Sunshine's Hot Cocoa Mix

I loooove hot cocoa. I mean. It's so yummy. And warm. And chocolatey. And with my formerly-known-as-the-Sunshine state having SNOW days lately, I figured it's pretty appropriate to post this recipe now. But don't worry, we'll be back to beach weather in no time flat. This is Florida, after all, and she is one indecisive state. (Don't judge me for the rough looking marshmallows…)

Makes about 2 dozen cups of cocoa

2 cups dry milk

1/2 unsweetened regular cocoa

2 heaping tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa

Scant 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered coffee creamer, any flavor

2 tablespoons chocolate milk powder (Nesquick, etc.)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 - 1/3 cup 60%+ cacao chocolate chips

Directions:

Place chocolate chips in food processor and process until they are a fine powder. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth and well combined. Store in airtight container. To make cocoa, stir 2-3 tablespoons of mix into a cup of warm milk, water or a combo of both. 

I like to keep a big container of this on hand at all times during the colder months, and I usually have a couple of different varieties going also. (This makes a GREAT gift. All six of our teachers as well as one of my besties received big jars of this for Christmas last year.) You can change the flavor based on what flavor powdered creamer you choose. My favorite of course, is hazelnut, because I am a total hazelnut addict. My "usual" at Starbucks is a grande hazelnut mocha. Soooo good. My kids like peppermint (I'm not a mint fan at ALL so when I make it peppermint flavor, I make sure I'm not making any more batches after that one since everything will taste like mint after that…) and the hubs likes French Vanilla. Really, you can't go wrong with any of the flavors. And if you don't have a food processor, a blender will work just fine. (And if you don't have that either, you can always leave out the chocolate chips and just mix it all by hand or shake it in a ziploc.) You can use regular chocolate chips if you want, just know you will have "floaty bits" (technical term there…) in your cocoa. You may have them with the higher cacao content chips also, but typically the higher quality the chocolate, the smoother it melts. I've made this hot cocoa with and without the chips and I like it both ways. I just love how much more decadent it feels to have "real" chocolate in my cocoa. Hope you enjoy. :) Stay warm, friends!