CHOCOLATE SYRUP

This is soooo yummy and with only a few ingredients, it's much better for you than store bought!  And tastes WAY better!

Recipe for homemade chocolate syrup (with optional recipe at the end)

All you’ll need to make your own are these five basic ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
• 1/2 cup cocoa (packed)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla (my homemade recipe)
• 1/8 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
• Add 1/4t baking soda while cooling

Don’t be afraid to adjust these amounts to your liking!
1. Pour water into a saucepan and stir in cocoa (until dissolved) over medium heat.  Add sugar and continue stirring.  BE VERY CAREFUL to continually stir and watch the mixture as it heats because it can easily boil over if you turn away even for a few seconds (it happened to Betsy once!)
2. Once mixture is boiling reduce heat to medium-low, continue stirring, and set timer for 4 minutes (the longer you cook the thicker it gets.)
3. Once your timer goes off remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and salt and let cool.
4. Add 1/4 tsp baking soda while it's cooling (This prevents sugars from crystallizing if the syrup is going to be stored in the fridge for more than a few weeks. It will foam a bit at first, but returns to normal during refrigeration.) 

As the chocolate syrup cools it will thicken more, so if it is already thick enough then bottle it, seal it, and stick it in the fridge.  You can store the syrup in a mason jar, an old store bought chocolate syrup container, or any other creative container you can think of.

This recipe will yield approximately 10 ounces of syrup depending on how long you reduce the mixture over the heat.

Recipe using Maple Syrup

• 1 cup PURE maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 3/4 c cocoa
• 2 T vanilla

Warm syrup and water in a saucepan over medium heat till simmering.  Whisk in cocoa for about 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Stir well and pour into a jar and refrigerate!