This vegan keto hot chocolate is rich, creamy, intensely chocolatey, and surprisingly high in protein when made with soy or pea milk. What better way to stave off the winter chills than a nice big mug of hot chocolate? The key to the particularly smooth, creamy texture here is actually the blender. Blending the chocolate and fat with the milk emulsifies everything together and gives the drink a much richer mouthfeel than simply stirring the ingredients into hot milk. Made as written, I find the chocolate flavor quite strong and the sweetness fairly restrained, which is how I like it. If your tastes lean more toward milk chocolate than dark chocolate, you may want to reduce the cocoa powder a little, or simply add more sweetener to taste.

I’ve included two ways to make it. The first uses keto-friendly chocolate chips, which is the easiest option and can produce an especially thick, creamy result. Chocolate chips often contain emulsifiers, stabilizers, and other ingredients that affect their texture, though, so different brands may behave differently when blended. I’ve used ChocZero, and if I blend it for too long, my hot chocolate starts heading surprisingly close to pudding territory. The second version uses cacao butter, cocoa powder, allulose, and optional vanilla, giving you more control over the individual ingredients. The cacao butter can also be replaced with coconut oil, vegan butter, or another suitable oil. For either version, you can start with hot milk or, if your blender has a soup function, let the blender do the heating for you. Just don’t use a sealed bullet-style blender for hot liquids, as pressure can build up dangerously inside.

Most of the protein comes from the milk rather than the chocolate ingredients, so your choice of plant-based milk makes a considerable difference to the final macros. Soy and pea milk generally provide around 10 grams of protein in the amount used here, whereas many other plant-based milks provide very little. And if you want to take the flavor in a different direction, there’s an easy Mexican-inspired variation: add cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne for a warm, gently spicy contrast to the chocolate. However you make yours, I hope it brings a little warmth to your wintery day. Happy sipping!