Make Your Own - Peppermint Hot Chocolate!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: 5 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!

Hey everyone! Today I'm back to share with you my Peppermint Hot Chocolate Recipe! If you read on my October 2012 Favourites, you would have know that I love love love (emphasizes on LOVE) Peppermint. And back then my favourite drink is the Starbucks Christmas Specials, Peppermint Mocha Frappe. Well, I still love them, but I feel like it's the kind of drinks that I would splurge on once in a while but not everyday! Then I found many Peppermint Mocha or Hot Chocolate Recipes, and I decided to try making my own by combining the both recipes that I've came across! 

So the recipe I'm going to share today is something you might already have seen else where but with slight changes I've made! Click on the jump to find out how to make your very own Peppermint Hot Chocolate!

First up, the ingredients and tools that you're going to need!

• 1 mini bar of Peppermint Dark Chocolate
• 1 Peppermint Candy Cane
• 1 1/2 Cup of Milk (The milk may evaporate during the process of heating)
• 1 Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder
• A Stirrer/ Spoon
• A small pot
• A meat pounder (or any thing else you can find that helps to smash your candy cane)
• A Zip-Lock Bag
• Knife and Chopping Board

Note: the following recipe is of according to 1 serving size, do multiply accordingly if you are preparing more & I'm not quite of a sweet tooth hence I'm using dark chocolate and semi-sweet Cocoa Powder, you may use regular milk Chocolate if you prefer a sweeter taste to it!

Alright, let's begin! 

First Step: Preparation of the Peppermint Candy Cane. Unwrap any wrapping plastic and place it into a Zip lock bag.

Using a meat pounder, gently pound your Candy Cane until it becomes small bits and powdery (like in the picture below).

Second Step: Prepare your Chocolate Bar. I'm using Whittaker's Rich Dark Peppermint Chocolate Mini Bar here.

Using a knife, chop your chocolate bar into small bits or thin flakes (like in the picture below) for it to fasten the melting process.

Third Step: Pour about 1/4 to 1/3 of your cup of milk into a pot and heat it up over small to medium heat. (Caution: do not over boil your milk!)

Stir your milk in a single direction while waiting for it to heat up.

Fourth Step: Add in the chocolate bits or flakes when your milk has already been heated up. Stir together.

Continue to stir until the chocolate has completely melted.

Fifth Step: Add in Cocoa Powder after your chocolate has completely been dissolved. You might want to sieve your cocoa powder otherwise it will take a longer time to be dissolve if it's in chunks.

Sixth Step: When all chocolate and cocoa powder has been dissolved into the milk, pour in the remaining milk and stir.

Seventh Step: Pour in the crushed Peppermint Candy Cane into the Chocolate Milk and stir until it completely dissolves. (This usually takes a few seconds only)

Last Step: Once you're sure that everything has been dissolved, turn off your heat and pour your Peppermint Hot Chocolate into your favourite Christmas Mug!

Bonus Step: If you wish to, add whipped cream on top of your Peppermint Hot Chocolate and sprinkle some Cocoa Powder with your crushed Candy Canes! You may even add marshmallow! I ran out of marshmallow when I was making my Peppermint Hot Chocolate *Sad Face* also, I'm not a big fan of whipped cream so I'll just stop at the last step.

And now, you have your very own Peppermint Hot Chocolate!

Alternatively, you can also add in espresso to make your very own Peppermint Mocha or replace your Dark/ Milk Chocolate with White Chocolate to make your very own White Peppermint Chocolate! On days that are less cooling, I put my Peppermint Chocolate into the fridge and wait for it to become cold and it surprisingly taste like the Peppermint Mocha Frappe I love from Starbucks!

If you have tried out my Peppermint Hot Chocolate, or made Hot Choco of your own recipes, do tweet me a photo of it with the hash-tag of #Acirehotchoco and/ or #XmasCountdown! Do you have any favourite drinks during Christmas? or Hot Chocolate Recipes? Let me know, leave me a comment below!

Disclaimer: This is not a Sponsored post. All products mentioned in this Blog post are purchased by me. All opinions belongs to me!

Xoxo,

Acire ♥