Dear winter, thank you for forcing me to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.
With the increasingly cold weather keeping me inside, I've been taking every opportunity to cozy up with my kids in front of the fire place with some hot chocolate. I've never really been a big fan of winter, I prefer heat (beaches!!!), but I have to admit that since having kids, winter is a lot more fun; snow angels, snowmen, sliding, skiing... and most importantly, cuddling up on the couch! I also love the slower beat of things.
This year, for our Christmas tree decorating party, I wanted to give out Christmas themed party favors. That obviously meant gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate. I prefer things being personal and we all know I love making my own recipes. So I spent a bit of time trying to figure out the exact ingredients to my basic homemade hot chocolate mix. This is another one of those things where I usually just randomly dump ingredients together and just like magic, out comes deliciousness (that's a word right?).
It turned out quite delicious and smooth. If you want it sweeter, you can always add a bit more sugar, but I find it just right this way. I have every intention of making tons of variations of this basic recipe so stay tuned!
Hot Chocolate Mix
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup cocoa powder (pure, unsweetened)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
To make the mix is very simple. Just pour all the above ingredients into a container and shake. If you want to make sure it's homogeneous, you can mix the ingredients in a bowl first.
When you're ready to have some hot chocolate, all you have to do is add 2 tablespoons of the mix to 1 cup of cold milk and bring to a boil on med-high, stirring constantly (it shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes). You could also microwave it, but I prefer the stove.
And if you want to give this as a gift, don't forget to make a pretty label with the instructions!
Single Serving Homemade Hot Chocolate
If you don't want to make a big batch and prefer just making a cup as you go, you can use the recipe below.
Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cocoa powder (pure, unsweetened)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp corn starch
