Hot Cocoa for Cold Weather

We have been facing some seriously chilly October weather here in Southern Ontario.  This weekend, while celebrating Turkey Day with our family, it was fifteen degrees colder than the same day last year. The winds have been whipping, the trees blowing and we're feeling downright chilled these days. Now, I've taken up knitting this year and am happy to report that I've managed to make toques for all the boys in my household but their hands are still cold, and while mittens are nice (and necessary), we like to warm our small digits with mugs of hot cocoa. Creamy, semi-sweet, spiced hot cocoa.

My little guy loves hot cocoa in all forms, from all places, at all times.  My older boy, not so much.  He likes to hold warm drinks to keep his hands cozy, but doesn't usually ingest what he's holding.  He isn't too fond of steamy beverages and while he's tried this version of hot cocoa, and says it's "pretty good", he's still not interested in drinking it.  My youngest and I enjoy it though, and it's nice to chat about our days over a warm drink.  

This is a great recipe for your young ones to work on with you.  The milk simmers in a pot over very low heat, and while you supervise the stove your sous chefs can measure and manage the addition of the cocoa, chocolate, sugar and cinnamon.  Oh yeah, it's the cinnamon that makes this so, so good.

I'm not going to tell you that I made this for my boy to drink with his dinner recently and I probably also won't mention that it accompanied popcorn and apples for their nightly meal.  But I will tell you that it was devoured and enjoyed and it put a big smile on a small face.  And despite the cold temperatures outdoors, I was quite warm knowing how happy we were with our cocoa, popcorn and apples for dinner.

Have a great day!

Hot Spiced Cocoa, my recipe

2 cups milk, or milk alternative

1 baking square of semi-sweet chocolate

2 tbsp organic cocoa

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

~ Place the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat and allow to simmer to warm.  After three or four minutes add the chocolate and allow to melt.

~ Add the cocoa, honey and cinnamon and whisk to combine well.

~ Allow the milk to sit at this heat level until it is nice and warm (or the right temperature for you and your child) and pour into mugs.

~ Enjoy!  

Comments

[BOATBABY]

Sounds divine. We do our coco with thick, raw milk, organic unsweetened coco, and honey. Mmmmmmmmmmmm

[Sara]

I can't imagine living somewhere that is cold already! I am in Alabama and still wearing flip flops every day. But hot cocoa does sound really good. When it starts getting cold I will have to try this! Thanks for sharing.

[allison]

Sara,

Here in South Africa, i cant really imagine what its like to get that cold ever. But it does get cool here at night so we love cocoa. We are in the midst of spring here and loving it. I have never used honey in my cocoa and it sounds great, so i will have to tag this idea for next year.....

[Jan Scott]

It's so cold here this morning that there is black ice on some of the roads.  If you don't know, it's ice that's almost invisible to the eye but covers the streets.  We're sitting a zero degrees celsius and it's frigid.  Having said that, it's about twelve degrees cooler than normal.  Canada is not usually this cold in mid-October.  I think it would be really interesting to experience Spring in this month.  We're so used to it being the quintessential Fall month here.

[Mary L.]

Hi MBM! :) This is one of my favorite recipes on your site, yet! It looks delish! Do your kids like honey over sugar? And also, when will you be staging the promised giveaway for the A-Z series (it ended eons ago! :)).

[Jan Scott]

Hi Mary - 
I know, I know...I've been so swamped with my day job the past few days and will have the winners posted before the end of the week, with the printable ideas list, I promise!

As for the hot cocoa, I don't even think my kids notice if there is sugar or honey or vice versa...I just preferred honey in this as it complimented the cinnamon nicely.  

[Ginger & Pickle]

yum!!! I hope you're listening to the Chocolat soundtrack as you drink this! You're making me think about doing just that! Such a great movie! Hasn't this been a crazy cold October in Ontario? We're right on Lake Huron. I remember last Thanksgiving being able to go for a walk in our t-shirts after supper... oh well! More reason for hot chocolate!

[Kerry]

Sounds wonderful! I love cinnamon in my hot chocolate too, but I've never made it this way! Can't wait to give this a try!

[Mary L.]

Much thanks for your kind answer! :) I can only imagine how busy you are, so kudos for running such a wonderful blog in the midst of your working scheduale and mom-job! :) I guess if your kids don't notice the sugar to honey switch, it will probably taste good with the honey! :) Thanks for the tip.

[Mary L.]

Thanks for the kind answer, MBM. :) I can only imagine how busy you must be, so kudos for running such a wonderful blog amidst a job and mom-job! And thanks for the tip about the sugar to honey switeroo. I guess if your kids didn't notice it, it must taste pretty yummy! :)

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