This hot cocoa mix is very easy to make at home and makes a great gift. Many variations available.
Ingredients
2 cups nonfat dry milk
1 cup granulated sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 dash salt
see note on variations, below
Directions
- Basic Mix:
- Combine ingredients and mix well. This mix makes 4 cups of dry mix. Depending on how many gifts you want to give with one batch, you can separate it into four 8-ounce jars or two 16-ounce jars, or a single 1-quart (1 litre) jar.
- Hot Cocoa Directions:
- Attach the following directions to the jar, so that your recipient can make their hot cocoa with the mix: “Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of mix to your favorite mug and fill with boiling water. Stir to blend. Add some marshmallows or cream.”
- Variations:
- Add mini-marshmallows to the mix (pictured). The marshmallows get hard and dry but soften when added to hot water.
- “Sand art” version. Do not mix the ingredients and layer them in the jar so that the jar shows different layers. If you do this, the instructions that you write out for your recipient must tell them to mix the contents of the jar. The photo shows a layer of marshmallows, a layer of the cocoa mix minus brown sugar, and a layer of brown sugar.
- Use flavored creamers such as Hazelnut, Irish Cream, or French Vanilla.
- Add a half package of Raspberry or Cherry unsweetened dry beverage mix (like Kool-Aid) to the cocoa mix. This can make it tart so test it and if necessary, add more sugar.
- Add one teaspoon of cinnamon to the cocoa mix.
- Make it sugar-free by adding the equivalent amount of a 1:1 sugar replacement.
- Single Cup / Trial Version:
- You can test a single cup version without having to make the entire mix:
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons non-dairy creamer
Notes
- Recipe contributed by Laurie Sausage, who adds: “We love Hot Cocoa and have tried many recipes! Laura, my daughter, has “tweaked” this recipe to become one of our favorite homemade hot cocoa recipes. It’s very easy to make at home or share as a gift in a jar for a friend!”
- Leslie Sausage is a freelance writer, mom and author of 100 Gift Mixes — Cocoa, Coffee, Tea and Cappuccino, an e-cookbook with variety of wonderful hot beverage mixes. For several years she ran the now-defunct Frugal Homemaker and Heart4Home websites (now offline).