Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
108 comments » 
Hot chocolate is my absolute favorite cold-weather drink. I don’t drink coffee and things like tea, apple cider, eggnog, etc. definitely take a back seat to chocolate. I get it from Starbucks, at hockey games, at orchards, and I use mixes at home (my favorite is Land o’ Lakes Supreme). But for the longest time I’ve been meaning to try whipping up my own homemade mix to have on hand throughout the winter. And boy am I glad I did. This is some of the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. It’s thick, creamy and super chocolatey. Perfect for topping with whipped cream or mini marshmallows. And also perfect to give as holiday treats!
This is super simple to mix together and would be wonderful to package in festive baggies or jars to give as holiday gifts. The ingredients combine to make some absolutely excellent hot chocolate. The dry milk powder adds a sweet dairy flavor, especially when mixed together with the additional hot milk; the powdered sugar dissolves quickly and helps to thicken the hot chocolate; and the white chocolate gives it a creamy texture and amps up the chocolate flavor.
If you want to take the homemade hot chocolate gift giving a step further, you could make homemade marshmallows to add to the package (or of course enjoy yourself!).
Whether you give this away as a gift or keep it all for yourself, it’s certainly a wonderful treat for whoever gets to enjoy it!
One year ago: Date Nut Spice Bread
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
Yield: About 20 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1½ cups cocoa powder (Dutch-processed preferred, but regular okay)
1½ cups white chocolate chips (or chopped white chocolate)
¼ teaspoon saltDirections:
1. Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl. Working in two batches, pulse the ingredients in a food processor until the chocolate is finely ground. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
2. To make hot cocoa, put 1/3 cup of the cocoa mix in a mug and stir in 1 cup of hot milk. Top with whipped cream or miniature marshmallows.
(Recipe adapted from Cook's Country)
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What a great idea! I’ve always wondered how to make homemade hot cocoa mix
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SweetCarolyn on December 30th, 2012 at 3:45 am
I think this is a bit above normal cocoa since it has white chocolate in it and you also make it ith milk. Probaby pretty special stuff. I saw a mug for one mix that had the mix inside with marshmallows on top (mini) and had 4 peppermint sticks. It made 4 cups though instead of 3 cups. Will have to find out how the chocolate blends in my Vitamix.
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Gorgeous! I was thinkingof doing something similiar for Christmas!
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I like the idea of adding powdered sugar instead of granulated. I just made some homemade hot cocoa yesterday with regular sugar, and while delicious, it was definitely not thick.
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I love this mix. I have a question though, how do you think I would fare using couverture chocolate? That is all that I have ATM.
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Michelle on December 10th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Hi Jason, Is it in powdered form? If so, I think it would just fine. Couverture chocolate is usually extra creamy so I think that would be great in this.
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I love sounds of this! Making/giving homemade gifts is the best in my opinion! It’d be fun to make homemade marshmallows to give with this homemade mix
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Yummy! Thanks for the recipe, this looks great!
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I agree 100% about the Land o’ Lakes! I like some of their other flavors like mint and raspberry too. Now I will have to try homemade!
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I have to make this in Christmas!! For give to my father… and also for me!!
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mmm this hot cocoa sounds especially delicious with the white chocolate chips! i’ll be making this ASAP
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Lovely gift idea and I think the white chocolate chips in the mix is fabulous!
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Thanks for the recipe…someone had given us something like this years ago and I had lost it:)
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That mix looks awesome. I have never seen a homemade hot chocolate mix with white chocolate in it before, I am going to have to give it a try.
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Thanks so much for sharing this! I ran out of hot chocolate the other day and I considered making my own mix but didn’t want to mess it up. Now I know all the ingredients and I’m sure this will be better than the packaged stuff.
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Mmm, I love hot chocolate and this sounds yummy! I am definitely trying this recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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My girls made this when I was a Girl Scout Leader! They loved measuring and stirring, then packaging it into little jars that they had decorated in a prior meeting. An excellent idea!!! Haven’t thought of it in years, so glad you reminded me!
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This looks delicious!!! Just the thing for when you’re under the weather!! Hope you feel better soon!!
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This sounds divine! I cannot wait to make it. Although 1/3 cup mix per 1 cup of milk seems like a lot! Other recipes I have seen use 2 Tbsp. What is the reason for this?
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Michelle on December 10th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi Erin, Reason is probably to make it nice and rich. I actually measured the store-bought packets that I had (Ghiradelli and Land o’ Lakes) and they were both around 1/4 cup, so just a tad more than those.
