Easy homemade chocolate syrup

I’ve loved chocolate milk since I was a little girl. I still drink it once a week or so as a special treat. Homemade chocolate syrup is so easy to make, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry: cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and vanilla. If you want to make it fancier, you can add espresso powder, which gives a boost to the chocolate flavor. I didn’t use it this time, but trust me, it’s a fantastic addition if you happen to have it. The syrup is still chocolatey delicious without it though!

Cook’s Illustrated did a taste test of supermarket cocoa powders, and Hershey’s won. They included more expensive options like Ghirardelli, Valrhona, and Scharffen Berger. I wholly trust Cook’s Illustrated, so I always go with the ubiquitous and cheap Hershey’s. Cook’s is a great magazine, but is available only by paid subscription. I’ve been sharing a subscription with my mom for years. We take turns paying. It’s worth it. They write articles about the process of perfecting the recipes, including a lot of interesting food science. There are taste tests and equipment reviews too. It was the food science articles that drew me in, and the tried-and-true recipes and reviews that keep me a devoted subscriber of more than a decade.

This chocolate syrup is great for all kinds of things besides chocolate milk. I like it drizzled on angel food cake and fruit. For a light dessert, I mix it up with yogurt and spices (think cardamom, cinnamon, and hot pepper). It’s great on ice cream, of course. Comment with your favorite uses for chocolate syrup!
 
Easy homemade chocolate syrup
Recipe by Hillary Huber
 
Ingredients
 
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon espresso powder (optional)
Dash of salt
¾ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
 
Instructions
 
Whisk the cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and espresso powder (if using) in a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium high and add the water, whisking until the dry ingredients have dissolved. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently and taking care not to let it boil over. Keep an eye on it! Once it boils, lower the heat and cook for one more minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla. Cool in the pan before moving to another container for storage. Keep refrigerated.