This ain’t your regular watery hot cocoa! Fact is, this paleo and keto hot chocolate with marshmallows is totally luscious, intensely chocolatey and extra cozy… at just 1.5g net carbs!
Paleo & Keto Hot Chocolate With Marshmallows
Extra Cozy!
Believe it or not, but our keto marshmallows are ridiculously easy to whip up! And they’re actually packed with nutritional value (think collagen!)… particularly if using a high quality (grass-fed!) gelatin.
So yup! Your hot cocoa with marshmallows can actually be transformed into a totally healthy treat with the right ingredients. Hot stuff guys!
Oh and top tip! Feel free to add a little peppermint extract to your hot chocolate… and even to the marshmallows (right before they’re done to ensure they don’t deflate!).
The Thickener
As many of you know, chia seeds are usually my staple thickener when it comes to hot chocolate (see our famous bulletproof hot chocolate!). But I ran out (#foodblogerfail) and got a little creative… because watery hot chocolate is definitely not my jam!
So in comes the wonderful konjac root powder (you know, the stuff your miracle noodles are made out of!). It’s zero carbs and does an awesome job at thickening sauces, stews… and hot chocolate as it turns out! It’s powerful stuff though, so start at only 1/8th teaspoon and go from there.
Alternatives are arrowroot powder (works great too, but a higher carb count) and xanthan gum (gotta be careful here so you don’t get slime!).
Cacao vs Cocoa
Both work great. So feel free to use either a raw cacao powder (arguably more nutritional perks here) or a Dutch-processed alkaline cocoa (we prefer Valrhona). Both are well and good, as long as they’re unsweetened.
The Sweetener
Pick your poison. Though do note that we like erythritol or xylitol (non-corn though to avoid tummy troubles!) best here. No funky aftertaste.
Fun fact: it might also be our taste buds here, but we’ve noticed that stevia-based sweeteners (such as Pyure) don’t work so great in hot situations (particularly if chocolate is involved). Again, it might just be our taste buds here!
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 
And do the keto marshmallows melt? Definitely (but they don’t toast)! Just like traditional marshmallows, these guys will melt into a lovely marshmallow cream– albeit a little faster!
I did take my time taking pictures though (and the hot cocoa was steaming hot!)… so feel free to add them little by little to keep more of a bite. A taste-slash-texture preference sorta thing. And, of course, feel free to play with size.
Paleo & Keto Hot Chocolate With Marshmallows
Ingredients
For the keto hot chocolate
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1-2 tablespoons erythritol or xylitol (to taste)
- pinch pink Himalayan salt
- 1/8 teaspoon konjac root powder or 1/4 tsp arrowroot/xanthan gum or 1 TBSP chia seeds
Serving suggestions
Instructions
- Add milk of choice, cocoa powder, sweetener and salt to a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Taste for sweetness and adjust to taste. Make a slurry with a little konjac root powder (it's powerful stuff guys!) and a tablespoon or two of water; make sure it's completely dissolved to avoid lumps. Whisk it into the hot chocolate and cook until thickened. Feel free to adjust the quantity to yield your preferred thickness.
- Serve with (plenty!) of marshmallows.
- NOTE: if using arrowroot you also need to make a slurry, but xanthan gum can be added directly (works best with an immersion blender though). And chia seeds need to be blended fully to avoid any lumps.
Oh no! What happened to the original recipe made with almonds and chia seeds? That was my favorite version. I tried it the new way but I much prefer the old way as I was able to get my texture pretty smooth. Even if I didn’t, I didn’t mind the little bit of chia seed remnants that were left at the bottom.
Hey Paola, any chance you can just email the original recipe? Pretty please with Lakanto gold on top 🤗🥰
Omg delicious! Warm chocolate love in a cup on this chilly New Jersey evening! 🥶 Thank you for this and all of your wonderful recipes!
Quick question though – I used 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum as my thickener and since I didn’t have an immersion blender, I blended it with the milk and sweetener in my ninja, and then poured the *very thick* mixture into a saucepan, added the cocoa and stirred constantly until hot. Was that the best alternative under the circumstances? Or should I have skipped the ninja and used a whisk to mix in the thickener? I’ll be making this again!
Batter /dough too wet to shape. Any idea why?
Thank you soooo much for the recipe!
Love from Greece.
I made this and my family and patients loved them.
So easy and great tasting
I will try it today, I am new in a low carb diet.
Thank you.
Greetings from Glyfada ,Greece.
This sounds so good, especially with Florida in the grip of a “cold” spell. Too late l today but I’m going to to make this tomorrow and build a fire to drink it in front of! I’ll be back with what I’m sure will be a high rating as usual.
On my way back from NY, I was expounding on the virtues of your website to a lady on my flight who was interested in trying a low-carb diet. I told her you have the BEST recipes😀 I hope she looks you up! She won’t be sorry.
Awww Sherry you’re too kind!! So happy to hear you love the recipes so much to recommend them! Xo!!
Paola, your food photography is some of the best I’ve seen on the web! It makes me so excited to try all your beautiful recipes. Yummmm!
Awww thank you so much Holly! You’re too sweet!!
How beautiful Paola! Cannot wait to try!!!
Hope you love it Stacey thank you!! 🙂
We LOVE LOVE LOVE your marshmallows more than words can say!
Oh how wonderful to hear Caddy!!