Hot Chocolate.
Cold.
It seems every time I mention my love for New York City, someone will ask, “Have you been to Serendipity? Have you had their frozen hot chocolate? It’s life-changing!”
What’s a healthy-eating vegan, who’s never been to Serendipity, to do? Make my own frozen hot chocolate, of course!
Look how pretty!!
I’ve dubbed the recipe Fro-Co (like fro-yo), because it’s easier to say.
CCK’s Fro-Co
(Frozen hot chocolate)
Makes 1 reeeaally big serving
- 1 cup milk of choice (at least 1/3 cup as lite or full-fat canned coconut milk if you want a truly-rich treat)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder (10 grams)
- scant 1/16th tsp salt (do not omit this)
- 1/2 tsp nunaturals stevia or 1 tablespoon agave, maple syrup, or sugar (or more, if you have a sweet tooth)
- Optional: for an even richer flavor, try adding a little melted chocolate (Serendipity’s recipe calls for this) or chocolate syrup
Combine ingredients and whisk together on the stove. Or microwave 30 seconds, stir, then microwave another 30 seconds. Let cool, then pour into an ice-cube tray. If you don’t have one, pour into three or four small containers. (Or pour it all into one container, but be sure to thaw before doing the next step so your blender can handle the one big block of frozen-ness.) Freeze. Once frozen, pop the mixture into a blender and blend! (I used my Vita-Mix.) Do not add ice. I repeat: Do NOT add ice. You will dilute the flavor.
Top with homemade Vegan Whipped Cream.
And/or soyatoo, cacao nibs, chocolate syrup, sprinkles…
Fro-Co Nutrition Facts:
(For the entire thing)
- Calories: 80
- fat grams: 4.5
- Protein grams: 3
- Sugar grams: 0 (if using stevia)
I first made this using only almond milk. I liked it… but my taste-tester friends—some of whom have tasted the real thing from Serendipity—said it was more like frozen ice milk than hot chocolate. I agreed; the recipe was missing that rich, hot-chocolate flavor. Nothin’ a little fat couldn’t fix! So if you can spare the calories in your diet, try using at least 1/3 cup of full-fat coconut milk. It will still be much healthier than the Serendipity version (220 calories to their 850. I’m not sure what their serving size is… but my recipe makes a pretty big serving! And it has no cholesterol and can be sugar-free.)
Ideas for Variations:
Add almond or mint extract, blend in some banana, spike with rum, or even add peanut butter!
P.S. thanks to all who follow my Pinterest page.
If you want me to follow you back, just let me know!
{ 131 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, YUM!!! My dad took me to Serendipity back in my nonvegan high school days, and we had a lot of fun, but I’d rather have a vegan version any day!
Oh that looks delightful!!! If I had freezer space I’d be on that in a flash :p
Looks great, Katie! You know the pictures are beautiful and perfect when you can just TASTE the deliciousness simply by looking at them. Can’t wait to try it!
Now that is something I want right now!
I love the idea of adding rum — great idea Katie!
Other naughty treats — do you have a cherry pie recipe of some sort?
I don’t
. I do have a vegan fruit crumble recipe that could use cherries. I could definitely try to make it healthier (although it’s not super-unhealthy as is): http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2008/05/10/peachy-keen-jellybean/
And really, any crisp/crumble recipe can be veganized with margarine. Pie wouldn’t work as well, because you really need butter & shortening for a good crust.
Actually just make the crust raw. It’s yummy
Oh my dang, this is gonna be awesome for summer!
Hmm…what needs a makeover? My vote goes to a churro. I don’t know how that could really be made over though…but in an ideal world there’s an equally tasty but healthy version of a fried stick of sugar-coated dough…
LOL!
um. Layer cake please? Perhaps of the spice variety? or waffles!
Waffles! Yes! I’m always so lazy and haven’t made my own waffles in… ever?
Yummy! I’m thinking this would make an awesome afternoon snack!
Can you make a healthy cinnamon roll!!?
Oh my gosh, that has been on my to-do list for-evah! I reeeeaally wanna make a single-serving one too!
I second that cinnamon roll and making a single serving one too!!!
I totally third this! I tried to make some calculations for a single serving cinnamon roll but never followed through…
You can get vegan cinanmon rolls @ a vegan bakery here in Philly (Sweet Freedom–and to be exact they are “gluten free ~ vegan ~ dairy free ~ egg free~ soy free ~ corn free ~ peanut free ~ refined-sugar free ~ kosher”) They are absolutely DIVINE, although I’m not sure how healthy they are. The $3.75 price tag makes them healthy enough–I’m a miser and will only allow myself one!
