Homemade Hot Chocolate
What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods these days? We have been iced and snowed in for nearly a week here are our house. This kind of weather is very unusual around here, so we’ve enjoyed the chance to slow down a little. The kids have spent so much time out sledding and playing that they are falling into bed at night and sleeping in late in the mornings. As homeschoolers, we could press on with a normal school schedule if we chose, but all of the children that live near us have schedules dictated by one school system or another and they’ve all been off and itching to play. I’ve also been “snowed under” with the tax returns I do at this time of year, so it’s been a good time to let the kids have a break and enjoy the type of play that just isn’t possible around here on a regular basis!
As a result, I’ve had piles of boots and coats and hats and gloves at my back door on and off all week (when my children haven’t been off piling up their boots and coats at a neighbor’s door) and I have served up lots of homemade hot chocolate. My sweet husband finally had to explain to some of the children yesterday that we were going to have to cut everyone off before we ran out of milk. The children who don’t live here were fascinated to learn that we buy our milk directly from a farm and won’t be picking any more up until Saturday. So, when we’re out, we’re out! This was very disappointing, because apparently, I make the “World’s Best Hot Chocolate!” Who knew?
So, just in case you need an excellent (and easy!) recipe for Hot Chocolate, here you go!
Homemade Hot Chocolate
(makes about 36 cups)
1 1/2 Cup Cocoa (or raw Cacao Powder)
3 Cups Sugar (or Organic Cane Sugar)
3/4 tsp Salt (or Himalayan Salt)
Mix these together. I like to run them through the blender or the food processor so they are more finely ground and dissolve more easily, but it’s not a must. Store in an airtight container.
When you’re ready to make some hot chocolate, measure out 2 Tablespoons of the mix into a cup. Add 1 Tablespoon of boiling water to the cup and mix. Then add:
1 Cup Milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
And, of course, if you really want to treat yourself, be sure and add marshmallows!!
Yummmmm!
By the way, I’ve run the nutritional information on this, and it’s about 220 calories if made with fresh, raw milk. If you want to make it with less sugar, you can. I’ve made it with 1 teaspoon of powdered stevia in place of one of the cups of sugar. It’s still delicious! Since the sugar is bulky, you’d only need about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the mix to make a cup.
