I love Hot Cocoa! I even love the word Cocoa! It's fun, and cute. When I say it, it makes me feel warm and cozy inside.
When I worked in downtown St Paul, there was a tiny coffee place that made the MOST A-MA-ZING Hot Cocoa. I haven't found a place that can match it. Of course after all this time I think I have managed to romanticize and inflated the greatness of it that if I were to stumble upon it I might not realize it.
There are those people that need to have their coffee in the morning but I need to have my Hot Cocoa during the work week. After I have my oatmeal, I make myself a big mug of Hot Chocolate and it manages to stave off my hunger until lunch time. There have been days where I try to eliminate the cup of cocoa but sure enough the hungries come knocking and I relent and have a cup of cocoa and I am good for the rest of the morning. For those of you saying "You should drink tea", tried it but it just doesn't do it. I am hopelessly addicted! And as with most of my addictions I am very persnickety, it has to be rich and chocolaty or what is the point! I am ashamed to say that I am now up to 3 packets per cup! In my defense the mug holds 18 oz, but still it's A LOT of empty calories. With the new year coming up I am hoping to kick my 3 pack a day habit but I can't think about that now!
Do you know if you look on the Internet for recipes you will find 4.5 million for Hot Cocoa and 1.3 million for Hot Chocolate! Who knew there that many different recipes!
I have found that making my own hot cocoa from scratch comes pretty close to those 'glory years'. One of my favorite and easy recipes is on the Hershey's Cocoa box. My daughter was the one that first tried it, she made it for me as a surprise and I've been using this recipe ever since!
Hot Cocoa
- Skill Level:
- Beginner
- Prep Time:
- 25 Minutes
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
- 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.
-
Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until
foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired.
Five 8-oz. servings.
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.
Nutritional Information per serving (1/5 of recipe):
Calories: 180, Total Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2.5g, Cholesterol: 15 mg, Sodium: 100mg,
Total Carbohydrate: 32g, Dietary Fiber: 2g, Sugars: 29g, Protein: 7g, Vitamin A: 8%DV*,
Vitamin C: 0%DV*, Calcium: 25%DV*, Iron: 0%DV*
*%DV= %Daily Values are calculated based on a 2000 calorie diet
So snuggle up with your Honey or if you don't have a Honey, snuggle up with a warm, chocolatey cup of Hot Cocoa and enjoy!
Keep smiling and know that God loves you and so do I.
L
No comments:
Post a Comment