Make Your Perfect Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate might be anything from melted, spiced drinking chocolate to a packet of instant mix that just needs hot water. You might call it hot cocoa or hot chocolate and it may or may not have whipped cream or tiny marshmallows on top. Recipes and traditions for hot chocolate vary greatly, so make a mug of your fave and get ready for hot chocolate lusciousness! (And there's even some cool recipes for frozen/iced hot chocolate too!)

Just like tea and coffee, when chocolate was first brought to Europe as an exotic spice, it too sparked a craze. As with those other beverages, drinking hot chocolate goes through periods of being trendy and being not so trendy. But those who love it, will drink it regardless of what anyone else thinks.

My Absolute Favorite Hot Drink

This isn't really an ode, if you're going by the strict classical definition of "lyrical poetry." It's more of an enthusiastic rant about hot chocolate.

My most favorite thing about hot chocolate presently is actually this travel mug I own. It's a bit shorter and wider than most that you find, so it doesn't fit in cup holders but with the lid off it makes a rocking soup bowl. I found it at the hardware store. It holds 16 ounces perfectly, which is also known as a pint. Yes, MY hot chocolate comes in pints! I love being able to use that line from the Lord of the Rings movies, as I'm sure I love hot chocolate as much as any Hobbit would.

The tradition of hot chocolate I was raised with is hot chocolate based on hot milk, not hot water. I grew up in a 2% household and that's still what my palate sorts of expects when you think of a level of richness and content. Almost all hot chocolate is better than no hot chocolate, except for this one kind I have found that tends to primarily inhabit hotel buffet bar dispensers. (stage-whispers) Don't drink the funny brown water....

Mom used to put a small handful of miniature marshmallows in my hot chocolate when I was a little girl. As an adult, most often when I'm out somewhere and I get a hot chocolate, it's topped with whipped cream, and sometimes drizzled with a touch of chocolate syrup. Here's the hot chocolate I got at a neighborhood cafe, not only in a fantastic Tweety Bird mug but topped with whipped cream and dusted with sugar sprinkles.

So far, the voters who've told us their preferences seem to be really split across a lot of the hot chocolate variations. What does your mouth tell YOU is the perfect hot chocolate?

make your own hot cocoa powder mixes

Would you like to make your own homemade hot chocolate mix? It's really easy and it makes a fantastic mix that works great with hot water. You'll want an empty quart jar to hold your mix and a big bowl for blending the ingredients.

Basic Hot Cocoa Mix

1 C sugar

1 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 C powdered milk

1/2 C mini chocolate chips

1/2 C mini marshmallows

1 tbsp salt

Just mix all of the above dry ingredients together in a bowl and then keep the cocoa mix in a quart jar, or a similar cotainer that keeps it dry. This recipe makes approximately a dozen servings.

To make a mug of cocoa, add 1/3 cup cocoa mix to a cup of boiling water and stir well. If that is too rich for your tastes, reduce the amount of cocoa mix or increase the amount of water. If it turns out too sweet for you, the next time you make the mix, reduce the amount of sugar used.

Flavor variations:

~ chocolate varieties - the recipe can be changed depending if you use semi-sweet, bittersweet or milk chocolate chips.

~ peppermint - substitute 1/2 C crushed peppermint candies for the mini marshmallows.

~ mocha - substitute 1/2 C espresso powder for the marshmallows.

~ for a gift presentation - layer the ingredients in a jar (see photo) and add your own designer label