Recipe Redo: Delicious Hot Chocolate

Five Little Chefs – Recipe Redo: Delicious Hot Chocolate

In my attempt to help my Little Chefs learn from their mistakes in life, we frequently discuss what could have been said or done next time to obtain a better outcome. This has spilled over into our cooking. I do mean “our” because when I cook a meal its usually Little Chef A that will say, “probably if you did ….. next time it would be better.” She says this matter of factly without me even asking for opinions!
When Little Chef A first made Delicious Hot Chocolate I could tell the wheels were turning in her mind. I figured this would be wonderful for a Recipe Redo. They all mentioned how chocolatey it was in a way I knew they weren’t so pleased with it but were trying to be nice. We discussed it a bit over the last few days to figure out a way to make it less chocolatey. It was decided to replace the semisweet chips with milk chocolate chips. Not half and half, but replace all!

The results this time were SO much more positive! Everyone enjoyed this version much better. Here are some comments.

From Little Chef A

“It tastes sort of like a brownie.”
“Its less of a chocolately flavor then before.”
“I like this one better.”
“It doesn’t make me feel that chocolatey sick.”

From Little Chef C

“It’s not so chocolatey as it was.”
“I like it when you put marshmellows in it.”
“It is very good.”

Little Chef D didn’t want to comment, but she drank it all having a most enjoyable time filling her cup with as many marshmellows as would fit!

Delicious Hot Chocolate

Ree Drummond

Ingredients

2 cups Milk
2 cups Half-and-half
1 cup Good Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon Sugar (optional)
VARIATIONS: Orange Rind, Orange Syrup, Cinnamon Sticks, Raspberry Syrup, Abuelita Chocolate, Mint Extract, Peppermint Patties, Whipped Cream, Chocolate Shavings

Preparation Instructions

To make the basic hot chocolate, combine milk with half-and-half in a small saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat, then stir in chocolate chips. Stir until melted (though there will still be lovely particles of chocolate throughout.) If it’s too chocolatey for you, splash in a little more milk. If it’s not quite sweet enough for you, add 1 teaspoon sugar. Serve in mugs with whipped cream.
VARIATIONS
Orange Hot Chocolate: Add 4 slices of orange rind as you warm the milk mixture. Add a splash of orange syrup if you have it, but it isn’t necessary.
Raspberry Hot Chocolate: Add 3 tablespoons raspberry syrup to the hot chocolate. Drop a couple of raspberries into each cup.
Mint Hot Chocolate: Drop 1 to 2 miniature peppermint patties into each mug before adding hot chocolate. Stir to melt.
Mexican Hot Chocolate: Substitute 2 discs of Abuelita chocolate for the chocolate chips. Simmer cinnamon sticks in the saucepan with the hot chocolate. Add 1 cinnamon stick to each mug before serving.
Garnish any and all variations with whipped cream or chocolate shavings.