Holy cinnamon! Wha??? They did NOT have that when I went to college in Philly. No fair! In Philly’s defense, they DID have a vegan bakery with chocolate chip cheesecake, German chocolate cake, etc. which I would get as often as possible! But I would’ve LOVED a place with vegan cinnamon rolls!
looks really amazing! never even heard of serendipity but it sounds like heaven on earth
That sounds great. Love hot chocolate and frozen hot chocolate sounds even better!
Right. I am making this AS SOON as I get home!! Looks DELISH!!!
This looks fantastic!!!
Yum!! I’ve had the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity and loved it, so I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I’d love to see ice cream be healthier! I’ve definitely tried some good vitamix chocolate ice “cream” recipes, but most of them have turned out tasting chalky (from cocoa powder) or too much like banana for a chocolate ice “cream” recipe. Do you have an idea?
I love this recipe: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/07/12/vegan-black-forest-vita-mix-ice-cream/
You can use frozen strawberries too. The trick is to use Hershey’s special dark cocoa. I know exactly what you mean about the cocoa tasting chalky… when I tried to use regular cocoa in this recipe, that happened. But the extra-dark works wonders!
Holy chocolate! You are incredible. Each dessert gets better and better! Now, as for naughty treats, what about vegan m&ms? Or oh wait, you know chocolate chip cookie dough balls? Could you maybe do a single-lady version of those???? I know you have a raw version, but if you could do a baked version, I would LOVE you forever!
This sounds amaze!! You are a chocolate genius
I have always wanted to try the one at serendipity! katie, every day you amaze me!
Yummy! Frozen hot chocolate is the way to go!!
I actually did something like this last summer. I made up a packet of Swiss Miss 25 calorie hot cocoa mix and poured it into an ice cube tray, let it freeze, then blended it! So delicious.
L-O-V-E! ive never been to Serendipity but iv heard all about it! so clever you are! and HECK yeah make it with the full fat coconut.. thats pretty darn healthy if you ask me!
im trying to think of something that you havent actually CCKatie-ified yet.. which is DIFFICULT!
gimme a sec…
..
…
….
ALAS! could you do a single serve pie? (not a fruit filling- chocolaty filling!!)
Ooo what a cute idea!
I want to do a face plant in that! YUM! I love making over naughty treats…my brain is constantly moving in that direction. This looks perfect!
Hahaha your face would freeze!
Don’t even know if it would be possible but something like a black forest cake? Have to say though, any dessert made healthy is a good thing – I’m dessert mad and have a bit of a sweet tooth so really have to try not to go over board and stay healthy with it lol
ah so reminiscent of serendipity
WOW- this looks delicious. I must add it to my list of things to try
I loveeeeee chocolate!
This looks amazing! This is kind of a dumb question, but does the coconut milk make it taste really coconutty? I’m not a coconut fan
Not a dumb question at all!! It doesn’t make it taste coconutty at all, especially if you only use 1/3 cup. (I think the cocoa masks the taste, too.) But you could also use creamer (such as Silk brand).
uh YUMMM. something that needs a healthy makeover is cinnamon buns! they are SOO delicious, but so full of sugar and fat! Work your magic, Katie!
I’d smooch you forever if you did a french silk pie ala Baker’s Square/Perkin’s.
If that’s more a punishment than a prize, I’ll let my cute rats smooch you instead. They also do a lovely manicure!
I keep trying vegan french silk recipes I can’t seem to get the fluffy mousse-y but dense and crazy rich texture down! Tofu just doesn’t work quite right. It’s GOOD but not… yanno… EPIC.
Haha I dunno if I’d want rat kisses either… but then again, I don’t even like when Henry kisses me! He tries all the time. I swear, that dog’s tongue is never in his mouth!
Awwwww. Rat kisses are nice!
They aren’t drooly like dogs…
VIDEO PROOF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMuB-xLETU
(Yes, those are my boys. Yes, I sound like a dork.)
Ooooooooooooh how about healthified truffles!
Yum! I’m making this tonight as soon as I’m done class.
love serenditpity but this sounds WAY yummier. And you can skip all the lines.
Pecan Pie!!!
I’ve heard about that Serendipity frozen hot cocoa too! Great idea veganizing it.
looks awesome!
Blessings, Debra
Raw Vegan Diet
I’m DEFINITELY going to try this very soon!!
