Almond Milk / Paleo Hot Cocolate

So if chocolate can be considered paleo, then so can this hot chocolate. First I make some fresh almond milk. I make my own because I haven't found a brand that I'm satisfied with. They all seem to have way too many ingredients. Mine has just almonds and filtered water. That's it.

Sprouted Almond milk:

1 cup raw almonds (with skins)
3-4 cups water
1 nut milk bag (makes life so much easier!)

Soak the almonds for 12-24 hours, changing the water at least a couple of times. If you're not going to have a chance to make the milk at the end of the soaking time, just drain the almonds and store them covered in the fridge for up to a couple of days.

After soaking, rinse and drain the almonds and put them in the blender with 3-4 cups of water. Filtered water is best so it doesn't taste chlorine-y, but it will do if you don't have filtered water. The amount of water you use depends on how concentrated you like your almond milk, how good your blender is and how long you blend for. You're better to air on the side of more concentrated because you can always add more water at the end if you want.

I blend for as long as I have the patience. Then pour into a nut milk bag and let it drain into a container for a whole before squeezing the rest of the milk out by hand. Once you've squeezed as much milk as you can out of the bag, you can store the almond milk in the fridge. Ours is always used up by about 3 days, so I'm not sure how long it keeps.

I also keep the almond remains by spreading them out on a cookie sheet and putting them in the oven on warm for a few hours. Apparently you can use them as a replacement for almond flour in recipes. I'm not convinced, so I'll believe it when I see it!

Hot chocolate:

Melt 1-2 tbsp of dark chocolate in the bottom of a mug. Be sure to use REAL chocolate as many chocolate brands contain wax and won't mix in the same way as real chocolate. I use Callebaut. It contains soy lechtin, which I'm not thrilled about, but its the best tasting easily accessible source of real chocolate for me, so it's a compromise.

Once it's all melted stir in a small amount of almond milk (about 1 tbsp). Stir with a spoon until smooth. Add another tablespoons of almond milk and stir until smooth. Make sure it stays warm, so if it gets too cool, warm it up again in the microwave.

Be very careful not to overheat the almond milk! It curdles really quickly! Way quicker then milk! It's still safe to drink, but not very pleasant.

Keep adding a little bit of almond milk at a time. You can start adding larger amounts once you can see that it's mixing in easily. Heat it up until it's hot enough for you to enjoy. Taste it, if it's not sweet enough for you you can add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey. I add a little maple syrup. I've also tried it with a little vanilla too, but I think I prefer it without.