South Beach Hot Chocolate

Tired of buying the little packets of Swiss Miss Sugar Free hot chocolate, I figured it was high time I make my own.  Aside from being simple, (I mean what - cocoa, Splenda, and nonfat milk powder right?), it has the added bonus of no weird ingredients I can't pronounce (for the most part).  How hard can it be?  I started here and was off and running.
Now, this is a giant batch because I have a big old container and really, what else am I going to do with powdered milk?
This can easily be made non South Beach by using regular sugar.

6 cups nonfat dry milk
1 3/4 c Splenda (go for the full 2 cups if you have a sweet tooth)
1 cup*  of unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)
1 (2.1 ounce - the big one) package of fat free/sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix

Combine all ingredients in a container and shake well until combined - it takes a while, keep shaking.  It's better than stirring though, unless you wanted to breathe this stuff in.

Add 3 tablespoons to a mug and fill with hot water.  Stir until combined.

Add a pinch of salt for salted chocolate; a pinch of cinnamon for Mexican hot chocolate; or a shot of Sugar Free Peppermint Syrup for a Snuggler without the buzzy feel good feelings.  Top with Sugar Free Cool Whip (or marshmallows if you're not going South Beach and you used regular sugar instead of Splenda - lucky).

* I tasted it with 1 cup of cocoa powder and wanted more chocolate oomph.  I added another 1/2-3/4 cup or so.  I think it's great, but the boy roommates are politely letting me know without actually saying so, that it is very chocolatey.  Maybe TOO chocolatey.  Pshaw.  As if.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Once upon a time, a guy I was seeing and I went down to Bittersweet Cafe on Fillmore and it was love at first sight.  The moment he saw "peanut butter hot chocolate" on the menu he knew he had to have it.  Of course, it took much longer before he professed his love to me, but in all fairness I'm not the delightfully sweet and salty combo of chocolate and peanut butter.  Well, I might be sweet sometimes, and salty at others, but, oh you get it.  I'll stop.
But now, tragedy of tragedies - Bittersweet has CLOSED and we are left peanut butter hot chocolateless.
Well this simply won't do.  Where will my darling get his annual dose of 80,000 calories in 8 ounces of thick, salty-sweet liquid bliss?  I'm tempted to rewrite that given how awful it sounds, but it's true, and funny in that sexual innuendo way that I enjoy so much, so it gets to stay.
A quick tour of the interwebs brings up plenty of "well, duh" type recipes for just such a concoction, so never fear.  We are saved!!!!
We are also saved from my wondering if I were to combine some milk with some peanut butter cups and stick it to my immersion blender, whether or not it would work.

Wasabimon features her own (gluten free!) labor of love here.
This shandy cat snagged a recipe from a cookbook and posted it for the world to see (much to the dismay of the cookbook author one would imagine) for a frozen version.
And the good folks over at food.com were kind enough to publish EXACTLY what I would've tried, without requiring the trial and error process of not enough/too much/just right amounts of peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
1 or 2 packets of your favorite hot chocolate mix (back when I was a lifeguard a coworker taught me to use twice the powder with the same amount of liquid and I have never looked back)
some nice hot milk - you pick the fat level - me, I'm going low in order to make up for all those other calories
1 tbsp of creamy peanut butter

Empty the packets into a mug, pour in milk and stir well.  Add peanut butter and stir some more until the peanut butter is melted.
Top with whipped cream and maybe even little pb cup crumbles if you're feeling skinny.

It's Snuggler Season!!!

So what if The Spir.It calls it a Peppermint Kiss.  I'll forgive them - I mean, tis the season afterall.  Some festive Peppermint Schnapps cocktails for your tree trimming festivities.  The Peppermint Stick looks awfully close to the drink I made for my birthday one year, dubbed the Candy Cane.
Maybe I will make that batch of homemade Peppermint Schnapps after all, and not just stick to Kahlua. 


Peppermint Twist
1 oz Peppermint schnapps
1 oz Coffee liqueur (Kahlua)
1/2 oz Dark creme de cacao

Combine in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Peppermint Stick
1 oz peppermint schnapps
1 1/2 oz white creme de cacao
1 oz light cream

In a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice, combine and shake the schnapps, creme de cacao, and cream. Strain into a champagne flute, garnish with a candy cane.

Peppermint Kiss
3/4 oz Peppermint schnapps
5 oz Hot cocoa
whipped cream

Combine cocoa and schnapps in an irish coffee cup or mug, garnish with whipped cream.

DIY Peppermint Schnapps
Recipe adapted from Epicurious
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups water
2 1/12 cups brandy
3 drops peppermint oil

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved. Stir in the peppermint oil. Cool until luke warm, stir in brandy. Seal in a bottle or airtight container.