Make your own homemade oat milk hot chocolate with simple natural ingredients. This simple 5-minute and 5-ingredient recipe will become a staple in your kitchen. Thick, rich, and chocolatey this hot chocolate tastes best topped with coconut whipped cream!

When I indulge in hot chocolate, it has to be worth the calories which means it must be rich, creamy, all-natural, and vegan, of course!
Using oat milk creates an ultra-creamy, rich, and chocolatey vegan hot chocolate! It’s my new favorite dairy-free milk to use in my favorite hot beverages like my oat milk lattes!
Use homemade oat milk or store-bought. I recommend using unsweetened oat milk because you’ll be adding a lot of chocolate and sugar, and you don’t want your hot chocolate to be cloyingly sweet! If you like this hot chocolate with oat milk, you’ll also love my chocolate oat milk recipe!
💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- All Natural Ingredients
- 5 Minutes to Make Start to Finish
- 5 Simple Ingredients
- Kid-Approved
- Thick, Rich, and Chocolatey Texture
- Not too Sweet
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- No Artificial Colors
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Oat Milk: The perfect milk for dairy-free hot chocolate is oat milk because it is thick and creamy and most resembles regular milk.
Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips: This is what brings the fantastic creamy chocolate flavor to your oat milk hot cocoa.
Cocoa Powder: A small amount of cocoa or cacao powder brings a deep and rich chocolate flavor to this hot cocoa recipe.
Coconut Sugar: A natural sweetener to bring a slight sweetness to your cup of cocoa. You can also use maple syrup as a substitute.
Vanilla Extract: Vanilla brings out the flavor of chocolate. You can skip it if you don’t have it on hand, but if you do it really helps round out the flavors.
Coconut Whipped Topping: While this is an optional ingredient, it adds some extra creaminess to your drink. If you’re not into whipped cream, use mini vegan marshmallows. My favorite brand to use is Dandies Mini Marshmallows.
📋 Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Combine all ingredients (oat milk, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract) in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Step 2: Allow a minute to warm. Whisk until chocolate chips melt and combine completely with the oat milk. Heat to your desired temperature.
Step 3: Pour hot chocolate into two small mugs. Top with whipped coconut cream, and dark chocolate shavings. Use a candy cane to stir your hot chocolate and make this an extra special holiday treat!
❓ FAQS
You can make your own vegan whipped cream by using a can of full-fat coconut milk. I use this recipe from The Minimalist Baker to make a fantastic whipped coconut topping. You can also buy pre-made coconut whipped cream from the grocery store. It’s not as healthy since there are preservatives, but it’s an option. You can find it in the freezer section of most grocery stores next to the other whipped toppings, and you can even find coconut whipped cream in an aerosol can. Homemade is really the way to go!
All chocolate chips are not vegan. In fact, all chocolate chips are not created equal. I’m sure you can tell the difference between a quality chocolate and cheap chocolate. Using quality vegan chocolate chips is essential to keeping this recipe vegan-friendly and tasting decadent and creamy. If you go to the grocery store and pick up any bag of chocolate chips it will likely not be vegan as most chocolate chips on the market contain milk fat. Many chocolate chips also have cocoa butter. Even though cocoa butter has the word butter in it, it is actually dairy-free. Cocoa butter is fat that comes from the cocoa bean. My favorite vegan chocolate chip is the Enjoy Life brand. It tastes great and melts nicely making it perfect for this hot chocolate recipe.
This hot chocolate is healthier than the powdered versions you find in stores because it has all-natural whole food ingredients is dairy-free, and is gluten-free. However, it’s still a special treat, and it does contain sugar from chocolate chips and coconut sugar.
👩🍳 Serving Suggestions
Serve this hot chocolate in your favorite mug. Feel free to add whipped coconut cream and chocolate shavings. For the holidays, add a ¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract, and a candy cane!
❄️ Storage
This hot chocolate made with oat milk is best enjoyed when you first make it since it’s a hot drink. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge and should be enjoyed the same day if possible.
💭 Expert Tips
- You can froth some oat milk to add some extra creaminess in place of the whipped topping!
- Add some vegan chocolate sauce if you’re a true chocolate lover!
- Add more coconut sugar if you want a sweeter drink.
- Don’t let the oat milk boil or you risk it curdling.
- Use quality vegan chocolate chips like Enjoy Life. This will create a rich, thick and creamy texture.
- Use plain gluten-free oat milk, not sweetened so that you can control the flavor.
😋 More Vegan Hot Drinks!
If you made this recipe, please comment below and leave a ⭐️ rating. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more family-friendly vegan recipes!
Recipe
Oat Milk Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat milk
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips
- coconut whipped cream optional
- chocolate shavings optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients (oat milk, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract) in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Allow a minute to warm. Whisk until chocolate chips melt and combines completely with the oat milk. Heat to your desired temperature.
- Pour the hot chocolate into two small cups. Top with whipped coconut cream, and chocolate shavings. Use a candy can as a stirrer to make this an extra special holiday treat!
Video
Notes
- Use good quality vegan chocolate chips. This will create a rich, thick and creamy texture.
- Use plain oat milk. This way you’ll have control over the flavor.
- You can froth some oat milk to add some extra creaminess in place of the whipped topping!
- Add some vegan chocolate sauce if you’re a true chocolate lover!
- Add more coconut sugar if you want a sweeter drink.
- Don’t let the oat milk boil or you risk it curdling.
Anjali @ The Picky Eater
This hot cocoa was a hit with my whole family!! I loved that it wasn’t too sweet, and it was super thick and creamy. My kids were so happy when I served this to them and asked if we could have it “every night” too! 🙂
Adriana
I made this hot cocoa tonight because it is so cold, and I love it, cheers for a wonderful recipe!
Hannah Healy
How fun! This is perfect for me since I don’t tolerate dairy well. Thanks!
Anita
Yum! Now I can drink more hot chocolate without feeling guilty. I love that this is not too sweet, just perfect. 🙂
Patty at Spoonabilities
Oh please yes yes! This vegan hot chocolate is exactly what I need in my life! I love using almond milk and this is such a great idea. Yummy!