Superfoods Advisor

Chocolate-Cacao Mood Golden Milk

with raw cacao and a pinch of salt

By Superfoods Advisor Editors·July 4, 2026

Chocolate-Cacao Mood Golden Milk — finished dish
Prep
5 min
Total
12 min
Difficulty
medium
Calories
270 kcal

Allergens Milk

Ingredients

From your pantry

  • ¼ tspGround cinnamon
  • 1 pinchFine sea salt
  • 2 tspPure maple syrup, or less to taste
  • ½ tspPure vanilla extract

Utensils Small saucepan · Whisk · Blender

Instructions

  1. a dry pan toasting seeds — watercolour illustration

    Warm the coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat.

  2. a whisk in a bowl — watercolour illustration

    Whisk in the cacao, turmeric, cinnamon, pepper, and salt until you have a smooth paste. Cacao clumps if it meets the milk before the fat.

  3. liquid poured from a jug — watercolour illustration

    Pour in the milk slowly, whisking the whole time.

  4. a pan on low heat — watercolour illustration

    Bring to a bare simmer over low heat and hold 4 to 5 minutes, whisking to stop a skin forming.

  5. a spoon stirring a bowl — watercolour illustration

    Off the heat, add the vanilla, the maple syrup, and the maca if you are using it.

  6. a blender jug — watercolour illustration

    Blend for 15 seconds if you want foam.

  7. a filled bowl with a spoon — watercolour illustration

    Top with cacao nibs or a dusting of cinnamon.

Shopping list

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Tools

Related comparisons: The Best Turmeric Curcumin Supplements for Joint Comfort (2026)

Why it works

Two small acute trials of standardized cocoa-flavanol drinks reported less self-rated mental fatigue during demanding tasks (Scholey et al., 2010; Massee et al., 2015), though the evidence is preliminary. Theobromine (about 120 mg per tablespoon of cocoa powder, per USDA FoodData Central) is a mild vasodilator and CNS stimulant, gentler than caffeine. The salt sharpens the chocolate flavor and, importantly for the drink's palate, cuts turmeric's bitterness. This works well as an afternoon drink; the theobromine content makes it a poor bedtime choice.

Macro detail: of the 21 g sugar, roughly 8 g is added as maple syrup and the rest is milk lactose.

This recipe is part of Golden Milk (Turmeric Latte): 6 Recipes and the Curcumin Bioavailability Science, which covers the underlying nutrition science and the shared base method.

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