I drink hot chocolate almost on the daily, or I make a mocha in the mornings, and I love trying new recipes. That said, this is my tried and true. When I’m not feeling like putting in all kind of effort to froth it or make it the perfect spicy hot chocolate, I opt for adding whatever chocolate I have on hand to some steaming hot milk with a bit of vanilla and it’s just delicious every time.

I highly recommend using whole milk to make it extra creamy, but you can use a lower fat milk or a nut milk if you prefer! It’s hard to go wrong with hot chocolate, especially if you’re melting in some high quality chocolate.

As for the chocolate, I always have Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips on hand so that’s my go-to typically, but use your favourite! Lately, I’ve been having more dark chocolate and using Hershey’s special dark chocolate in my cocoa. Dan’s favourite is to use a couple of Lindt balls to make his hot chocolate; you can even mix and match flavours to come up with some delicious combinations!

Ingredients

• one cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup high quality chocolate chips or chunks (semi-sweet or dark chocolate)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional Toppings/Flavourings

• a dash of your favourite warm spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, or make it a little spicy with chipotle and/or cayenne!
• a candy cane, peppermint, peppermint extract, or a peppermint crème
• marshmallows*
• whipped cream
• honey to sweeten

*I’m so excited to try my hand at making homemade marshmallows soon!

Instructions

1. In a small pot, warm the milk over medium low heat for around 3 minutes, stirring occasionally
2. Add in your chocolate and whisk until fully melted and combined
3. Add the vanilla & any spices or extras, whisk to combine
4. Pour into your mug and…

enjoy!