Soar Organics Matcha White Hot Chocolate

It’s the most wonderful time of the year - the holidays! Decorating the house, spending time with family and friends, and of course sipping on all of the warm festive beverages!

Growing up, hot chocolate was a favourite in my house. I’m talking the powdered individual packets with mini marshmallows, ready to go with some hot water and warm milk.

Fast forward to today, as a holistic nutritionist I wouldn’t touch the stuff! I’m all about balance - but when it comes to this, I won’t budge. Here’s why:

Sugar, modified milk ingredients, glucose solids, hydrogenated coconut, palm kernel and soy oils, dehydrated marshmallows (sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, modified corn starch, gelatine, flavour and artificial flavour), cocoa, salt, cellulose gum, flavour and artificial flavour, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, datem, silicon dioxide, guar gum.

These are the ingredients found in “said” powdered hot chocolate packets.

Where do I even begin in dissecting these ingredients?

First things first, when reading ingredient labels, the first ingredient listed is what the product contains the most of. In this case, that is sugar. Not cocoa, sugar.

Secondly, I hope you know my stance on refined sugars. In case you need a refresher, check out my blog post Top 3 Recipes for Healthy Lattes for all of the details.

Because I take pride in my product swapping abilities, I whipped up this white hot chocolate featuring Soar Organics Matcha. It’s creamy, dreamy, delicious and truly takes me back to my childhood, with a little twist.

• 1-1/4 cup Almond Milk (you can use any non-dairy milk of your choice)
• 3 pieces of Cacao Butter, approx. 2 inches each (I used Giddy Yoyo Raw Cacao Butter) - this is where the “white” chocolate comes into play
• 1/2 tsp. Soar Organics Matcha (Ceremonial or Everyday)
• 1 tsp. Coconut Oil
• 1/4 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• 1 tbsp. Pure Maple Syrup (you can use more or less depending on desired sweetness or use other sweetener like monk fruit, stevia or honey)
• Small handful Mini Marshmallows, optional (I used Dandies Mini Vanilla Flavoured for a better option than traditional marshmallows)

1. Add 1/2 tsp. of matcha powder to a small bowl and add 2 oz. of hot water. Whisk until frothy. Add to blender.
2. In a small saucepan and on low heat, add cacao butter and coconut oil. Let it melt (but don’t let it bubble). Pour in non-dairy milk and stir. Let the mixture heat up and then pour it into your blender.
3. Add vanilla, sweetener and sea salt. Blend until smooth and frothy.
4. Pour into your favourite mug and top with marshmallows!

Enjoy!

You can usually find me in the kitchen whipping up a delicious smoothie, matcha latte, creating a new recipe, blogging and engaging with my online community.

At the end of the day, my main goal is to make a positive impact on people’s lives by encouraging and supporting them to make healthy choices to lead the healthiest life possible!

You can find Tina at her website www.tinagravalos.com, or follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.