Peppermint Crunch Hot Cocoa Mix - November Secret Recipe Club #Recipe

The weather has officially jumped from warm to miserable here and I am finding myself curling up in a chair with either a good book or my latest knitting project and a warm mug of something sweet.

Some days it has been chai tea, other days a homemade pumpkin latte, but this month a went for a peppermint and chocolate treat with my own hot cocoa mix.

I remember my Mom would make up a monstrous batch of cocoa and it was scooped out of a tall tupperware container with a red lid. It was simple, yet delicious. All I had to add was a mug of hot water and I was instantly warmed from the inside out.

Well, November's The Secret Recipe Club assignment pointed me to The Tasty Cheapskate's blog.

Jean has a great blog with many frugal and tasty recipes. Okay, I love to save money on meals... usually so I can splurge on new pans or kitchen gadgets, but I do value being smart about the food budget. While going through her recipes the Hot Cocoa Mix post caught my attention. It brought up memories of my Mom's mix. I knew instantly it had to be my November recipe.

I did take a few liberties with Jean's mix. Mine is probably no where near as frugal. I added a mix of cocoas, Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips and mini marshmallows - my family has to have marshmallows in their cocoa.

Package this up in mason jars with a festive muffin paper on top and holiday ribbon and you have a quick and easy present or hostess gift. The quart jars hold about 10 servings of cocoa and this recipe made enough to fill two. Or gift one and savor the rest of the batch for yourself. I won't tell.

All you need is a whisk or a blender. I prefer the blender to really get everything uniformly mixed, but work with what you've got.

Peppermint Crunch Hot Cocoa Mix

adapted from The Tasty Cheapskate

You Will Need:

• 3 c. sugar
• 3 c. instant dry milk powder
• 1/2 c. Ghirardeli Cocoa
• 1/2 c. Hershey's Cocoa, 100% Cocoa 'Special Dark'
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
• miniature marshmallows

To make the mix, place all the ingredients, except the peppermint baking chips and marshmallows, in a blender. Pulse until well pulverized and mixed. 

*You can also just whisk together the ingredients, but you won't have a uniform texture in the mix. The milk powder can contain bigger lumps. My mom's had lumps though and it tasted just as good.

To make the cocoa: Add 1/4 cup mix to 3/4 cup hot water. Stir to dissolve. Sprinkle the top with the miniature marshmallows and Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips.

For gifting: Layer the cocoa, peppermint chips and miniature marshmallows. I divided the mix between two jars and filled the rest up with the toppings. Decorate the jar and add a tag or label with the mix instructions.

Enjoy!

Now go check out the other blogs participating this week in The Secret Recipe Club: