Homemade Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Mix
Good friends, avert your eyes. Possible Christmas spoilers lie ahead.
Warm, cozy, chocolatey, minty spoilers.
This scrumptious homemade candy cane hot cocoa mix makes the perfect gift for everyone on your “nice” list. Dark chocolate adds depth, crushed candy canes give it a minty twist and the white chocolate rounds it all out. It comes together incredibly quickly with the help of a food processor. Then just fill a few plain pint-size mason jars, dress ’em up with a label, screw a circle of festive fabric onto the lid, and make friends and family happy and cozy.
Gift a jar with a big bundle of candy canes and maybe even a bottle of peppermint schnapps or Bailey’s Irish cream. ‘Tis the season!
—
A few people have asked about the labels I used. I sort of cobbled them together. I started with the top left image from this great blank cards template from the wonderful joyeverafter.com. I then created my own custom label using that border in Photoshop, along with the Outlaw font, then printed them on plain Avery 2” H x 4” W labels and cut them out with scissors.Voila!
Honestly, if I’d been thinking farther ahead, I probably would have bought a batch of these from Paper Source and printed on them – much easier.
Homemade Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Mix
Ingredients
- 4.5 ounces milk chocolate (can use a milk chocolate bar or 1 cup chocolate chips)
- 4.5 ounces white chocolate (can use a white chocolate bar or 1 cup white chocolate chips)
- 8 candy canes (broken into pieces)
- 8 ounces good cocoa powder (I like Ghirardelli Dutch process cocoa powder; about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Put the chocolate bars in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This will help you grind them in the food processor or blender without the chocolate melting.
- Break the chocolate bars into your food processor or high-speed blender* and pulse until the chocolate is ground into small crumb-size bits. Add the broken candy candy canes and continue to pulse until a coarse powder consistency. Add to a large bowl. If you used a blender, you may need to use a spatula to dig the chocolate out of the corners.
- Add the cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch, and kosher salt. Mix with a whisk or wooden spoon until completely blended.
- Add to mason jars with air-tight caps.
- To make the cocoa, add 2-3 heaping tablespoons cocoa mix to one cup (8 ounces) hot milk. Stir with a whisk until blended. Garnish with whipped cream, more crushed candy canes, and plop in a candy cane or peppermint stick.
- Can be stored in a cool, dry location for up to one year.