This is my wish for cold weather. I feel bad asking for it as today was sunny and beautiful. But, I need a little of it to reset my clock, if you will. There is a perfectly serviceable recipe for hot chocolate on the box of Hershey’s Cocoa. But this is in a whole different category. All the credit goes to the Cook’s Illustrated magazine Cook’s Country and Jeremy Sauer. This recipe deviates here and there on amounts and I added semi-sweet chocolate. But that recipe tipped me off to the benefit of including white chocolate chips, and it adds a very creamy and lovely aspect to this warm, comforting drink.
I also love having a hint of vanilla in hot chocolate. Because this is a powder meant to keep for up to three months, I couldn’t use vanilla extract. So, instead, I threw in a few tablespoons of vanilla sugar. Kim Johnson Puricelli, a gal that I went to high school with in Wichita Falls, Texas, one or two years ago sent a jar of vanilla sugar to me about a year ago and I have yet to let it run dry. Occasionally, I add a little more sugar and another bean and give it a good shake to work out the clumps and distribute the new sugar. It adds a perfect little hint of vanilla wherever I need it. Additionally, there is no liquid, and no alcohol this way).
Back to the hot chocolate. Simply put all of the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and whiz it up until it is light and powdery and all of the chips have been fully processed. Put it into a big lidded jar or distribute it between several jars and, perhaps, give them away to friends.
Preparation:
2 cups powdered low fat milk
½ cup cocoa
1⅓ cups confectioners’ sugar
¾ cup white chocolate chips
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar
Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process for about 45 seconds to one minute, or until the chips have fully processed and incorporated. Store in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
To make hot chocolate, place 1 cup of milk for every serving into a saucepan over medium low heat. When the milk is hot but not yet simmering, add ¼ cup of mix for every serving into the saucepan with the milk and stir it with a whisk to work out all of the lumps. Allow the hot chocolate to continue to heat up until all of the remaining chocolate particles have melted. Remove the hot chocolate from the stove as soon as it begins to simmer. Serve with marshmallows.
Notes:
Mocha Version: For every ¼ cup of mix, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of espresso powder. It is delicious!
My son learned about “furry tongue” or “too hot hot chocolate tongue” when we made this. Allow the hot chocolate to cool considerably before serving it to kids. You can even add a few tablespoons of cold milk to the hot chocolate once all of the chocolate bits have melted.
Well there went Weight Watchers Power Points Kelly, ‘-) I will have to send this to my son’s. This is one of their favorites and both my son’s wives are chocolate nuts. This is WONDERFUL, thank you so much for sharing!
Sounds absolutely heavenly and what a lovely idea for gifts! On another note, I’m wondering if you’d mind saying what your pattern is on your mugs ~ it’s really gorgeous and I find myself coveting them almost as much as a cup of your hot chocolate!!
If you’ve ever said, I missed it. By the way, I love your blog, and am so glad you started posting to Mamasource, where I first saw it. All the best to you!
Hi Colleen! I’d be happy to talk about my dishes. These are Gien in the Toscana pattern. I got them when I was married but the pattern is still available. Plus they have several other patterns that mix nicely with it. It is also easy to mix in with any blues and yellows from other dish sets, as well. They have been quite durable and have withstood an awful lot of time in the dishwasher. So, I have been very happy with them. Also, thanks about Mamapedia. I like the site a lot. Lately I have not been posting there because my new ad situation precludes me from posting entire posts elsewhere. So for the time being, I will not have new posts on MP, sadly. But they were very kind to me and brought me a lot of great readers…like you.
Sounds like a great recipe, but I do have a question. How do you get the vanilla sugar? I’m assuming it’s just vanilla bean pods and regular sugar from the pictures, but how many pods to how much sugar would you recommend?
Yes, Kary, it really is just as simple as you think. Take 1 vanilla bean and split and scrape it. Put the the bean and the seeds together in a far with 1 to 2 cups of sugar. Seal it and shake it. Make sure the bean is buried in the sugar and then let it just sit for about two weeks. It is really handy for those applications where you need a dry ingredient, or don’t want to add alcohol for other reasons.
Hi Kelly – Just wanted you to know my adaptation of the Parsnip Soup recipe from Edible Dallas is up on m y blog today. I adapted the recipe as finding parsnips out where I live is not so easy without a trip to Dallas. I gave you credit at the bottom of the recipe and noted that I adapted the recipe. You might enjoy seeing the bee pictures I posted along with the soup recipe. Happy Cooking!
WOW!!! this was so easy to make and so VERY yummy! I had to make a cup after I mixed everything together last night, and then this morning I made myself another cup, but this time i used water just to see what the difference would be…and it was still very good, not thick and creamy when I used the milk but none the less still good. Thanks so much for sharing. I love the vanilla sugar too. :)
Super ! I’m from Belgium and I will try this tomorrow!
Just made this for the kids to have after playing in the snow. I substituted malted milk powder for 1/4 cup of the milk powder. It was delicious!