Thick Oat Hot Chocolate

📝 Ingredients

• 600 ml unsweetened plain soya drink (150 ml cold for mixing, 450 ml to heat)
• 40 g rolled oats
• 25 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 8 g cornflour (1 level tbsp)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (40 g)
• 1 tbsp almond butter (15 g)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt

🍴 Utensils

• Blender or mini chopper
• Bowl
• Whisk
• Saucepan
• Measuring jug

📖 Steps

1. Blend the rolled oats for 30 seconds to 1 minute in a blender or mini chopper until you get a very fine powder, close to a flour. This step matters: whole flakes would give a grainy texture instead of a velvety hot chocolate.
2. In a bowl, mix the oat powder, cocoa, cornflour, cinnamon and salt. Pour in 150 ml of cold soya drink and whisk until you get a smooth paste with no lumps of cocoa at all.
3. Pour the remaining 450 ml of soya drink into a saucepan and heat over medium heat until small bubbles appear around the edges, without letting it boil: soya catches on the bottom quickly and can boil over.
4. Turn the heat down to low and pour in the cocoa paste, whisking constantly. Add the maple syrup and almond butter, then whisk until the almond butter has completely melted into the mixture.
5. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes over low heat, whisking continuously and scraping the bottom and corners of the pan well, until the chocolate thickens and coats the back of a spoon: a finger drawn across it should leave a clean line.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Check the texture: if the chocolate doesn't yet clearly coat the spoon, return it to a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, whisking non-stop and keeping an eye on the bottom, which catches quickly.
7. Pour into two large mugs and leave to rest for 2 minutes before drinking: the chocolate thickens further as it cools slightly. The first sips are almost spoonable, like an old-fashioned hot chocolate.