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Erin on January 6th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
I made it and it was divine!!
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I love this recipe…I have a friend who only drinks hot chocolate and this would be a perfect home made gift for her. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks!
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Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing it
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I have a cup every day it’s cold. =) I love this!!!!
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Looks so cozy! I could use a cup now, it’s freezing up here in N.E. Pa !!
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i love edible gifts! so much fun to give and receive! xoxo
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I saw a recipe on allrecipes very similar that I keep intending to make but then promptly forget. I think this mix would be so cute in a mason jar with ribbon and a miniature candy cane. So easy and Christmassy!
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mmm ok time to go make a cup! yum!!
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I also love hot chocolate and always make mine on demand on the stove however, this is a good idea to have on hand in case of emergencies:)
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yummy and adorable!
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Wonderful for gifting!
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Oh I love this. Brings back 4-H memories. Great gift idea! Love that shot with the whipped cream and candy canes.
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This is such a great gift idea for a chocoholic. Hot chocolate makes the cold days seem so much better. Now, if you added a shot of Bailey’s I’d be in heaven.
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delicious festive
happy holidays
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I have been scouring the internet for about a week trying to find the perfect recipe for hot cocoa mix to give as gifts this year! After deciding that i just didn’t have the funds to buy “traditional” gifts for friends and family, I decided on homemade hot cocoa mix, homemade marshmallows, and iced personalized sugar cookies.
The sugar cookies are frozen and waiting to be iced, the perfect peppermint marshmallow recipe is standing by. This is what I have been waiting for. Thank you for taking the guess work out of finding a recipe!
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Robyn on December 10th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Mmmm…peppermint marshmallows? Please send me the recipe!
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brenda on December 8th, 2012 at 12:57 am
I know its been a couple years since this post,but I hoping someone sees this that had the recipe for the peppermint marshmallows…
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tara on December 11th, 2012 at 6:28 pm
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2012/12/05/homemade-peppermint-marshmallows/
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All you need are Homemade Marshmallows to go with this! Scurry on over to my blog for recipe and pictures! YUUUUUMMMMMMMM!
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I don’t like coffee either and tea just blah. I’m much more of hot chocolate lady.
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All the taste, none of the preservatives! Great recipe, and super simple!
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I’m just the same, I don’t drink coffee. I love starbucks hot chocolate! I should give your homemade stuff a try, it will come in handy when it’s too cold to leave the house!
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What a delicious, warming treat! This would be perfect for Christmas eve with the family, dont you think?
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Yum. This looks so thick and creamy! Great gift idea!
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I could use a mug to warm up. Great gift too!
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I just love homemade gifts like these; this is a great one to add to my collection! Can’t wait to try it!
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What a fun gift for Christmastime. I’ll bet this tastes loads better than anything you might buy at the store.
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This recipe sounds so lovely. Since it is made with powdered milk, could you not make it with water vice milk? I am always looking for ways to have my hot chocolate and fewer calories!!! Thanks
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This would be such a nice homemade gift to give during the holidays!
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I just made a batch of this last night, I was supposed to be making it for gifts…. But we haven’t been able to stay away. It’s delicious and so creamy. I can’t believe how smooth and creamy this is! I’m making my 2nd big batch right now. Thanks for sharing:)
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Michelle on December 12th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
You’re welcome! I’m also in awe of how wonderful it is! No more store-bought mixes for me!
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I’ve been looking for a good hot cocoa mix recipe to go with some homemade marshmallows for gifts. Glad I stumbled across yours. Looks lovely!
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What a great idea! Definitely a quick holiday gift!
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Hi! Can i make this without the dry milk powder??
Just sugar and cocoa, will it be good?
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Michelle on December 16th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Hi Senja, The dry milk powder is actually a key ingredient. It helps to thicken and flavor the hot cocoa. If you can’t find it you can try substituting powdered coffee creamer, but you need some type of cream-producing powder ingredient.
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I made this recipe today and it was great. The only problem I had was getting the choc ground fine enough. I’m wondering if a small chopper would work better next time. My food processor is really old and just didn’t quit get the job done. Out of all the recipes of hot cocoa mix I have made over the years, this one was the best.
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Hi there, I’m visiting from A Southern Fairytale, who linked to your hot chocolate recipe this week. What a fantastic recipe – it sounds just delicious. I can’t wait to give it a try
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LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!