So I JUST discovered your blog not 24 hours ago and I’ve been completely obsessed. It so fun and inspiring! I even went as far as to make the Sex Bomb babies this morning. And can I please be honest and say I didn’t think they’d necessarily be as good as buckeyes? Because I didn’t. BUT I WAS SO WRONG!!
CCK, these babies are AMAZING!! I’ll be trying out the others VERY soon. KEEP ON BLOGGING YOUR LITTLE HEART OUT! You’re amazing!
Aww times a million! Thank you for the super-sweet comment. And lol how could ANYthing covered in chocolate not taste good?
Looks amazing! It’s been cold and wintery recently, no sign of spring in sight yet, but once spring and summer weather kicks in, I’ll give this bugger a shot
I bet it’d be perfect for a steaming day!
I think Snickers bars need a healthy makeover. GET ON IT. I want a healthy caramel recipe.
I second that notion!
These pictures are just gorgeous! I’m excited about this recipe and I’ve never heard of Serendipity. Looks amazing.
YUMMY! And so simple!
Oh my gosh. I need this.
Whitney
its just great that you mention new york and serendipity today, as i’ll go aaaaall the way from europe to new york TOMORROW morning!!! thanks, i’ll go there for sure!! (as i can’t have one of your frozen hot chocolates
)
OOh lucky! Take me in your suitcase?
Now that looks amazing! Must try that…and fro-co is such an awesome name! We have a new frozen yogurt joint here (and they have a few nondairy flavors) called Yolo (the “lo” stands for “local” since they use as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible).
Woah! Sooooo jealous!! One of the only non-vegan foods I miss is soft-serve ice cream. Spiral Diner used to have it, but they said their machine broke too many times, and they stopped making it
. I need me some soft-serve in my life!
In NYC, Lula’s apparently has cake batter soft-serve!
Funnel cakes! And the strawberry cheesecake from Carnegie Deli.
Oh my gosh. Funnel cakes! That needs to happen!
Oh girl, you always come up with THE best recipes!!! Love your warning of “Do not add ice. I repeat, do NOT add ice! ” Too cute! (And note taken!)
Mmm!
I had frozen hot chocolate before, but not from Serendipity. It was a little too icy for my taste… but yours looks truly decadent!
Oh man, you are brilliant!!! I used to go to Serendipity all the time in college…I cannot WAIT to try this recipe! It might happen this very night…will let you know how it goes!
This is something I must try!! But aren’t all of your treats? Can’t wait for your bake sale!!
I have been to Serendipity and surprisingly I wasn’t that enamored of their frozen hot chocolate! The rest of the desserts were amazing, but that one was just eh. Yours looks better!
that sounds delicious; as soon as i finish my candy apples, i will have to try this
I still say some healthy vegan potstickers from scratch
Fro-Co = LOVE the name! So cute and perfect.
I don’t make over treats anymore. If I want one, I just have it. And realize that it’s ok for me to have things that “aren’t healthy”…whatever that means. haha!
Re the bake sale, mark me down for 1 dozen Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites. Technically they are no-bake not technically raw, but in keeping with my 2 year old recipe verbiage, I just call them raw
Lmk if you need link/pics.
Yay! Loooove your photo. Ppl are gonna go crazy for the cookie dough balls, methinks!
I’ve never had frozen hot chocolate before I should make yours to try it and then i’m sure i’ll be hooked.
A dessert you should make healthy? Maybe coffee cake?
This looks divine! If I could have a healthy cheesecake that really, actually tasted good, I’d be in heaven!
This reminds me how I have a bag of Serendipity’s frozen hot chocolate mix somewhere. I’m sure it’s long gone by now, so I’m glad I can make yours!
O…M..G. That looks absolutely amazing. I must make this!
That looks WAY better than any non vegan version!! I can’t wait to make it! I know it will be fabulous! I made some of your agar pudding for lunch (almond extract, peanut butter, carob chips… strange combo but still delicious!), and I’m making you chile bowl for dinner!
How about some healthy cinnamon rolls!
<3
Ooh I hope you liked the chili!! xoxo
Fro-co! Haha love it! I’m saving this recipe for a cold night.
How about pistachio pudding? Methinks that you would use spinach to get that neon green color:)
Oh chocolate heaven this looks AH Mazing!
What about monkey bread or danishes? OH or marzipan, though not a lot of people like marzipan.. I love it. Tres leches cake is amazing too… oh you’ve got me on a roll so I better stop now!
