Vegan Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Jump To Recipe 3 reviews posted Dec 5, 2018 by Jessica Hoffman

This Vegan Peppermint Hot Chocolate is packed with rich chocolate flavour, and made with all natural ingredients. Serve it topped with crushed candy canes for a festive holiday drink!

Whose excited for peppermint EVERYTHING this month?!

I know I am. And I have not one, not two, but THREE peppermint inspired recipes coming to the blog for December. So get excited!

The first peppermint recipe is this vegan peppermint hot chocolate. This Vegan peppermint Hot Chocolate is dairy-free, gluten-free, rich and creamy, and made with homemade almond milk!

When I think of December, hot chocolate is definitely one of the first drinks that come to mind. It’s also one of those drinks that both kids and adults love. I remember loving hot chocolate when I was 10 years old, and I still love it equally today!

If you’re feeling like you need an extra boost though to this hot chocolate, you can feel free to turn it into a peppermint mocha and add a shot of espresso to it. (Just for the adults 😉 )

You will get a *mini* energy boost from this hot chocolate, even if you don’t add in a shot of espresso. Hot chocolate already contains a small amount of caffeine in it from the dark chocolate. So if you’re sensitive to caffeine, I wouldn’t recommend drinking this right before bed.

Besides being completely dairy-free and vegan, this vegan peppermint hot chocolate is also gluten-free, and is totally healthy! For this recipe we’re using a good quality 70% dark chocolate, homemade almond milk, and maple syrup as the sweetener so it is free from any added refined-sugars.

Let’s move onto how this hot chocolate is made.

A few notes on this recipe:

Hot chocolate is typically made one of two ways: with cocoa powder, or with real chocolate.

For this vegan peppermint hot chocolate recipe, we’re going with the REAL DEAL CHOCOLATE. You can technically use any type of vegan chocolate you like, though if you want to keep this on the healthier side, I’d recommend using a high-quality 70% dark chocolate.

Not only is this type of chocolate much lower in sugar than typical chocolate chips, but it will also give a richer and more chocolatey taste to your drink.

For the milk, you can use any type of plant-based milk you like. Coconut milk works well for a really rich and creamy hot chocolate, cashew milk, almond milk, soy milk…they’ll all work!

I do recommend for this particular recipe to make homemade almond milk rather than store bought. The homemade almond milk is much richer and creamier than what you can buy in the store, and it also has no additives or preservatives! (Also, homemade just tastes better!)

I like to top this hot chocolate off with some coconut whipped cream, though this is totally optional. You can also top it off with some cocoa powder, vegan marshmallows or just leave it as is.

More holiday recipes to try

If you tried this Vegan Peppermint Hot Chocolate or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!