You wake up. There’s a chill in the air. You look out the window to see a fresh blanket of snow had appeared overnight.  The kids have a school day. After breakfast, you send them out to play, while you start making the hot coco. There are so many different ways to make hot coco. From instant to homemade. Take your pick!  In this article, I am going to tell you about some of my favorite ways to make this delicious, cold day drink!

                 I have recently learned what coco bombs were.  In my 30 years of life I have never heard of them. I was completely shocked when I found out what they were. They are balls of chocolate. You place them in the bottom of your mug; slowly heat the milk on the stove, and pour over top of the ball. The milk melts the coco ball creating a fun experience for all.

                Another way that I like to make is with cinnamon. For this I just heat up some milk and add instant cocoa. Where does the cinnamon come in? Soon. Just have to put the marshmallows on first. Put as many or as few as you would like. I always put a lot. Final step is to sprinkle cinnamon or a cinnamon/sugar mixture over the top for that little extra flavor!

                Now my favorite way to have it this hot beverage is how my Grandma used to make it. This is a special treat that I am going to share with you. Luckily for all of us my Aunt has all of my grandmas recipes! Are you ready for this? I know my taste buds are!

Ingredients:

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 ½ cups whole milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions: In medium saucepan combine sugar, cocoa, and ½ cup milk. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the remaining milk. Stir until evenly heated. Do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve hot, with whipped cream topping and graded cinnamon and crushed peppermint sticks. The whipped topping Grandma would make herself too. She used heavy whipping cream and did it all by hand. No electric mixing.

                There are so many more ways to make this chocolatey delight. After doing some research, I have found so many creative ways. I’m going to have to make a hot cocoa bucket list for my winter season. May have to make a few new ones. I’m looking forward to it all. Enjoy everyone and stay warm!