Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
I’m definitely not the first food blogger to post a recipe for homemade hot cocoa mix. And I definitely won’t be the last. That’s because it makes such an easy and fun homemade gift, and I just couldn’t resist.
I used Ghirardelli chocolate and cocoa in mix. Of course, Hubby loved having an excuse to eat more homemade marshmallows and threw quite a few in his cup of hot cocoa!
One Year Ago: Green Bean Casserole
Two Years Ago: Snickerdoodles and Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Three Years Ago: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Biscotti
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
Yield: 76-2 Tbsp servings
Ingredients:
2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
24 oz high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa
Directions:
Split and scrape vanilla beans and place in a large bowl or jar with the sugar. Work seeds into the sugar with your fingers. Bury the pods under the sugar. Cover tightly and let stand overnight (or up to months–vanilla sugar keeps forever) at room temperature.
In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and dark chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. Process in batches, if necessary.
Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend, making sure to combine well. Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.
Assemble your gifts:
Scoop 1 1/2 cups of cocoa mix into a medium sized bag. Attach a tag with the following note: Heat 8 oz milk on med-high heat until scalded. Add 2 Tbsp cocoa mix and whisk until smooth. Top with a marshmallow. Makes 12 servings.
Recipe as seen on Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from Gourmet
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
How awesome that you were on Leno! Are we allowed to ask what you were on for? I love your list and am raising two hands to vote for the Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake. I made it last fall (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/10/11/brownie-mosaic-cheesecake/) and it is simply to die for. You won’t be sorry!!
Um yeah, totally meant Letterman. ::slaps forehead:: I’m sleepy 😉
What a cool blog event! I wish I had known about it before today, so I could participate. Is it a monthly thing? If so, I’m definitely in next time!
Michelle – I was the co-captain of a Rube Goldberg team (think of the game mouse trap but on a HUGE scale) in college. In 2003, Purdue won the national competition and they got us on the Letterman show. I was the “spokesperson” for the team and we had our machine on stage. It was an awesome experience. I’ve been trying to find pictures, but that was pre-digital camera for me so I can’t find any…
Annie – I believe it is a monthly event. I think she started it in May…
Thanks for the link to my site! I hope you try out the Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles if you are a goat cheese fan. They were so delish.
yay for the best bookmarks ever! we have similar taste i guess bc i got some great ideas from this post and i’ve done some on your list. two quick notes on these bookmarks:
1) do the bagels at smitten kitchen. the cinna. raisin rock and it’s so rewarding to spend that much time and yield awesome results. i’m a new baker and it wasn’t very hard to do. definitely add the maple syrup or molasses to the water when you boil the bagels. dole makes plump raisins and they rock.
2) billy’s cupcakes will be your answer to vanilla cupcakes forever! i had issues with overflow so i’d reduce the baking powder from 3t (=1T) to 2.5 tsp.
Thanks for the tips Sweetie
OMG thanks for the shout-out!!! 🙂 where the HECK have i been!?? i’ve seen your facebook status updates and i never realized they were from YOUR blog!!! they are awesome! i’m SO proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! talk soon!!! love, WALKER
ps: i have some pics, i’ll get them scanned. 🙂