When the weather turns chilly, I turn to hot chocolate. I hate powdered mixes, though: they never completely dissolve, and just don’t taste right to me. Many recipes for homemade chocolate syrup call for coffee. I purely hate the taste of coffee. For me, even a hint will completely ruin the taste.
This homemade chocolate syrup comes to the rescue! It’s made with Dutch-process cocoa powder, light brown sugar, and – surprise! – strong black tea. Whisk it into hot milk, and you’ve got an instant mug of cocoa that’s far, far better than any powdered mix will give you.
Read on for the recipe.
Note: if you have the time, you might want to make hot chocolate the old-fashioned way, by heating milk in a saucepan on the stove. Check out my post on the best hot chocolate ever.
Put hot tea and cocoa in a 2-quart saucier (or saucepan). Set it over medium heat, and whisk until thick and bubbly. Add the chopped chocolate, brown sugar, and salt. Continue whisking until the mixture is syrupy and completely smooth. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the vanilla extract.
Pour the runny syrup into a glass jar – I use a wide-mouth canning jar – and cover with a lid to prevent any evaporation. Cool the syrup to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold and thick; at least 4 hours, but overnight is even better.
The syrup will keep in the refrigerator about 2 months, but I’m betting you’ll use it faster than that. It’s great over ice cream, it dissolves into milk, and – yes, you could even put a spoonful into coffee to make hot mocha coffee. If you must.
Homemade Chocolate Syrup
Ingredients
- 8 ounces strong black tea, very hot (240ml, 1 cup)
- 2 ounces Dutch-process cocoa powder (80g, ⅔ cup)
- 1 ounce 72% dark chocolate, roughly chopped (28g, 3 Tbsp)
- 8 ounces light brown sugar, gently packed (227g, 1 cup)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract (15 ml)
Instructions
- Put hot tea and cocoa in a 2-quart saucier (or saucepan). Set it over medium heat, and whisk until thick and bubbly. Add the chopped chocolate, brown sugar, and salt. Continue whisking until the mixture is syrupy and completely smooth. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the runny syrup into a glass jar – I use a wide-mouth canning jar – and cover with a lid to prevent any evaporation. Cool the syrup to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold and thick; at least 4 hours, but overnight is even better.
- The syrup will keep in the refrigerator about 2 months, but I’m betting you’ll use it faster than that. It’s great over ice cream, it dissolves into milk, and – yes, you could even put a spoonful into coffee to make hot mocha coffee. If you must.