We are well into hot cocoa season, y'all. And maybe you're getting a little weary of the same ol' hot cocoa routine. Well I'm here to spice up that hot chocolate life with the fun added twist of my friend peppermint schnapps. She'll add a little zing while also keeping it festive.
I've also included a recipe for homemade marshmallows because they make all. the. difference. If you've never made homemade marshmallows, do not be scared, my friend. They are shockingly easy and don't require a lot of ingredients and y'all. they are 10 thousand times better than store-bought.
One thing to note: the marshmallows do take a while to dry out, so I would set them out overnight.
I plan on making this for our yearly Christmas/December birthday bash with some of our closest friends. I hope you enjoy cozying up with this festive drink! And psst...it would look so great in one of our CFL holiday mugs!
SPIKED PEPPERMINT HOT CHOCOLATE
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (I used semisweet!)
- 1 dash vanilla extract
- 1 dash peppermint oil
- 1.5 ounce shot peppermint schnapps (optional...but so delicious)
- candy canes for garnish
DIRECTIONS
- Pour milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and heat until warm.
- Stir in chocolate chips and whisk until melted and totally smooth. Add in a dash of vanilla extract and peppermint oil and taste.
- When satisfied with your extract balance, stir in peppermint schnapps.
HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOWS
INGREDIENTS
- 3 packages unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- melted chocolate chips for drizzling (if desired)
DIRECTIONS
- Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in a bowl and allow to sit while you make the syrup.
- To make syrup, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.
- With a mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and mix until the mixture is very thick (I mixed for about 15 minutes). Next, add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Generously dust an 8x12 nonmetal baking dish with powdered sugar. I made sure the entire bottom was covered because this keeps the marshmallows from sticking to the bottom. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan and smooth with a spatula - the mixture will be very sticky! Dust the top with more powdered sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.
- Once the marshmallows are done sitting, turn them onto a board and cut them in squares with a sharp knife. I dusted the sides of all the marshmallows with more powdered sugar to keep them from sticking to one another.
- If you would like, you can drizzle some melted chocolate on the marshmallows for a little added sweetness (and fun!).
- These go perfectly in your hot cocoa or you can eat them by themselves because YUM.