5-minute vegan hot chocolate

I'm going to say it, and I know I'm not the first person to do so.
It's cold. Winter-like coldness is engulfing sunny England. And as we all know, this is a very exciting discussion here in London. The weather. In the supermarket. In Starbucks. At a friends party. While awkwardly running into an acquaintance who's name is.......... Not Robert. Not Richard. Darn it.
Anyway, it's unfortunate but it's true. Winter is slowly descending and soon t'will be the season. The season of gloves and fun bobble hats and Christmas shopping and endless fireworks.
But most importantly-t'is the season for hot chocolate!

And yesterday, when my friends and I went to the Starbucks in Camden where you can SIT ON THE ROOF TO DRINK YOUR BEVERAGES, I told my friend who was behind me in the inevitable line that, you know what? I'd love a soya hazelnut hot chocolate (tall, I case you were wondering) And being one of the many friends who is still confused about the difference between milk from a cow and milk from a bean, she was schocked.
But won't you be sick?
No, I'm having soya milk.
But still?
But what?!
Well, chocolate has milk you know.
Not dark chocolate.
And this is the Volta of my story, I then explained to my friend that the essence of chocolate is the cocoa, which does not come from a cow (if it did, that cow would be magic and worth millions and Cadbury and galaxy would fight over it). Dairy is just added to white and milk chocolates for taste and consistency really. So most dark chocolate is milk free, and real cocoa powder is milk free and..... She was distracted by the marshmallows on a stick in the counter.
Oh well.
So the morals of the story are:
-I need better stories
-and  vegan hot chocolate is actually really easy. Just dark/dairy free chocolate and any vegan milk.
But this is my recipe for REALLY good hot chocolate. REALLY.

Ingredients:
-Roughly one mug of milk (soya milks my preference, but really anything works. I try to avoid almond milk as I don't like the taste when heated)
-Roughly 20g of chocolate (more or less depending on personal preference)
-A teaspoon of coconut oil
-Cinnamon (or chilli, nutmeg or any chosen flavour. Plain chocolate is fine too!)


Method:
-pour the milk into a pan and heat it over a medium heat.
-Meanwhile, chop your chocolate into tiny pieces
-Put the coconut oil, chocolate and cinnamon into the pan and turn the heat up slightly.
-mix until the chocolate and coconut oil have dissolved
-Drink!!

We have just bought some huge mugs from Wilko, so I've been making copious amounts of hot chocolate to fill them each of them. Hope you enjoy!

Welcome to Cracked Screen Bakes!

Welcome to Cracked Screen Bakes!
This is a collection of recipes and foodie thoughts, from me to you. Each recipe has been tried and tested repeatedly by me, mainly through force feeding relatives until they approve.
Before I bombard you with recipes and pictures of food, there are a few things I need to say.
Just don't fall asleep yet.
I am lactose intolerant (as is my entire immediate family). As a result of this, ALL of my recipes will be dairy free, and that's a promise. Of course, growing up, a lot of people assumed that I could not eat egg, as in their minds eggs evidently came from cows. Yes, I can eat egg. No, I do not have the hilarious reaction to dairy that Leonard from the Big Bang theory has. And the only answer I give that I can warrant surprise for.... No, I do not miss dairy. For my mum, avoiding dairy was a struggle, as things like almond milk or soya butter were not stocked in most high streets. Now, I can run to the health food store at the top of my road and grab a block of coconut cheese if we run out.
Oh the wonders of mankind!
I'm not vegan, or vegetarian, or pescatarian. Nor am I wheat or gluten or nut free. However, I do understand the struggles of dietary requirements, and so will aim to make plenty of recipes for each dietary need, however many versions of each recipes that takes.
I try and make my recipes as "healthy" as possible, so don't be surprised if you find nutritional yeast or chia seeds anywhere on this blog. But we all have those moments where something with more icing than cake or more chocolate chips than cookie is all we want from life, so don't be surprised if you see recipes like that too!
Thankyou if you read through this, and didn't just skip it to check for recipes below. I promise that will come...... Soon........enough.


If you have any questions or complaints (or compliments, they're good too!) then please say so below, or email me at
Crackedscreenbakes@gmail.com