Spiced masala hot cocoa, made with oat milk and flavored with maple syrup and superfood maca, takes the classic hot beverage to a whole new plant-based level. This delicious beverage is from Living Lively by Haile Thomas.
Haile writes, “This recipe gives the ultimate cozy drink a powerful remix! The mood-boosting properties of cocoa combined with iron, calcium, and vitamin C-loaded maca, an anti-inflammatory, digestion-boosting spice, make for an epic drink with a nourishing kick.”
I was blown away when I looked through Living Lively: 80 Plant-Based Recipes to Activate Your Power and Feed Your Potential. It’s so much more than the sum of these 80 colorful, health-affirming recipes. It’s also a motivational guide and clarion call to change one’s mindset as a foundation of a wholesome lifestyle.
What I didn’t realize until after I perused and enjoyed the book that its author, at the time of publication, is 19 years old! Which means that she must have been 17 or 18 when she started on it.
And that’s not the beginning or end of it — Haile Thomas is the founder and CEO of a wellness non-profit and an international speaker and activist. See more following the recipe as well as my Q & A with Haile.
Though this book can be enjoyed by anyone of any age, it seems to speak particularly to young women who are finding their voices as well as their footing in life. Of particular interest, in the book’s first section, Haile weaves in mini-interviews with young women of color about their passion-fueled achievements.
Beautiful photos (of both the food, the author, and her amazing colleagues) and easy-to-follow recipes round out a book that will be treasured by the seeker in your life, whether that would be yourself, or any young person looking for inspiration.
Enjoy this invigorating plant-based hot cocoa, and read more about the book, plus a unique Q & A with Haile, following the recipe. Recipe and photos from Living Lively by Haile Thomas © 2020 William Morrow. Reprinted by permission.
See more cozy recipes for vegan hot cocoa beverages.
Living Lively by Haile Thomas is available wherever books are sold
Spiced Maple Masala Hot Cocoa (with Maca)
This supercharged hot cocoa, made with oat milk and flavored with maple syrup and a hint of masala spices and superfood maca, takes the classic hot beverage to a whole new plant-based level.
Ingredients
- 1 1⁄4 cups unsweetened oat milk
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 to 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste
- 1 teaspoon maca powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon garam masala
- Pinch of ground turmeric
- Pinch of chipotle powder (optional)
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring the oat milk to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- Add the cocoa and maple syrup and whisk until smooth.
- Add the maca powder, cinnamon, garam masala, turmeric, and chipotle powder (if using). Simmer for 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Stir in salt, vanilla, and coconut oil, pour into a mug, and enjoy!
More about Haile Thomas and Living Lively
Activate your power and feed your potential with activist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and America’s youngest Certified Integrated Health Coach!
When Haile’s father was diagnosed with type two diabetes, she and her family began a journey that would change their dietary habits, improve her dad’s health, and radically transform her life. Ten years later, she is a social entrepreneur, speaker, activist, and advocate for conscious living—and her dad is diabetes-free.
Haile believes that to productively work toward our best selves, we must first fuel the vessel that supports us, our bodies. By incorporating plant-based dishes into our daily routine, we can boost qualities such as confidence, happiness, energy, and positivity.
In LIVING LIVELY, Haile combines her uplifting message with tasty, wholesome food, providing dozens of nutrition-packed vegan recipes– all gluten-, dairy-, and egg-free– that pack a punch with bold and bright flavors, many inspired by her culinary adventures around the world.
LIVING LIVELY also passes the mic to leaders who are activating their power, doing what they love, and making an impact, including: environmentalist and animal rights activist Hannah Testa, dancer and actress Nia Sioux, entrepreneur and mentor Gabrielle Jordan, global activist and sustainable fashion entrepreneur Maya Penn, and self-love advocate Luisa Gaffga.
Their combined knowledge is distilled in the “7 Points of Power” chapter – Wellness; World Perspective; Media & Societal Influences; Thoughts & Spirituality; Education; Relationships; and Creativity & Giving.
LIVING LIVELY empowers the reader to be the architect of their own life, become a selfcare maven, and utilize food not just as a source of health and wellness, but of activism, empowerment, and community.
Author bio: Haile Thomas is 19 years old, an international speaker, wellness & compassion activist, vegan food & lifestyle content creator, the youngest to graduate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition as a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and the founder/ CEO of the non-profit HAPPY (Healthy, Active, Positive, Purposeful Youth).
Haile founded HAPPY when she was 12 years old to redefine youth empowerment through holistic education and address the need for peer to peer free / affordable plant-based nutrition and wellness education in underserved / at risk communities.
Haile has personally engaged over 80,000 people around the world since 2010 and has spoken at events like SXSW, WeDay UN at the Barclays Center, and GITEX Future Stars in Dubai.
Haile has worked with brands like Williams-Sonoma, Nike, Bank of America, Vitamix, United Airlines, and Audible. She’s been featured by BuzzFeed, MTV, CNN, The Today Show, O Magazine, and Teen Vogue to name a few.
Visit Haile Thomas on the web and follow her on Instagram.
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