Monday morning, at first site, through groggy eyes, I loathe it. But eventually, those blinding sun-rays pull me from my cozy, warm bed and the day begins.
And once I stop resisting Monday, it actually becomes quite nice. Of course this special Monday Mocha hot bevie helped move me into a merry Monday mood, rather than a moody one.
Go on, make it a Mocha Monday - you know you're more productive when your mouth is smiling! Get my mocha recipe and a look at my favorite vegan cocoa brands..
Happy Columbus Day! If you have Columbus Day off, then why don't you treat yourself to a steamy, creamy, chocolate-bliss-filled cocoa or mocha this morning. My hard-working hubby (MrHHL) is indeed 'going into the office' today. So I decided to make him this special Mocha treat before he left for work on a holiday. How can you be grumpy after slurping melted soy whip off the top of a hot cocoa or mocha?? Impossible perhaps...
Healthy Chocolate Fix? While all brands are different, choose high quality, less-processed dark chocolate based cocoa to get the most choco-antioxidants you have all heard so much about. Chocolate on the ORAC scale.
Vegan Ingredients. I use Sprinklez Chocolate Sprinkles. More info about them in this post. I used Soy Whip by Soyatoo brand. Rice Whip is available too.
Soy Free? Substitute the soy milk with rice or hemp milk. And use Rice Whip instead of Soy Whip as well.
Best Vegan Cocoa? Today I used a brand I bought at Whole Foods called Lake Champlain Aztec Cocoa Mix.
A few fave brands (that you can buy online) are:
Cocoa V's Signature Cocoa Mix
One Lucky Duck's raw cacao powder
Couture Cocoa by Vosges Chocolate
Lake Champlain has several vegan cocoa options (not directed for folks with soy/dairy allergies though)
Allison's Gourmet Cocoa
Soy or Rice Whip on top..
Another fave cocoa topping: vegan marshmallows. Dandies (shown below) or Sweet & Sara are my fave brands.
Here is the simple recipe I used. With little tweaks to make our "house mocha" just the way we like it...
Monday Mocha!
vegan, serves one
1 mug
¾ mug filled with vanilla soy milk
1 heaping spoonful cocoa mix (if unsweetened - sweeten your cocoa to taste using agave, maple or dry sugar)
Coffee: 1 shot espresso or splash of deeply brewed coffee or Instant Coffee single-serve pack (like Via)
dash cinnamon and/or cayenne
swirl of soy or rice whip
vegan chocolate sprinkles
optional: 2 tablespoon water if you like to 'thin out' the consistency of your mocha
Directions:
1. Stove top or in microwave) Heat milk in mug until steamy hot.
2. Add cocoa. Stir well.
3. Stir in coffee ingredient and a dash of cinnamon and /or cayenne.
4. Transfer hot cocoa to a mug if you used stove top heating.
5. Swirl rice/soy cream on top. Sprinkles. Done!
Super easy.
Enjoy!
misskitty914 says
Holy Grail of Cocoa: i adore cocoa so much that i drink it year round, cold in the summer. so when i became vegan i was distraught that every alternative milk i tried tasted terrible with cocoa. think of it like painting walls with red paint - it seems like a dark color but in fact, it's the sheerest and if you don't use dark primer, it will never look right. likewise, chocolate seems like an intense flavor but it is easily overwhelmed by anything other than cow's milk, often leaving behind an aftertaste of rope (despite so many recommendations of adding cinnamon/cayenne) or too watery.
finally, in desperation, i tried the very last alternative milk on the market, Pacific Brand's non-dairy OAT milk. cocoa nirvana at last: it's creamy enough, doesn't compete with the taste of cocoa and leaves no aftertaste. i sweeten mine with a PINCH of organic stevia (man, that stuff is potent!). NOW try all those vegan cocoa recipes!
if you just adore soy milk or some other variety, add all the cocoa to it that you want. but if what you want is the pure, unadulterated cocoa that God and Mr. Hershey intended, Oat Milk is your ticket to enjoying a true cup of cocoa sans dairy.