When the weather gets cold, it’s always nice to make yourself and the family a nice hot drink to enjoy. Hot chocolate is a great choice that helps to relax the body and nerves (and it tastes pretty awesome). To mix things up why not try these creative recipes? In addition to the chocolate/cocoa powder (use unsweetened to better control the sugar content), milk, and sugar (can be replaced by honey or cinnamon), here are some additives that will surprise your taste buds:
This Mexican recipe replaces the sweetness of standard hot chocolate with spice. Use cinnamon powder/sticks, nutmeg, and dried red chili peppers/chili powder. Hot!
Ginger gives a nice kick to many meals and it can do the same with hot chocolate. Known to detoxify and as a natural anti-inflammatory agent, you can add this root to the mix while heating, peeled and chopped. Remove the pieces of ginger root at the end using a strainer, for a smooth and spicy drink.
This hot chocolate libation is perfect for the over-21 crowd who desire a somewhat stronger effect (like the dude above). One cool recipe I found includes rum, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and a cinnamon stick in addition to the usual milk and chocolate/cocoa powder.
This drink is perfect for when you’re craving a sweet dessert. After heating the hot chocolate with the mint leaves, add ice cream and stir. Whipped cream is optional if you can resist it (I never can). Good ice cream flavors include peppermint and vanilla.
This simple recipe involves candy canes as stirring tools (no need to wait for the dishwasher to finish, phew). As soon as you heat up the ingredients, stir the liquid with some peppermint candy canes. Stirring makes the candy canes melt a little faster as opposed to just tossing them into the mix.
You can add in butterscotch syrup or schnapps for a little kick. You can also use any leftover Halloween butterscotch candy such as Werther’s originals hard candies. Just make sure to balance out the sugar content by using unsweetened chocolate or coca powder when preparing.
Add raspberry jam during the heating process and enjoy!
Which one are you dying to try?
I live the idea if the mint float one! Another idea along the lines of the spiced hot chocolate-once I made a chocolate shake and added chili powder so although it wasn’t a hot drink, it was warming because it had such a spicy kick:)
I think I’ll have to try the Rum one 🙂
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