Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

I don’t know about you, but when it gets nippy outside I like to mix up things with my hot beverage selections by making Hot Cocoa. I feel kind of guilty drinking this luscious chocolaty treat during warmer months, but there’s something about chilly nights that make me feel that all those calories will be eaten away by the shivers they help to eliminate.

I’ve been making my own Cocoa mix for years-and the kids start asking for it about now. However, I’ve never been altogether happy with it-it had a lot of extras, like Instant Milk (which seems like it should be cheap-but it’s not!), powdered creamer and powdered sugar. While it was creamy, the chocolate taste got a little lost. So, heads-up kids! Momma’s got a NEW Hot Cocoa mix. Grab the mini-marshmallows and let’s whip some up!

This recipe was inspired by a Giada De Laurentiis offering in a recent edition of USA Weekend Magazine. If you’d like to take a peek at it, follow this link, then scroll to page 3 to see Giada’s Spiced Cocoa recipe: http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20101112/FOOD04/11140317/Gifts-from-the-kitchen

Now, I’m a big fan of Giada, but I wasn’t crazy about the recipe. To begin with, we’d rather not have cayenne in our cocoa. I know it’s a trendy thing, but out here in the flyover states, we like our spicy foods with margaritas not chocolate.

Also, it wasn’t sweet enough. (Sorry, Giada, just calling it like I see it!) Not that we want cloying sweetness, but unsweetened cocoa powder needs sugar. Giada used brown sugar, but I’ve added some white sugar too-just enough to make a difference. If you are into the whole pepper thing with chocolate, add a pinch of whatever lights your fire, but otherwise, this ought to be indulgence enough of any wintery night!

FYI: Give it as a Gift! One batch of this, in a jar, with a little baggie of mini-marshmallows attached would make a nice housewarming gift for the holidays. Or, if you are so inclined, accompany it with something that has a little more kick; think cinnamon schnapps or Baileys!

Homemade Hot Cocoa

Mix the following three ingredients altogether in a bowl:

1 cup dark brown sugar (Giada didn’t say if you should use dark or light, but my philosophy is always that, if you’re not using dark, why are you using brown sugar to begin with? You want the deep brown sugar taste and dark is the way to go!)

1 cup Cocoa (Giada says Dutch-processed, which would be great but can be pricey. I used Hershey’s and it’s plenty tasty by me!)

1/3 cup white sugar (adds just enough extra “Yum factor”, aside from bringing out the chocolate taste.)

Heat :

1 cup milk in a small pitcher or bowl on the beverage setting of your microwave (warning, if you use 1% it will taste ‘thin’. I mixed 2/3 cup 2% milk with 1/3 cup half-and-half....but it’s totally between you and your cholesterol count!)

Add

2 Tb. Cocoa Mix and stir well (a small whisk is great here).

Pour into a cup and, if you are so inclined, top with mini-marshmallows, whipping cream, perhaps a sprinkle of cinnamon or add a splash of a favorite liquor-whatever brings back happy cocoa memories-and enjoy!

Okay, kids, this is the recipe I’m sending in the next care package, along with cookies for dipping, of course!

Pie Crackers (Pie Crust Trilogy Part II) (YF)

Time for part two of what I am calling our Pie Crust Trilogy! So, you’ve mastered last week’s pie crust? Or maybe you are just thinking about giving it a try (be brave!), but aren’t sure what to actually do with it once it’s made. Well, I’ve got a scrumptious apple pie recipe coming up soon, but first, here’s something VERY easy, fun and yummy to do with your crust.

Pie Crackers are a sweet cookie-like treat made with the dough that’s left over after you put a pie together. This is a family recipe, handed down from Grandma to Mom to me, so I can't pick on the creator of this recipe without getting into trouble! Your family may have something similar-it’s not Rocket Science! I’ve been known to make them all on their own, too. They are super easy, kids can help (just in case you have some that may stray into the kitchen while you're baking), and everyone loves to eat them-they never seem to last long.

We’ll start with the dough, all made and ready to go!

Pie Crackers (YF)

If you made the pie crust for TWO crusts, use only half. If you have made a pie, squash your leftover dough back into a ball.

First, set your oven for 450 degrees and your rack in the center of the oven.

Roll your dough out on a floured surface as you would for a pie crust. The nice thing here is you don’t have to worry about making a nice circle to go into your pie pan. Square, rectangle, circles-whatever you come up with is fine. Aim for a uniformly thin sheet of dough. For pie crusts you want approximately 1/8 inch thick. Think the same here, however, if you tend to like crispier cookies, you can go a bit thinner (caution-they cook faster!). Once you’ve baked a sheet of these, you’ll have a good idea what you like best!

Cut the dough into squares (ragged edges are good-sometimes very good once cooked!) and again, no rules on shapes here. You could use cookie cutters, but this is thin dough, so save some patience for transferring the pieces to the baking sheet.

Tip: You may want to do a test run with only 2-3 pieces on the baking sheet the first time, if you are at all anxious about how quickly they brown up. This will give you some added confidence, too. Always a good thing!

Speaking of which...transfer the pieces to the baking sheet! You can spray your baking sheets with non-stick spray (i.e. Pam) or line them with foil if you like, but I like to line my baking sheets with parchment paper, rather than place cookies directly on them. This may seem like a pain-and an added expense. But honestly, once you start doing this, you’ll love it! Cookies cook up better-brown better on the bottom, never stick, and you don’t have to wash the sheet! If you are neat and tidy (which really, these particular goodies aren’t!) you can even use the paper 2 or 3 times!

Brush each cracker with a small amount of milk-just enough to wet the whole surface. (FYI...you should have a pastry brush that you ONLY USE for sweet things. Don’t let anyone put BBQ sauce on the chicken legs with your pastry brush or your pastries might eventually start to have a little savory, garlic scent-yuck!)

Sprinkle each piece with sugar, about a teaspoon per cracker--use your fingers! It will look like a lot, but it isn’t. Ultimately, this is one of those things you will tweak over time, depending on how sweet you like your Pie Crackers, but this is a good place to start. (During the holidays, you can mix colored sugars 50/50 with regular sugar.)

Next, sprinkle each piece with cinnamon. Don’t get too heavy handed, but don’t be shy either. You’ll get the hang of it. 2-3 shakes per cracker.

Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, after that, bake at 1-2 minute intervals but WATCH THEM! Don’t leave them unattended toward the end. There’s a lot of sugar on those babies, and sugar is just waiting to reach the appropriate temperature so it can burn! When you see them browning with a slight carmelization on the thinner edges, it’s time to pull them! If you have some pieces that are thinner than others, they will brown up faster. Those you may want to remove and put on a rack to cool, while putting the sheet back into the oven a little bit longer for the rest.

Altogether, depending on how hot your oven is (yes, don’t let that official temperature fool you, some ovens run hotter than others) you are probably looking at 7-8 minutes total.

Cool on a rack--careful, don’t taste yet-that hot sugar can burn your tongue!

Once cooled, these are great after school with milk, or in the morning with coffee or well...anytime really.

You’ve done it! I’m so proud. :)