Hot Cocoa

It was the first snowstorm of the season. The winds raged and beat against the house, the snow swirled and covered our windows so we couldn't see outside, and my husband put on his coat, hat, boots, gloves, and went out to shovel the snow.

He'd been out for over an hour when I peaked out the door (because the windows were useless) and saw he was shovelling the neighbor's driveway. He already done ours, but the wind blew the snow back and covered everything again with 2 inches of snow.

I knew my husband would need some hot chocolate when he came in. Just then I remembered that we were out of instant hot chocolate mix! What was I going to do?

Well, if you ever find yourself in this situation, fear not. With a few simple ingredients, you can have delicious hot chocolate.

Milk
Water
Cocoa powder
Sugar

Optional:
Creamer (powdered or dairy)
Cinnamon

In a small saucepan, heat milk over medium-low heat. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. In a separate bowl, mix a few tablespoons of cocoa powder and a few tablespoons of sugar. Use a 3:2 ratio (3 tablespoons cocoa to 2 tablespoons of sugar) first. You can add more sugar later if you need.

When the milk is warm, not boiling, add a tablespoon to your cocoa mixture. Stir using a spoon and mash out any clumps. When your cocoa paste is all moist and clump free, add it to the warm milk and stir.

Voila. Hot cocoa! It is a little strong and slightly bitter, like dark chocolate compared to milk. Add creamer to cut the strong cocoa flavor. Add more sugar if desired.

I put in a dash of a cinnamon/sugar blend and it was SO good! In some ways this is better than store bought because it has a distinct flavor, however it is not as sweet. You just have to try it and see which you like better, but it's always good to know you can make hot cocoa even if you run out of mix.

Happy Holidays! Pin It