Bone Broth Is A Truly Unexpected Way To Upgrade Hot Chocolate
With the winter season upon us, nothing beats hot and creamy mugs of hot chocolate to keep our hands warm and our bellies full. While hot chocolate is often made with whole cow's milk for extra protein or dairy-free milk for those with certain dietary restrictions, amping up your standard mug of drinking chocolate with extra nutrition (without altering its lusciously sweet flavor) can be tricky. While you can certainly use a natural sweetener like maple syrup or honey and opt for dark chocolate chips and unsweetened cocoa powder, adding more beneficial vitamins and minerals through hot chocolate's liquid components takes a bit of creative consideration. Once you familiarize yourself with the defining nutrients linked to bone broth, you may be interested to see what this nutritious liquid can do to level up your next mug of hot chocolate.
Bone broth is a clear liquid made from animal bones and water. The collagen within these bones leaches out as water simmers, creating a highly concentrated liquid that can be used for various meals and even specialty beverages like hot chocolate. Thanks to those slowly simmered bones, according to Healthline, bone broth houses essential minerals, amino acids, and collagen protein. With the right ratio of ingredients including the extra fat from heavy cream or canned coconut milk, you can make a delicious bone broth hot chocolate in no time.
Pair bone broth with rich and creamy milk to make an unforgettable hot chocolate
Now that you know healthy hot chocolate exists, you can create your own unique recipe. First, choose a container of either chicken or beef bone broth with minimal ingredients from your nearest supermarket, then gather all your usual hot chocolate essentials near the stove. While using savory vitamin-infused liquid to make your next hot chocolate might feel unnatural, finding the right proportion of broth to milk makes all the difference. Follow your standard hot chocolate recipe but instead of only using milk or milk and heavy cream, add some bone broth to the mix. If you want a sturdier drink that may mask more of the bone broth's savoriness, use extra heavy cream or try full-fat coconut milk.
Once you've decided on the right ratio of liquids, heat your hot chocolate ingredients over medium heat and whisk accordingly to break up any clumps of cocoa powder or chocolate pieces. Well-crafted bone broth has a certain savory or mildly salty underbite, yet should never taste too strongly of vegetables or added seasonings. Add more sweetener and a bit more milk than broth to combat bone broth's underlying umami flavor in your next hot chocolate. However, securing a more mild-flavored bone broth is crucial to crafting a well-flavored bone broth hot chocolate.
How to choose the right bone broth for your new and improved hot chocolate recipe
To make the ultimate hot chocolate with an upgraded boost, you want to ensure you enjoy the taste of your bone broth before turning it into your next drinkable dessert. For hot chocolate, instead of choosing a bone broth that contains a plethora of vegetables and herbs, choose a variety that carries a mellow flavor and is composed of only a small handful of ingredients. Since well-made bone broth should smell and taste like meat instead of soup, read ingredient labels to narrow down your choices to those primarily composed of animal bones. Apart from choosing the best shelf-stable or frozen variety in stores, you can also make homemade bone broth to control the amount of added flavors. As long as you secure a decent amount of animal bones and have 12 to 24 hours to spare, making bone broth is fairly easy.
On the other hand, to simplify the process, why not try making a pre-made hot chocolate mix with bone broth powder? Bone broth powder can be added to a mixture of cocoa powder and sugar to create a nutritious hot chocolate mix that only needs warm milk to come together. Whether you use homemade broth or choose from one of many varieties available in stores, including bone broth in hot chocolate not only adds more nutritional elements to this otherwise sweet drink but undeniably adds more body and depth of flavor.