Simple Homemade Chocolate Milk with Cocoa Powder

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Nothing is better than a cold glass of chocolate milk. This chocolate milk with cocoa powder recipe is the perfect treat made with simple ingredients. Read on to learn how to make your own chocolate milk in just a couple of minutes with real cocoa powder and no premade chocolate milk mixes.

Even after getting our milk cow, Thimble, a cup of chocolate milk or hot cocoa was something we would only ever whip up as a special treat from time to time. But more recently in my 4^th pregnancy, whipping up a glass using this simple recipe has become a daily occurrence. 

Every afternoon, my routine has been to sit down and enjoy a glass of this oh-so-good, and good for you, drink. This has meant perfecting the recipe, limiting the amount of sugar, and maximizing it to meet my nutritional needs as much as possible.

Why Homemade Chocolate Milk?

The beauty of making something yourself is that you are in the driver’s seat of everything that goes into it. You can easily pick up a carton of store-bought chocolate milk. But the typical ingredients contain additional gums, coloring and flavoring agents, along with added sugar.

As an alternative to purchasing chocolate milk straight from the grocery store, I have many childhood memories making chocolate milk by mixing cold milk, still in the carton, with chocolate syrup—and we definitely weren’t whipping up our own chocolate syrup back then. The processed syrup we used had the most common first ingredient being high fructose corn syrup.

In this homemade chocolate milk, you get to decide what kind of milk you use (dairy or non-dairy milks), what type and how much sweetener you add, and whether you want to add other nutritious ingredients like collagen or egg yolks. And while the argument against from scratch cooking is often the added time that it takes, this is one of the best chocolate milk recipes I’ve ever had and can easily be whipped up in less than 5 minutes! Win, win!

What Type of Milk Should I Use?

Any kind of dairy or non-dairy milk will work for this recipe! However, our preference is to use whole, raw dairy if at all possible.

We prefer locally sourced farm fresh milk for several reasons:

1. We know where it comes from.

Over the last several years, we’ve been either purchasing milk from small local farms in our area or producing it ourselves once we got our family milk cow. This is important to us because, unfortunately, the practices at many large-scale conventional farms are geared toward the highest production possible which can come at the cost of the animal, consumer, and environment. 

For example, most conventional farms milk with Holstein cows, which were bred for maximum production. Because of the properties and genetics, the milk from these cows also tends to be more difficult to digest and contains less cream and beneficial properties. We prefer milk from heritage cow breeds—we have a Jersey—which tends to be more digestible and super creamy. Whenever possible, our philosophy is to source something locally or do it ourselves. In this case, we’ve found that it’s definitely worth the effort to consume quality milk.

2. More Nutritious.

I’m not going to go into the weeds here and it’s important that everyone researches these important topics for themselves. But in our experience, we’ve found that we can best digest unheated milk, getting the most nutrients from it, and would choose it every time for our personal consumption. 

3. It tastes better.

While of course this too is open to interpretation, everyone we’ve interacted with has agreed that once you are used to it, a cup of milk that is completely unprocessed is a great treat in itself!

The Rest of the Ingredients

Homemade chocolate milk has 3 essential ingredients: milk, high quality cocoa powder (or cacao powder), and some sort of sweetener. With just those three things, you can make a delicious glass of chocolate milk. 

But there are a few extra (and completely optional) ingredients that we like to add to make it even better and add more nutrients!

Sweetener: To sweeten this chocolate milk we prefer to use either unrefined and organic cane sugar, honey, or maple syrup. All three work great and you can play around with how much you like to add. We prefer to make it not super sweet as in the recipe below, but you can always add a bit more to suit your tastes!

Collagen: While this is not a necessary or main ingredient, we are always looking to add extra protein—especially in pregnancy. Adding collagen is a great option because it is completely unflavored and dissolves easily so it goes completely unnoticed. Great Lakes Wellness grassfed collagen is our favorite brand for this.

Egg Yolks: Adding raw egg yolks to chocolate milk is another way to boost the nutrition and can even help give it a smoother and creamier texture. Despite the criticism egg yolks have gotten in recent history, they are actually extremely robust in nutrients. 

According to The National Library of Medicine, Egg yolks contain some of the highest amounts of choline (especially important in pregnancy), fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, are rich in fatty acids DHA, AA, and CLA, carotenoids, and are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals including Calcium, Iron, Phosphorous, B6, B12, Manganese, Folate, Selenium.

If you don’t want them raw, you can temper egg yolks gently in with the milk in a small saucepan at low heat (to avoid adding cooked, scrambled egg yolks to your milk). Mix the hot milk with the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate. Consume after the chocolate milk is thoroughly chilled. 

Equipment Needed to Make Homemade Chocolate Milk

Another bonus this recipe offers is that you can easily mix it by hand! While mixing your chocolate milk up in a blender or stick blender can do a quick and thorough job, they’re not necessary. I prefer to hand mix by shaking vigoriously in a mason jar of stirring with a whisk. The main thing is making sure everything is well mixed, dissolved, and that there are no clumps in your cocoa powder or collagen.

Can You Scale This Recipe?

Yes! The recipe listed below makes 2 cups of chocolate milk but you could easily scale it up or down as desired. We will often make it in a half gallon jar when serving to a larger crowd or, if it’s just me, one to two cups is sufficient.

Can You Make in Advance or How Long Does It Last?

Yes! When we are making it in advance, I follow all of the steps listed in the recipe below and store in a lidded air tight container, usually a mason jar. Then when ready to serve, simply give the jar a good shake so that everything is well mixed and serve. This homemade chocolate milk will easily last for a few days in the fridge.

Healthy Homemade Chocolate Milk Recipe

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

– 2 cups whole milk (or milk of choice)
– 2 tbsp cocoa powder (or cacao powder)
– 2 tsp unrefined cane sugar, honey, or maple syrup
– Pinch of salt
– 2 raw egg yolks (optional)
– 2 scoops collagen (optional)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a large jar. 

2. Mix thoroughly using an immersion blender or whisk. Alternatively, you can put a lid on the jar and shake or blend in a blender. Mix until everything is fully incorporated.

Serve and enjoy!

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For other recipes from our home dairy check out:

• Raw Homemade Eggnog
• The Best Vanilla Raw Milk Ice Cream
• Easy 5 Minute No Bake Pots de Crème
• How To Make Cultured Cream
• 36 Easy Raw Milk Recipes To Use Up Extra Milk
• How To Make Quick and Natural Mozzarella Cheese
• Easy Farmhouse Cheddar Hard Cheese Recipe
• How to Make Butter from Raw Milk In a Blender
• Homemade Dulce De Leche without Sweetened Condensed Milk

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