I *heart* marzipan too! I hardly ever think to buy it, but did you know Ritter makes a chocolate-marzipan bar?
WOAH! I cannot wait to try this! One question though: I prefer carob powder over cocoa powder so do you think this recipe would work with carob? I sure hope so because it looks amazing! Really pretty pics btw!
One treat that needs redoing is my grandma’s peanut butter pie in an oreo cookie crust! I would love if you could healthify this….it’s my favorite desert!
Admittedly, I don’t have much (any?) experience baking with carob powder. But if you try it, please let me know whatcha think. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
Omg, yes. If I could marry Serendipity’s Frozen Hot Chocolate without judgement I would. Yours looks worthy of matrimony as well
hi katie
i was just curious to know if you’ve had a lipid panel done recently? i’m wondering ab the uses of coconut butter. i’ve been eating ~1-2 tbsp p/day. i know it is high in sat. fats (mainly the MCFAs versus long-chain which may not have the same effects as other sat fats), but i was wondering if this was reflected in lipid panels. just thought i’d ask you since i know that you love coconut butter!!
Hi Crys,
I dunno much about particular tests… I do know that I had a check up last year, and they took blood, and all my levels came back in the normal range. Is that helpful for you? Sorry I can’t be more specific!
I have made frozen hot chocolate before and was semi disappointed with how it came out, im always looking for ways to make things better so I should give your recipe a try!
Yum city! How appropriate for the crazy warm (although not always!) weather. I can’t wait to try this.
Haha emphasis on the “not always.” It’s been in the 40s the past two days. Ugh!
monkey bread!!!! xo
Wow frozen hot chocolate this looks delicious! Love how youve presented it too, so tempting hehe!
Hmmm what other unhealthy treats..what about cheesecake?!
OMG! I just died and went to fro-co heaven!!!!!!!!! HAVE to make this……dang girl you rock!!!
So pretty! I too became vegan before learning about Serendipity, so I’ve been lusting over the idea of frozen hot choco. I’ve actually had different variants of FROCO at different restaurants throughout my life but I’ve never known how easy it is to make!
I’ve never had frozen hot chocolate, but this looks delicious!
Wow! that looks amazing!
Freeze it first and THEN blend! How ingenious!!! Looks like choco-heaven!
Holy yummlicious idea!
That sounds so super amazing! Genius idea… I can’t wait to eat it. P.S. I FINALLY tried your raw cake batter milkshake (us college girls have a lot on our plates, right? No pun intended. 
) and it was so YUMMY! Super rich, but super amazing for that reason exactly! Thanks girl! I always read your blog! I miss commenting every day! 
School has eaten my soul! And that’s sad because it’s a Christian college… I thought they would help to preserve your soul. 
LOVE YOU!!!
Aly
Aw lol Aly, you know I’m the worst at commenting! Don’t worry! I love hearing your super-sweet voice whenever you get a chance. Oh, and I’m so excited you tried the milkshake!! xoxo
sounds delish!
I have a suggestion…how about tiramisu? i love that stuff!
oh, your next healthy shake needs to be pina colada…just add some pineapple, artisana coconut butter and some ‘milk’ to a frozen banana…yummo! next time i make one i’m adding in some frozen pineapple juice concentrate for more pineapple-y flavor! oh, and maybe some rum flavor? hmmmm……
Ahhhh I need to do a tiramisu!! Need need need. You are so right. That must happen!
Um – love. this.
Does it come out nice and thick though? I see a lot of people adding gums to their mixtures. Are they needed…because I can’t afford them!
It IS thick… but if you don’t use any coconut milk, it’s more like… a Wendy’s frosty (in taste). But even if you don’t use coconut milk (which makes it TASTE thicker), it still *looks* more ice cream-like if you use a vita mix. I’m not sure how it looks in another blender.
I CANNOT wait to make this once the weather gets warm again. I swear spring was here just a few days ago – where did it go?!? My friends and I went to Serendipity after finishing the NYC Marathon. I had some massive sundae, but someone at our table got the frozen hot chocolate, and it was amazing. Thanks for recreating Katie. About to send you an email.
Emailed ya back. You are TOO amazing!
Hi, I just want to tell you that I found your blog last week and you are just AWESOME!! As a vegan/chocoholic, I can’t believe on all these wonderful recipes. Thank you, thank you, for your generosity in sharing them:) Natalia
Aww yay! I’m so glad you found me, Natalia!
