It’s getting cold here and even colder in other areas, like 9 degrees in Orwigsburg Pennsylvania, I hear. I dedicate this post to my friend who now lives there and is missing the wet sloppy days of an Oregon winter. She needs cocoa!
I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to my hot chocolate. Not too bad though; I don’t require the finest in cocoa powder, but I won’t bother to drink it if it’s made with water. I’m of the sentiment that if I’m going to eat something decadent I don’t mind putting in a little bit of time to make it really worth my while and with the extra few minutes it takes, I leave out calories, additives and preservatives.
Looking at the label on a container of Nesquik it lists more than 7 ingredients, some artificial. For an 8 oz. cup they recommend 2 tablespoons at 60 calories. My container of Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa lists one ingredient: cocoa. 1 tablespoon is 10 calories. Since I use 1 heaping teaspoon, I’m generously figuring 8 calories. Add the 15 calories for the one teaspoon of sugar and I’m up to 23. Pretty good. I guess all those additives add calories too. Yuck!
Here’s the way I make cocoa. I’ll admit it takes up to 3 minutes to make, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Warm 1/4 cup half and half in microwave for 20-30 seconds. Add 1 heaping teaspoon of natural unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir with a whisk. It will take a bit of time to break up the fine cocoa powder. It wants to float on top; just keep mixing. It really only takes about a minute. Fill the mug with milk and put back in the microwave for about 90 seconds. Keep an eye on it, you don’t want to scald it. For extra decadency add a marshmallow during the last 30 seconds.
Note: I use 1% milk so I suppose if you are using whole milk you could just skip the 1/2 and 1/2. But start with the 1/4 cup of warm milk and the whisking process.
For added cocoa fun check out the Beekman Boys take on cocoa from around the world!
Stay Warm!
Sounds so much better than the hot chocolate packets I use. I'm going to try this next time. Sounds yummy!
Posted by: Bonnie MacDougall | 01/04/2012 at 05:07 PM