Oh yeah. Homemade Nesquik coming right up.
Want to know something about Chocolate Milk?
Nobody needs it. It’s not a health food. We probably shouldn’t drink it.
Yet I still have a homemade “Nesquik” recipe to share with you. Why?
Because it’s fun, because it’s tasty, and because some people love their chocolate milk. So if you at least had an option to drink a healthier version of chocolate milk, wouldn’t that be nice?
Here’s the info I found on the official Nesquik website. This is what you find in the store-bought variety of the powdered mix…
INGREDIENTS: SUGAR, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, SOY LECITHIN, CARRAGEENAN, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR, SPICE. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: SODIUM ASCORBATE (VITAMIN C), FERRIC PYROPHOSPHATE (IRON), NIACINAMIDE, ZINC OXIDE, THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE, COPPER GLUCONATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, BIOTIN.
What’s with all that stuff in there? If you can possibly imagine, I just learned to make a chocolate milk mix with the simple yet magical ingredients I like to call cocoa and sugar. For real? Are we sure we can have our chocolate milk without adding some niacinamide? Because I just don’t know.
Here’s how easy this is: You put your cocoa and sugar in a jar, then you add two dashes of salt – which is a fun little ingredient that enhances the sweetness and completes the package. Shake it up, and you’ve got a fine little treat – if you think you can get along without the copper gluconate. (I am having the best time listening to all of you try to pronounce these words as you read.)
Homemade Nesquik
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup sucanat or brown sugar
- 2 dashes of salt (I use Redmond Real Salt)
- Put all ingredients into a pint sized jar.
- Put a lid on and shake the ingredients until they are well mixed.
- To make chocolate milk, add 1-2 Tablespoons of mix to a 12 ounce glass of milk.
- Stir well.
And that’s it. Making Homemade Nesquik will take less effort than finding your missing shoe.
My boys were thrilled with this fun treat, so I went ahead and made a half gallon of chocolate milk. The next morning was chilly, so I used the mix to make hot chocolate. (Just warm the milk, then stir in the milk as directed above.)
What’s your relationship with chocolate milk?
Can I use the dreaded white sugar in place of the sucanat? thx
Yep, that will work!
The relationship is love/hate – you know love the taste of yummy richness of the chocolate, yet hate the ingredients that you listed and also the sugar/milk combo, etc. Does the sucanat dissolve and stay dissolved? Thanks for all you provide us with. Lisa
Mostly. ;) I had to whisk it at first, then it dissolved just fine.
I’ve been making my own chocolate mix and hot choc. for years. I now use stevia and half regular and half dark chocolate cocoa powder. Also have a jar with added powdered milk for a really lazy cup of hot cocoa. Thanks for the link to organic cocoa powder ?. Still looking for a good instant chai mix…….
Hmm, what’s in chai mix? That would be fun to play with. :)
I found this courtesy of “big girls small kitchen” Chai Tea Concentrate
Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough for 4 lattes
Ingredients
3 tablespoons sugar
8 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
1 slice ginger, peeled
5 whole cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
2 black teabags
1 tablespoon honey
Combine all ingredients except the honey in a pot. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower slightly and let simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags, squeezing out any liquid from them. Let the spices steep for another 15 minutes. Strain, removing all the spices. Add the honey and stir in. Taste, adding more honey if you like.
Cool completely.
The concentrate is easily doubled and will last a while in the fridge.
We love this–I always add the mix to a wee bit of hot tap water to get it to dissolve well before adding the milk. We had occasional clumps before, which bothered the kids. With the water, it’s super smooth!
Good idea!
Thanks I have been using Cocoa and sugar to make my own Hot Cocoa and wondered if I could make it ahead like this. Do you use the same amount of sugar as the sucanat? When I make hot cocoa if I have half and half or whipping cream I add a little of that too. Makes it more creamy. Love it. Thanks so much.
Yep, just sub it one-for-one. Half and half or cream makes everything better! :)
Thanks for this! We make a hot chocolate mix to give as Christmas gifts and my husband drinks it exclusively during the winter months. We just bought all the stuff needed to make a huge batch for him to take on his upcoming deployment overseas. We use Nesquick in our recipe, but in the future, I will be using this!! I might try and return one of the BIG containers of Nesquick that we bought and make our recipe with this substitution. :) Thanks again!
Please extend our gratitude to your hubby for his service! Sending up prayers for a safe trip to and fro, and for the family that will be loving and missing him!
May he return home BEFORE his chocolate mix runs out!!!
Blessings to you and yours!
I have been making chocolate milk by making a ‘chocolate syrup’ of sorts by mixing cocoa powder and real maple syrup. We get raw milk from a local farm and so have half gallon jars in our fridge all the time. I mix up a whole jar of it at a time–just needs a good shaking before pouring. Best chocolate milk I’ve ever had!
Susan, that sounds really good! We tap maple trees in the spring so always have a good supply of maple syrup. Will definitely give this a try. Thanks for the idea. ?
Love this recipe! Thank you Laura!
Running the sucanat through the blender to powder it first helps it to dissolve better in the milk.
Perfect timing, as I am almost to the bottom of my huge container of Nesquik! I drink a glass of chocolate milk almost every morning. I just cannot eat early, so drinking this puts something into my stomach AND makes me very, very happy!
I consume very little “junk”, so no guilt, just smiles!
Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks so much!
Blessings!
Niacinimide is a form of vitamin B3. Complaining about preservatives and anti-caking agents is one thing, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to scare people away from a vitamin that’s necessary to healthy body function just because the name sounds chemical-y.
This is delicious & refreshing! I made it with 6 oz. of Milk & 1 T. of homemade”Nesquik”. The flavor & sweetness are perfect. : )
While I would agree that it’s nice to leave out the soy lecithin & carrageenan listed as ingredients in the Nesquik, the other ingredients listed (that you make fun of, or make it sound like they’re bad) are nothing more than the scientific names for vitamins and minerals that are actually healthy for you! Vitamin C is also called Sodium ascorbate; iron is also called ferric pyrophosphate,; niacinamide is B3 (one of the B vitamins!); zinc oxide is the Zinc mineral (which supports the immune system!); thyamin hydrochloride is B1 (another of the B vitamins!); copper gluconate is the Copper mineral; manganese sulfate is the Manganese mineral; and biotin is vitamin B7 (yet another B vitamin!)! None of these vitamins & minerals listed is harmful for you; in fact, ALL are beneficial & most to all you will find in a daily multi-vitamin. Next time, please do a little research on the actual ingredients before “scaring” people away from Nesquik just because their list of ingredients uses scientific names for some of the vitamins & minerals!