It's cold here in Kentucky. I mean slap-you-in-the-face, knock-the-wind-out-of-you cold. It makes me want to curl up with a nice warm drink. But since I don't drink coffee and making tea is hit or miss for me, hot chocolate is my friend. I meant to write about this post back in December because this cocoa mix makes a great homemade Christmas gift, but I figured that now is really the perfect time to actually relax and drink a nice warm cup of cocoa. Plus, and this may be the main reason for this post... I found these cute strawberry and vanilla heart shaped marshmallows, so I just had to use them!

It's great to make a big batch and then have it ready to just add to a cup of hot milk. And, if you still want to give it as a gift, there is always Valentine's Day-- you can check out how we celebrate here. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container. I adapted this recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker blog. Check her out!

CREAMY HOT CHOCOLATE

Adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker; makes about 10 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup original non-dairy creamer

3/4 cup cocoa powder (Dutch processed is the best if you can find it. It will taste fine with regular too, though.)

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse all ingredients until very fine. (I like to grind the nonfat dry milk powder separately, as well as the white chocolate chips separately, then add everything together and pulse until very fine.) Once it is ground, store in an airtight container, or bag. 

To make the hot chocolate drink, add 3 heaping tablespoons to 1 cup of hot milk. (Sometimes I like to top it off with a dollop of marshmallow fluff). Enjoy!