Grownup Hot Chocolate & Hot Cocoa
The weather here has been pretty miserable for the last little while - TONS of rain, heavy winds, and pretty cold on top of it. Many of my friends have flooding in their homes, and I'm just super thankful we live up on the hill.
We spent yesterday morning running errands in that nonsense, and ended up soaked to the bone while grocery shopping in a walk-in fridge. Getting home from THAT, all I wanted to do was make a big pot of boozy hot chocolate.
As I whipped it up, I realized that I'd promised some friends my hot chocolate recipes a few months ago. Whoops. I've been super swamped with "Beyond Flour - A New Kind of Gluten-Free Cookbook", and with costuming orders. It's been a while since I posted anything at all - sorry about that! Things should clear up in a month or two, I expect you won't be able to shut me up, then!
Anyway - hot chocolate. I actually have two recipes for you today, because I do differentiate between "hot chocolate" and "hot cocoa". "Chocolate" using chocolate, and "cocoa" using cocoa. Easy, eh? 🙂
Both of these recipes are the way *I* like it - so ridiculously rich, that 1 coffee mug is enough. I would never be able to drink these in huge, gas station sized cups. It's diabetes in a cup! When it's cold and rainy, though - perfect. Feel free to thin them down with additional milk, if you'd like something a bit more ... chuggable.
Also, while I advocate always having a baggie of vanilla beans on hand (they can be obtained from Amazon at reasonable prices!), I get that not everyone does. SO, if you don't have a bean, just add one tsp of really good vanilla extract right before serving.
Grownup Hot Chocolate or Grownup Hot Cocoa
Ingredients
Grownup Hot Chocolate
- Mini Marshmallows
- Liqueur of choice*
- 3 cups Milk
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar packed
- 1 Vanilla Bean
- 1 cup Good Quality Chocolate Chips
- Pinch Salt
Grownup Hot Cocoa
- Mini Marshmallows
- Liqueur of Choice*
- 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar Packed
- Pinch Salt
- 1/4 cup Hot Water
- 3 cups Milk
- 1 Vanilla Bean
Instructions
Grownup Hot Chocolate
- Place a handful of mini marshmallows in each mug, top with about 1 oz of liqueur per mug. Allow it to soak while you prepare the hot chocolate:
- In a saucepan, whisk together milk and brown sugar. Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scraping the seeds into the pot – throw the bean into the pot when you’re done scraping it out!
- Add chocolate chips and salt to the pot, then turn the heat on. Bring the mixture up to just barely a simmer, stirring frequently. Once the chocolate has all melted and is well incorporated, remove from heat.
- Pour hot chocolate over marshmallows and booze, serve immediately!
Grownup Hot Cocoa
- Place a handful of mini marshmallows in each mug, top with about 1 oz of liqueur per mug. Allow it to soak while you prepare the hot chocolate:
- In a saucepan, whisk together cocoa, brown sugar, and salt. Add hot water, whisk to form a thick paste. Slowly add milk, whisking to fully incorporate it.
- Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scraping the seeds into the pot – throw the bean into the pot when you’re done scraping it out!
- Bring the mixture up to just barely a simmer, stirring frequently. When hot enough, pour hot cocoa over marshmallows and booze, serve immediately!
Notes
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