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January 15, 2011

Hot Eats, Cool Treats... switch that!


 With all the snow that's been hanging around here lately, we've been outside playing a lot. But when we come inside to defrost, what is better than some hot cocoa? 
Well, as much as I wanted some the other day, we didn't have any Swiss Miss.
But thinking about that yummy chocolatey drink had me thinking back to when I was little and my mom would make us hot chocolate from scratch. So that's what I did! 
I actually called my mom for the recipe but here's the recipe direct from Hershey's website:
Image courtesy of Hershey (cuz it's way prettier than I could take!)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
  • Dash salt
  • 1/3 cup hot water
  • 4 cups (1 qt.) milk
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Directions

  1. Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do Not Boil.
  2. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. Five 8-oz. servings. 

They even have different variations on it:

VARIATIONS: Add one of the following with the vanilla extract:

SPICED COCOA: 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Serve with cinnamon stick, if desired.

MINT COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon mint extract OR 3 tablespoons crushed hard peppermint candy OR 2 to 3 tablespoons white creme de menthe. Serve with peppermint candy stick, if desired.

CITRUS COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon orange extract OR 2 to 3 tablespoons orange liqueur.

SWISS MOCHA: 2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee.

COCOA AU LAIT: Omit marshmallows or whipped cream. Spoon 2 tablespoons softened vanilla ice cream on top of each cup of cocoa at serving time.

SLIM-TRIM COCOA: Omit sugar. Combine cocoa, salt and water; substitute nonfat milk. Proceed as above. With vanilla, stir in sugar substitute with sweetening equivalence of 1/2 cup sugar.

CANADIAN COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon maple extract.

MICROWAVE SINGLE SERVING: Combine 1 heaping teaspoon HERSHEY'S Cocoa, 2 heaping teaspoons sugar and dash salt in microwave-safe cup or mug. Add 2 teaspoons cold milk; stir until smooth. Fill cup with milk. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until hot. Stir to blend; serve.

We thoroughly enjoyed our hot chocolate.







Our main test taker really enjoyed his, as you can tell!


Hope this helps to warm you and your loved ones up during this incredibly cold winter season!



Have a blessed day,

Get Your Craft On Tuesday

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