcocoa #hotchocolate #drinks #paleo #gapsdiet #glutenfree #primal #nourishing #chocolate #almond #orange

In the recipe card I’ve linked to some of the products from my affiliate partners that I like to use. Purchasing through these links won’t cost you anything extra. Thanks!

Almond Orange Hot Cocoa

Free from grain, gluten, eggs, dairy, and refined sugar.

Ingredients

Instructions

In a small saucepan, whisk together cocoa powder and collagen.

Turn heat on to low and stir in honey and coconut oil until melted and creamy.

Slowly whisk in milk and heat through.

Turn off heat and stir in salt, extracts, and OJ.

Enjoy plain, or with the topping of your choice (coconut whipped cream would be delish!).

Makes about 2 mugfuls.

Raias Recipes - https://raiasrecipes.com
 

Almond Orange Hot Cocoa #hotcocoa #hotchocolate #drinks #paleo #gapsdiet #glutenfree #primal #nourishing #chocolate #almond #orange