During the winter, I pretty much always have hot chocolate coursing through my veins. I guess there are worse addictions.

My friend Carly told me about this recipe for almond chia hot chocolate this week, so I thought I’d give it a try. I usually make my hot chocolate with almond milk because that’s what I have on hand. But the recipe also calls for almond extract and almond butter, so the flavor is more noticeable.

At first I couldn’t picture how chia seeds would taste in hot chocolate–and honestly, it freaked me out a little–but never fear! You don’t actually put in whole chia seeds. You can either run them through a spice grinder (if you have one) or grind them by hand using a mortar and pestle. I recently bought my first mortar and pestle and I hadn’t tried it out yet. So this was the perfect opportunity.

Grind down the chia seeds until they become a powder. Mix them with cocoa, almond milk, and the other ingredients. You can drink the hot chocolate once it heats up in the saucepan, or you can mix it in a blender to get it nice and frothy. Either way, you won’t be disappointed with the results.

Almond Chia Hot Chocolate (slightly adapted from Dolly and Oatmeal)

Ingredients

4 teaspoons chia seeds
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons almond butter
pinch of salt

Directions

Using a spice grinder set on a fine powder or a mortar and pestle, grind the chia seeds and set aside.

In small pot whisk together the cocoa powder, water, and milk. Once it’s mixed, whisk in the maple syrup and almond extract.

Turn heat to medium and continue whisking until the mixture is steaming and hot, then add the powdered chia seeds. Whisk occasionally until the mixture has thickened up a bit, about 5 minutes.

Carefully add the hot chocolate mixture to a blender along with the almond butter, and blend on high for 30-45 seconds, until frothy.

Divide the almond hot chocolate between 2 large mugs and dust with extra cocoa powder.