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Fantastic recipe, thank you! The powdered sugar and white chocolate made a lovely creamy texture and dissolved quickly. The only thing I changed was to add another half cup of cocoa, because I prefer my hot cocoa with a 1:1 sugar: cocoa ratio. Perfect!
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Quick question on this…….do you use instant non-fat milk powder with this or the non-instant kind? I have both, but didn’t know which you use. I am also a lover of hot chocolate along with my daughter but don’t like all the junk in the store bought mixes. I have a recipe I use, but don’t really LOVE it. This sounds like it might fill the HUGE gap in my winter beverage recipes.
Thanks
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Michelle on August 18th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Hi Heather, I’m pretty sure it’s the instant kind. I get it in the baking aisle, near where the evaporated and sweetened condensed milk are found. It’s in a white box.
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This sounds divine! I want to give this as gifts this Christmas but one of my sister’s prefers using water instead of milk for her hot chocolate. Has anyone tried this recipe stirring the mix into water instead of milk?
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Sharon on December 4th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Hi Erica,
I just made it this morning with water since I’m out of milk ATM. Works fine. I have a big mug and added a capful of vanilla to the mix in the cup.
I also put all the ingredients in a ziploc bag to mix them. This is another option.
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hey, i think the chocolate flavor is too bold. is there some way i could make it a little sweeter?
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Michelle on December 1st, 2011 at 6:33 pm
You could try increasing the powdered sugar if you’d like yours sweeter.
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matt grenier on December 2nd, 2011 at 6:45 am
thanks. now i have something easy to make that tastes great for christmas!
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I’m allergic lo white chocolate, seeing how it isn’t even chocolate. I was wondering if I should just leave it out or substitute with something else?
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Michelle on December 10th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Hi Danae, I haven’t tried omitting it, but I would probably substitute milk chocolate chips. It accounts for a significant amount of the mix, so I don’t think I would leave that much volume out completely.
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I just tried a half recipe of this today, since I wanted to test it out before making a huge batch. SO good!!! I tried one cup made with whole milk and one with water. Obviously, the milk one tasted better. But after adding about 1/4 C (or maybe a little more?) powdered milk to the water cocoa, it tasted about as good as the other one! So, a more frugal approach for some might be to use extra powdered milk when you’re actually making a cup (rather than in the mix itself). I think I also might try dark chocolate chips instead of white chocolate to make a richer, less sweet version.
A really, really great mix, though! It tasted superb with our homemade peppermint marshmallows. This will make a great gift this Christmas/Chanukah!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing!
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I did a quick search and found your recipe. I love your blog and all your recipes so I was excited to see your recipe at the top of the list. Sharing on my blog tomorrow with a link back to yours. Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes!!
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Thanks for this!
I made this recipe last year from the Cook’s Country mag but have since lost the clipping.
I got rave reviews on this mix (which is why I’m repeating) and with the ease of prep, I can get it done with my active little boy around.
Love your site!
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What if you don’t have a food processor? Can you just whisk this mixture & it will still be ok?
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Michelle on December 16th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Hi G, You can whisk, but then I would very finely chop the white chocolate and stir it in.
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Ok, thank you. What if I found some miniature white chocolate pieces?
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Michelle on December 17th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
They would have to be really small. You’d basically want it chopped small enough so that they’re basically shavings, so they melt easily.
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Laura on December 19th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
You can run white chocolate (or regular chocolate) over a cheese grater (or in a rotary grater if you have one) to get the shaved chocolate pieces without chopping.
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I just made this for a gift exchange but wanted to try it first and it was really good. I used King Arthur’s double chocolate dutch cocoa. Now to make the marshmallows hope they turn out as well.
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Do you have to use white chocolate chips or could I use milk chocolate chips?
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Michelle on November 26th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Hi Cameron, The cocoa butter in the white chocolate chips gives the hot chocolate a creamy texture. You could try the milk chocolate, I haven’t done so, so I can’t advise on what the result would be.
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How can I add a raspberry flavor to this? I need a raspberry hot chocolate mix. Would I just add kool aid mix?
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Michelle on November 29th, 2012 at 12:23 am
Hi Melissa, I don’t think I’d recommend Kool Aid. You can buy pure raspberry powder, which is what I’d recommend.
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Melissa on November 29th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Sounds good thank you. I read kool aid on another site and that didn’t sound good to me. Thank you. I will try that.
