Coconut Tres Leches Hot Chocolate

It's still hot-chocolate weather, off and on, over here.  We do get many gorgeous, sunny days where it's close to 70 degrees (F), but I can still find an excuse for hot chocolate whenever I want it.  :)  Today, for instance, it's cold and rainy outside.

The use of coconut milk makes this smooth and silky.  Full-fat coconut milk is all I can find here, so I'm sure that helped with the silkiness.  I'm sure this would be just as delicious with light coconut milk.  Trader Joe's used to make a delicious, and cheap ($.99!) light coconut milk.  Not sure if they still carry it, but I loved it! 

This was too rich for us to drink it all right away, so I refrigerated the rest and warmed it up the next day, and it was just as good.  Oh, also, some cocoa powder lumps never really incorporated fully (even with severe whisking!), so I set a small strainer over the mugs as I was pouring it out.  This caught all of the lumps.

Coconut Tres Leches Hot Chocolate
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Makes 4, 1-cup servings

2 cups milk (anything from fat-free to whole milk)
1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk, light or regular
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (about 1/2 of a 14-ounce can)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  In a medium saucepan, combine the regular milk, coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk, whisking well to combine. Bring the mixture to a low simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly so the mixture doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan. Once simmering, whisk in the cocoa powder until the mixture is smooth.

2.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Serve. 

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