Deliciously thick and creamy, this Banana Hot Chocolate is the perfect healthy treat! It’s also dairy free and contains no added sugars.
Whoever invented hot chocolate deserves a gold medal. Liquid chocolate served in a mug topped with fluffy marshmallows – genius!
Here is my own personal issue with hot chocolate – it’s so sweet and the dairy tends to hurt my stomach. I’ve tried making it with dairy free milk options (almond, coconut and soy milk) but then the creaminess was missing.
Then I saw a recipe online featuring Todd English’s Hot Chocolate with Peanut Butter and Banana and I thought adding banana would be a great way to add creamy texture and natural sweetness to hot chocolate in place of regular milk.
After many trial and errors, this Banana Hot Chocolate recipe was born!
I used very ripe bananas because they tend to be sweeter and let’s face it – extra ways to use up a brown banana is helpful at my house.
I pureed the bananas with vanilla almond milk (unsweetened) to create a frothy, creamy milk mixture which then went into a small sauce pan on the stove.
Once the milk and banana mixture was scalding hot, I added unsweetened cocoa powder and whisked until it was well combined. I decided to use unsweetened cocoa powder because it gives a strong chocolate flavor without adding extra sweetness.
If you like your hot chocolate on the sweeter side, you could definitely add some milk chocolate to the sauce pot. The world is your oyster.
After whisking the cocoa powder into the milk and banana mixture, I poured it into a mug and the result was a deliciously thick, not overly sweet hot chocoalte with a hint of banana flavor. It’s amazing. I prefer my hot chocolate to be pretty thick in texture, you can always add more milk to thin it out.
Then to get all fancy, I threw a few marshmallows on top and toasted them with a mini torch. Because hot chocolate just isn’t hot chocolate without marshmallows.
Banana Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 cups vanilla almond milk unsweetened - you could also use any milk of your choosing
- 1-2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder I used 2
- Optional Garnish - marshmallows cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the bananas and almond milk in a blender
- Puree until smooth
- Strain mixture into a sauce pot (the straining ensures any seeds/fibers from the bananas are removed)
- Heat milk and banana mixture slowly over medium heat until milk is scalding but not boiling
- Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is fully combined
- Pour into mug and garnish with marshmallow and sprinkled cinnamon if desired
I LOVE the idea of using bananas this way to thicken up non-dairy hot cocoa. We also tend to have some spotty bananas at the end of the week that need to meet a delicious end…
I’m right there with you on spotty bananas…I can just never use them fast enough.
This looks divine but have to admit I hate bananas. Any ideas on other healthy fruits to try?
You could omit the banana, it just wouldn’t be as thick. I recently found frozen coconut chunks at Trader Joe’s (just pure coconut, nothing added) and I think that would add a level of creaminess in place of banana.
You could use avocado, but then you would have to add a sweetener, like honey, maple syrup or stevia.
Thank you Monika! I had an avocado cocktail the other day and it was so good!
Dairy-free hot chocolate that isn’t too sweet- this sounds delightful! Do the bananas make it thick like a smoothie? Looking forward to trying this.
Thanks Allison! Yep, the banana makes it creamy and thickens it, similar to a smoothie. Let me know what you think!
The use of the banana to thicken the hot chocolate is such a brilliant idea! This looks totally delicious and I’d love to try a mug.
[…] over at The Domestic Dietitian has this ridiculous Banana Hot Chocolate I CANNOT WAIT to […]
[…] Banana Hot Chocolate […]
Made with soy milk and dark chocolate. Delicious!
So glad you liked it, thank you for taking the time to comment. Happy Holidays!
[…] The easy way to do this is simply to blend together the bananas and the milk and then strain the mixture before heating. That is the gist of this recipe. […]
My toddler (22 months) loved helping with this. Her job was o pour the mil k into the blender and to dump the 2 T cocoa powder in at the end. I love that this is a baby-friendly recipe. Mixed mine with 2 shots of espresso and she drank hers out of a munchkin 360 cup.