Some of you that are parents of little ones will totally understand how this goes. The kiddos were getting a little stir crazy in the late afternoon, I could see a patch of lovely sunlight coming through the window and it seemed like a great opportunity to go outdoors.
I announced we were going to take the dog for a walk- which leads to the dog going into a frenzy of excitement. For a normal person, they would grab a leash and a doggie bag- maybe the keys and be out the door in 30 seconds. For those of us with toddlers, it took about 30 minutes of wrestling into jackets, putting all our treasures that were absolutely imperative to bring into a backpack (such as a Sleeping Beauty snow globe and strawberry hand sanitizer), and a minor tantrum over shoes that were too hard to put on.
So in the span of time it took to get ourselves outside it started to sprinkle. Our poor little dog was so thrilled to go for a walk, I didn’t have the heart to cancel the adventure. (You try saying no to this handsome face!) Once we got into raincoats and got umbrellas and now some rain boots- we were finally on the way for a 10 minute walk around the block.
By the time we got home it was fully raining, Mommy was carrying every single thing (including a shattered snow globe, a 3 year old, unspeakable horror inside the doggie bag, and managing the leash of a 100lb dog that thinks it is Christmas) -the kiddos were soggy but ready for round 2 of entertainment. Mommy was ready for a bath and stiff drink. Normally I might pack them into the car to hit Starbucks for a hot chocolate but this particular day I decided to just try and make it myself at home.
And let me tell you it is SO easy to make at home and you probably already have the ingredients on hand.
I really hope you try this. It is so rich and creamy and just a perfect little treat to brighten your day.
Here is the recipe for roughly 16oz of hot chocolate. You could also double this batch and keep it warm in a small crock pot for parties.
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1½ cup milk (I used 2%)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- Add water, cocoa and sugar into a microwave safe bowl and heat for approximately 40 seconds or until warm. Mix well to create the chocolate syrup.
- Add milk and vanilla and stir well.
- Heat in the microwave for about 60 seconds or until hot.
- Serve with whipped cream or marshmallows.
And now you can serve it straight or you can serve with marshmallows. My girls like whatever seasonal shape of marshmallow happens to be available. Here we have little hearts for Valentine’s Day.
Or if you want to be a little extra fancy, you can simply take a layer of whipped cream and spread it on a baking dish or just a plate. Pop in the freezer until solid. Use a cookie cutter to pop shapes out of the whipped cream. In the photo above I used a tiny heart shape cookie cutter. The extra whipped cream can be added right back into the container or you can do a bunch of shapes and put them in the freezer bag for future mugs of hot chocolate.
These frozen whipped cream shapes work really well to cool down the chocolate for kiddos and you won’t believe how thrilled they will be.
You could also dollop whipped cream on top and add some sprinkles. I guarantee that will bring smiles.
PS: I used 2% milk and I am guessing a 12 oz cup will be about 200 calories. This still tastes wonderful with nonfat milk and that will bring the calories down to roughly 160. For extra decadence you could mix a little cream or whole milk but this is already a really rich and creamy drink so I don’t think it needs it.
Here are a few more recipes you might enjoy:
- Copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars
- Easy Crockpot Applesauce
- 5 Minute Blackberry Cobbler
- Crock Pot Apple Cider
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- 5 minute jam
- Chai Sugar Cookies
- Creamy Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
- Molten Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mexican Grilled Corn
- Crock Pot Maple and Brown Sugar Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Halloween Popcorn Recipes
The recipe for the hot chocolate is courtesy of Top Secret Recipes.com and the recipe for the whipped cream is courtesy of Taste of Home.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your walking the dog adventure story. I know all too well what that’s like! Thanks for sharing. : )
I just had to smile when I read the story of your “little” adventure…
You had me in stiches! This is our everyday!!! A 17 month old and 3 1/2 here, I can certainly feel your pain! Can’t wait to try to cocoa.
Thanks for the quick and easy recipe. I bought the Swiss Miss mix when they were on sale before Christmas, and holy moly the junk they put in that stuff. I think it will go to the food bank, and I will make my own from now on.
Great story – can totally relate! /i also love the frozen whipped cream idea!
LOL–sounds like our kind of adventure here. Mom’s version has a splash of Kahlua in hers!
Great story made me laugh!
i acutally used cool whip to sweeten it up, tasty!
I laughed due to being able to relate! And yep, your dog is absolutely adorable!!!
Nicole I have never had good luck with mix kind. I really like the kcups but they are hard to find and so expensive… I never make hot chocolate because I don’t want to stand over a stove and stir but this really was so easy to do. Just seconds and done
I have been making a similar recipe, but without the chocolate syrup idea. I just add the cocoa and some agave (instead of the sugar) to the warm milk. This looks like it would mix a lot easier. I’ll have to give it a try. But I think I’m still going to stick with the agave as the sweetener.
Kiersten,
That is a great idea. Maybe if you mix the cocoa and the agave separately. It made a really dense “syrup” for me to add to the milk.
Oh! I can totally relate to your ‘adventure’!!!! Your dogger is very handsome. Love the hot chocolate recipe! So much better that the envelope stuff, lots less expensive and so much better for you! Now if you could come up with ‘their’ chocolate cinnamon bread recipe……
Thanks for all you do on your site, you are much appreciated!