I’m currently drinking the frozen hot chocolate right now and it’s fantastic! I used the full-fat coconut milk like you recommended, and it’s like chocolate soft-serve straight from a blender. Thanks for the recipe Katie!
Awww I’m so glad you liked it!
P.S. OMG cake batter pb is genius!
Just made this. omg sooo good.
SO excited you tried it!!
Hey, I just found your blog and WOW. That’s a looot of recipes. I can’t wait to try them all!
I do have one question, though… I’m not american or anything, so I’d like to know what exactly is “2T cocoa powder”. I mean, what is the ‘T’ referring to?
The capital T means tablespoons. Not sure why they use T… everyone I know uses either tbs or tbsp for tablespoon..
hmmm that sounds like a delicious treat. I may make some fro-no-co too… that is frozen hot not cocoa(or chocolate), in other words frozen hot carob.
I wonder if there are any more carob aficionados here? Oh btw I am not a vegan here, Is it weird for me to be here…? owo…
Hi..i tried this too. but i don’t have a blender, so used mixer. was good..
will fresh cream work instead of coco milk??
Thanks.
This is so great! My son is allergic to dairy and eggs, but he should be able to eat anything you have and everything looks so delicious! His eyes lit up when I showed him this pic and I told him he could have some. He’s six and hasn’t been able to eat ice cream since we had his allergies tested over 4 years ago. Thanks again!
Awww that makes me smile so much!
Hi Katie! Just wanted to let you know I featured your recipe on my blog today! I’m a huge fan of yours and I really enjoyed this frozen hot chocolate recipe!!
If you want to see my post about your recipe, here’s the link: http://www.favedietsblog.com/december-blog-hop-and-giveaway-favorite-holiday-recipes/.
Aww thank you!!
This looks divine! Question… and I hope it’s not silly, but why non-dairy? A richer flavor, or so it’s vegan? I want to try this, but I do not normally have coconut milk in my cabinets (:
In my recipes, when I call for “nondairy milk” you can substitute anything you have on hand. But if it calls specifically for CANNED coconut milk, it’s for the richer flavor.
Great! Thank you for your quick response! I’ll get some coconut milk just to try it out, too.
Awesome! I’ve been making this with ice cubes for awhile now, so this is sure to be a major improvement!
OMG.. I just made this – I did use the almond milk since it’s all I had- and added 2 dates and a small piece of banana for extra sweetness – and oh my gosh – this is phenominal!! Love it – will try it with coconut milk next time. Thanks for another great recipe!
Carrie
http://www.carrieskiddiecloset.com
I was so excited to try this, but my experience was less then steller. For starters I just have a cheapy blender. I have ordered a Ninja System, but it has not yet arrived
so I did A LOT of shoving it back down and re-blending (for 15+ minutes!) Would like to try again when this better blender arrives. Secondly, I used sugar as the sweetener. 1 TB. Yuck! Soooo bitter! So I added some lite maple syrup and that dramatically improved the flavor. Next time I need to use a different sweetener. Perhaps I will try real maple syrup. That stuff is rather pricely though and loaded with calories. Not yet purchased or tried agave. Not familiar with other sweeteners. I used silk almond & coconut milk. Recommendation for others: don’t use just plain sugar (or if you do, use more than 1 TB!)
Otherwise, LOVE the website and look forward to trying several other recipes!
Just wondering if you have suggestion for those that don’t have a VitaMix. I have a regular blender and a food processor, would either or those work?? I am very excited to try these as I LOVE ice cream but would like to make my own. Thanks
Sorry, I really don’t know… Obviously you can try it in a regular blender, but I haven’t done so and therefore I can’t vouch for the results.
Hi Katie ,
I found your site from Gina @skinny taste you have awesome recipes !!- but as a strict weight watcher follower in order for us to calculate ww points we need fiber and carb values do you happen to have these numbers for this recipe ?
Hi Laurie,
.
I don’t for this recipe, but I have started including all that info as of this year. So all recent recipes will have ww points
Hi! Katie you are the must try vegan website. You have a lot of awsom recipes.i made yor lemon poppy seed muffins( and I prefer to call cupcakes because that is way more appropriate to do them justice!) just thought I would tell you how great a cook you are
Ps you site is on my favorite list!
saw this last night, HAD to make it today! oh it was lovely, added in 3 walnuts and a chopped up date for more flavour
you’re amazing! thank youuuuu (got myself a new favourite cheat day miracle that’s as tasty as it is healthy) xxx
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