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 or mix up a quick batch of fresh whipped cream!
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. The top deals of similar coffee products are the member-only savings of Costco Ad this week, too.
Here are a few things that might come in handy:
Vanilla Extract // Cocoa Powder
The recipe for the hot chocolate is courtesy of Top Secret Recipes.com.
And here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:
How to Make Homemade Marshmallows (these are amazing!)
Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars
Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread
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!
I am not a big Starbucks person (mochas are my sort of coffee) but I recently fell in love with their hot cocoa! I have been making the recipe from the hershey can but wasn’t 100% about it (isn’t too different from yours). Then I found this recipe and decided to try it, WOW it is very very good and sooooo close to Starbucks! Thanks for sharing!
I love it too Rachelle! I seriously have a cup almost every night before bed. Much better then a bowl of M&Ms 😉 Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I don’t have toddlers, but do have six (yes, SIX) dogs so I can fully appreciate the ‘horrors’ of carrying the pooper bags! lol…I can’t even imagine the fun of wrestling little ones into rain/snow gear because just wrestling three 10# puppies into harnesses are enough to try the patience of a saint. Or at least the vocabulary of this furbaby mama. LOL
I just came onto this site just a few minutes ago, I have been so busy printing recipes!! This is my favorite time of year to cook, every thing smells so good, the air is crisp and fresh, and I live in Florida and you can feel the change in the temperatures, I love it so much!! I love Starbucks, but they will never build one around where I live, one traffic light, on the Gulf of Mexico north of Crystal River, the booming city of Inglis, Florida. I love your writing, it was so awesome, I hope to get to read many more, and I love the recipes so much too. I hope everyone has a fabulous & safe day, <3 :-)!!!
just made a batch of this, YUM!!!!!
So glad you liked it Karen 🙂 It takes an extra 2 minutes as opposed to powder stuff but it is so much better!
just made this! We loved it. It’s a rainy Sunday here in TN and I was trying to convince myself that I didn’t need to go to Strbycks in the rainy so I figured I would just see what Pinterest had for me. So glad I did, this was easy and delicious! Made with skim milk and it was still rich and creamy.Thanks!!
Yeah! Super yummy and totally worth the trouble 🙂
Speaking as a Starbucks Barista, this is pretty spot on! Well done!
Do you have any nutritional values for this recipe such as calorie count or carb count? Will try it as opposed to ready made with too many chemicals in it. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Mama- you can calculate that easily right here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
You’ll probably want to check the back of the package of cocoa that you use for exact calories and the type of milk you use will vary as well.
Made this last night and it was delicious! Thank you!
Can you use the sweetened chirardelli?
Hi Amie- do you mean sweetened cocoa powder? I would think so I would just be concerned about this being too sweet of a drink so I would go easy on the sugar or just skip it 🙂
I made this twice. The first time by the recipe and the second I changed the water for milk. The second came out way better in my, and my husbands, opinion. If you like the rich chocolate taste then switch it! Very delicious!
Awesome Victoria- I will try milk next time too.
This was actually really good!
I like to go to Starbucks just for their hot chocolate and this was spot on! Just need to try with some Peppermint extract next time to see how it turns out. 🙂
Oh that sounds wonderful Avery!
Since finding your recipe, I have made it almost every cold night. I halved the recipe to just make 1 totally delicious chocolatey cup. Tastes fantastic!,,
Oh I am thrilled to hear that Diane 🙂
Wonderfully delicious!
Yeah glad you liked it Diane!