So, I’m not much of a milk drinker. If the milk in the fridge is about to sour, I’ll have a glass. Other than that, I occasionally enjoy a glass of chocolate milk – and thanks to this method, I don’t need to keep a bottle of syrup on hand. While not as simple as squeezing a bottle, this technique is still very easy, and uses ingredients most people have at home.
Essentially, this method involves making a chocolate syrup from cocoa powder and sugar. I don’t immediately know of other uses for the syrup, but I imagine there are near infinite possibilities. It also has fewer ingredients than the bottled stuff, which is nice.
The instructions call for whole cow’s milk, but you can use almost any milk you want for this. Using a flavored almond milk or similar might be weird, but any unflavored milk should work. If you just want fewer calories, you can cut the milk with some water and still have a decent, lower-calorie drink.
If you like this how-to for three-ingredient chocolate milk, consider checking out how I make avocado toast.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 7 grams
2 Tbsps sugar, 33 grams
1-2* cups whole milk, 230-460 grams
Makes one glass of chocolate milk
Preparation
Add your cocoa powder and sugar to a serving glass. Add a very small** amount of milk to that same glass, then stir. If it’s too dry, add a bit more milk. Repeat until you have a thick, chocolatey syrup.
Add your remaining milk, then stir*** and serve.
Notes
* The more milk you add, the weaker the chocolate flavor and sweetness will be. Similarly, less milk will give a stronger flavor of both. I think 1 cup is decadent and borderline unappealing, but 2 cups is almost too weak. Of course, this is according to my preferences, so I recommend starting somewhere in the middle and adjusting from there.
** This is a very important step, so please don’t rush it. If you add too much milk too quickly, the cocoa won’t mix in properly and you’ll be left with a grainy mess. If this does happen, I recommend running it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any bits of cocoa. If the milk is too weak after straining, my only suggestion is settling for your sub-par drink and trying again.
This might sound terrible, but it’s actually a very easy step. It just ends in disaster if you rush it, or forget it entirely.
*** While I made a big deal about cocoa granuals in the last note, having a small amount of them is normal. You’d need to mix the syrup very thoroughly and excavate every pocket of dry cocoa to prevent it, which is just inconvenient. It’s certainly never seemed worth the added time or effort.
Also, rest assured that the difference between this, and what I mentioned in the last note, are night-and-day. This is a superficial non-issue, but the “grainy mess” mentioned in the last note is truly a nightmare that’s best avoided.
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