I strongly believe that one of the very best things about being an adult is that I can drink chocolate milk whenever I want, and no one can say a single word about it.  It is a perk I enjoy frequently.  However, as an adult I am increasingly aware of both the ingredients we consume as well as the environmental impact of our habits.  We have eliminated the majority of processed foods from our diets and I am generally pretty careful not to buy items containing high fructose corn syrup.  Because of this, each glass of chocolate milk I drank was less and less enjoyable – I felt very guilty about my reliance on Hershey’s chocolate syrup.

So, what else to do but make my own chocolate syrup?  Thankfully this recipe is so simple it can be made in less time than it would take to run to the store for the bottled stuff, and it uses just a few pantry staples.  Of course I use it for so much more than just chocolate milk – making homemade mochas, drizzling on ice cream sundaes, etc.  And as with just about everything homemade, this puts Hershey’s to shame.  It is so much more rich and chocolatey – a little bit goes a long way.

Note: The bottle pictured is from Sur La Table.  The straws are from Bake It Pretty.

    Ingredients

    • 1¼ cups sugar
    • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1 cup water
    • ¼ tsp. salt
    • 2 tsp. vanilla extract

    Directions

    • 01

      In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and cocoa powder and whisk briefly to break up any clumps.  Stir in the water and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.  Once the mixture reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.  Store in the refrigerator.