Sunday, December 21, 2014

Homemade Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows

             A winter favorite for people young and old is hot cocoa with marshmallows. My family isn’t very adventurous when it comes to hot chocolate. We just buy the packets at the store and put some (also store-bought) marshmallows in it. I mean, I’m sure that’s what most people do but, if you’ve ever tried homemade hot cocoa you know that it’s 100 times better than what comes out of the packets.

 It’s pretty easy to make. All you have to do is add cocoa powder with sugar, vanilla, a little salt, and milk. The amount of ingredients varies depending on if you’re making enough for the whole family or if you’re just making enough for you to have. You can click here for instructions:



Hot chocolate is believed to have been invented by the Mayans 2,000 years ago. This type of beverage was an essential part of their lives and culture. Hot chocolate became popular in Europe by the Mexicans from the New World. Back then hot chocolate was even used by people to help their liver and stomach diseases. Never would I have imagined that hot chocolate would have been used medically. Since then, it has changed quite a bit, and is now a popular drink among Americans and people all over the world. One of the changes we’ve made to hot cocoa is adding marshmallows to it. Too bad the Mayans didn’t think of that!  

For me, waking up to hot cocoa on a snowy winter day would cheer me up, and definitely warm me up! Of course the marshmallows are my favorite part.  My best friend’s mom makes homemade marshmallows to go in their homemade hot chocolate. She cuts them out into little hearts and plops them right into their hot cocoa. They’re adorable and they taste wonderful!



If you want to make these super cute marshmallows you need to buy three packets of gelatin (unflavored), corn syrup, granulated sugar, kosher salt, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. There’s a link below that will take you to the recipe and tell you the details of making these marshmallows. Definitely don’t forget the powdered sugar! It’s the most important part. Without it you will have sticky fingers and sticky counters for the rest of the day!


Homemade is always better than the store bought stuff. It might seem like more work at the time but it’ll pay off. You can save money and it’ll taste better!


 

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