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Do you think I can use a blender instead of a food processor? That’s all I have right now!
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Michelle on December 2nd, 2012 at 11:08 am
Hi Nari, You could try pulsing with a blender. It should work, just not as easy as a food processor.
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if i were to make a cup for myself, how many tbsp of the mixture should i use?
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Michelle on December 5th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Hi Gem, Per the recipe above, you would use 1/3 cup of the mix with 1 cup hot milk for an individual serving.
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I don’t like coffee either! Never have! Love the smell though. People react like I have the plague when I say I don’t like coffee. I do, however, love hot chocolate. I will give this a try! Thanks.
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This is great. I have some great gift ideas.
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Made some yesterday and we each had a cup. Making some for xmas gifts! Yummy! Thanks! Next adventure is homemade marshmallows to go with it
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Can I use full fat milk powder? That’s all I can get here. Will that turn out horribly?
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Michelle on December 9th, 2012 at 10:37 am
Hi Lauren, No it shouldn’t. You just might want to make it with water instead of milk, so it isn’t too rich, but you can experiment with both.
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i was just searching homemade hot cocoa mix as presents for people, since i can’t afford to buy presents for all the wonderful people in my life, and i stumbled upon this little gem of yours. i made half a batch, just to try it out, and found it tasted like dark chocolate, which is just too bold for me, so i added more powdered sugar(like another cup) and it turned out great! i’m actually enjoying a cup of this mix right now, and i’m enjoying it immensely. i prefer it with milk instead of water, but since i’m out of milk i’m using water and it’s still delicious.
thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us all =D
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Just discovered your blog this week. Made the hot chocolate and the soft and chewy gingerbread cookies today. If I find some extra time this season I might tackle the mint marshmallows. Thank you for your great recipes.
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Just made this mix and some homemade marshmallows to give as gifts. My daughter and I gave the hot cocoa a whirl…so tasty! Great recipe. Thanks!
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Can I use skim milk powder? Because there is no non-fat dry milk powder in my place(country). Pls reply back(help)because I really really want to make hot cocoa mix.
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Michelle on December 16th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Hi Ruth, Yes, you could use skim milk powder here. Enjoy!
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Ruth Aňago Maclang on December 16th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Now I can make hot cocoa mix
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Ruth Aňago Maclang on December 17th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Thanks for your help!
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My daughter and I just made several batches-my kids LOVE it, personally I did not find it to be very creamy or rich or thick, but the kids we made it for are going to love it, thank you.
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I want to gift this and include a tag instructing how much to add to your mug and how much water. But it doesn’t say
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Michelle on December 20th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Hi Becca, The instructions on how to make hot chocolate from this mix are under #2 in the recipe above.
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Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this into a white hot chocolate mix and using no cocoa at all? I”m working on a recipe but do not have it perfected yet and would appreciate any suggestions from others. Hershey’s used to make a white hot cocoa mix but have discontinued it and Ghiradellis is just too expensive to buy all the time.
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Debi on December 26th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
I want to use hot water and not milk when making it also.
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Hello there… I came across your recipe while searching google for instant hot chocolate recipes. I know this is really late considering the posting time but what would I do if I don’t want to include white chocolate in this recipe?
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Michelle on January 9th, 2013 at 7:23 pm
Hi Missy, The white chocolate in the recipe is what helps to give it a smooth, creamy texture (thanks to the cocoa butter in white chocolate). I would replace it with milk chocolate, but do not omit it entirely.
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I used to make a recipe for ho chocolate when my children were aged 10 to about 17. They went through so much of it that they stayed healthy all year!! I never did have fruit tasting drinks. I liked the chocolate because it was also made with milk so it was healthy for them.. I think after a while=they got tired of it, maybe about 4 years. I see many improvements in this recipe so I do believe it will be good to go again now that they are all in their 40′s. I like the thick description of it. Thanks for the recipe!!!
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I’ve made two half-batches of this since November, and will never go back to store-bought hot chocolate. I’m enjoying a mug of it as we speak
Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Also – some people in the comments have had trouble zizzing the chocolate chips in the food processor. I just do them 1/4 c. at a time in the coffee grinder and within 10 seconds they’re reduced to a fine powder.
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Great recipe. I was looking for a homemade hot chocolate mix and I’m glad I found this one. For 1/2 the batch I replaced the white chocolate chips with Reeses peanut butter cups which turned out really well
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