Chocolate Syrup for Homemade Chocolate Milk
There's a lot of controversy these days about just how much chocolate milk kids are drinking, particularly in schools. It's all part and parcel about how much sugar kids are eating - and even worse, drinking - these days, and the contribution that makes to our current epidemic of obesity.
There's way more chocolate milk around than when I was a kid, and it wasn't just that Mom would only buy it once in a very blue moon. We had some kind of milk program in my class in my first few years of school, and we all were given a half-pint of milk to drink each morning. I hated milk with a passion and regarded it as a form of torture. I remember clearing out my desk at the end of the year once and finding a little carton of ex-milk that had been shoved to the back of my rats' nest of papers inside, and which had plainly been there for months. Yeccchhh. Chocolate milk wasn't an option in those days, not that I liked it a whole lot better; it still had that nasty after-taste of milk. Still, it would have helped me choke it down.
And there's where the debate comes in: is it reasonable to give chocolate milk to kids if that's the only way to get them to drink milk? It all depends on how important you think it is for kids to drink milk, and there's a ton more debate about that than there was when I was young, when it was taken for gospel that kids should drink milk by the quart. Now that we're hearing from other people besides the Milk Marketing Board, we know about lactose intolerance and the fact that there are other sources of calcium besides dairy, and that exercise and sunshine are just as important in the formation of strong bones.
Now the problem is not only how much chocolate milk is out there, but the quality. I've been ranting about Beatrice' Chocolate Dairy Beverage, and how crappy it is, but even the better ones are not that impressive. If you must have chocolate milk, why not make it youself?
It's very easy, and you can keep the sugar down to a dull roar if you want. I've listed a range, and at 1 cup of sugar you will produce something much more like commercial chocolate milk. Personally, I think 2/3 cups sugar is plenty.
About 1 cup syrup - 8 to 12 cups chocolate milk
5 minutes prep time
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup to 1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Measure the cocoa, sugar and salt into a good-sized, heavy-bottomed pot. Slowly mix in the water to make a smooth paste. Add the vanilla. Turn on the heat to high, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
Once the syrup comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-high and boil for 2 minutes exactly. It should boil steadily, but not (duh!) enough to boil over. Watch it; it will expand quite a bit which is why you used a good-sized pot.
When it has boiled two minutes, let it cool. Keep it well-sealed in the fridge until wanted, for up to several weeks. To use, add a generous tablespoon to 1 cup of milk and mix well. I find it easiest to put them in a jam jar, seal it and shake well.
It won't surprise you, I'm sure, to hear that I used soy milk. You could also put it in coffee, or drizzle it over ice-cream.
You can double this recipe if you like, but in that case boil it for 3 minutes.
Last year at this time we were driving off the road - WHEEEHAH! I'll take a nice glass of warm (*gag*) chocolateless milk over that anyday.
There's way more chocolate milk around than when I was a kid, and it wasn't just that Mom would only buy it once in a very blue moon. We had some kind of milk program in my class in my first few years of school, and we all were given a half-pint of milk to drink each morning. I hated milk with a passion and regarded it as a form of torture. I remember clearing out my desk at the end of the year once and finding a little carton of ex-milk that had been shoved to the back of my rats' nest of papers inside, and which had plainly been there for months. Yeccchhh. Chocolate milk wasn't an option in those days, not that I liked it a whole lot better; it still had that nasty after-taste of milk. Still, it would have helped me choke it down.
And there's where the debate comes in: is it reasonable to give chocolate milk to kids if that's the only way to get them to drink milk? It all depends on how important you think it is for kids to drink milk, and there's a ton more debate about that than there was when I was young, when it was taken for gospel that kids should drink milk by the quart. Now that we're hearing from other people besides the Milk Marketing Board, we know about lactose intolerance and the fact that there are other sources of calcium besides dairy, and that exercise and sunshine are just as important in the formation of strong bones.
Now the problem is not only how much chocolate milk is out there, but the quality. I've been ranting about Beatrice' Chocolate Dairy Beverage, and how crappy it is, but even the better ones are not that impressive. If you must have chocolate milk, why not make it youself?
It's very easy, and you can keep the sugar down to a dull roar if you want. I've listed a range, and at 1 cup of sugar you will produce something much more like commercial chocolate milk. Personally, I think 2/3 cups sugar is plenty.
About 1 cup syrup - 8 to 12 cups chocolate milk
5 minutes prep time
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup to 1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Measure the cocoa, sugar and salt into a good-sized, heavy-bottomed pot. Slowly mix in the water to make a smooth paste. Add the vanilla. Turn on the heat to high, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
Once the syrup comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-high and boil for 2 minutes exactly. It should boil steadily, but not (duh!) enough to boil over. Watch it; it will expand quite a bit which is why you used a good-sized pot.
When it has boiled two minutes, let it cool. Keep it well-sealed in the fridge until wanted, for up to several weeks. To use, add a generous tablespoon to 1 cup of milk and mix well. I find it easiest to put them in a jam jar, seal it and shake well.
It won't surprise you, I'm sure, to hear that I used soy milk. You could also put it in coffee, or drizzle it over ice-cream.
You can double this recipe if you like, but in that case boil it for 3 minutes.
Last year at this time we were driving off the road - WHEEEHAH! I'll take a nice glass of warm (*gag*) chocolateless milk over that anyday.
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