The weather has been so weird lately. One day it’s cold like winter, the next it’s kinda warm – then it rains. For days. Now let’s be clear, when the weather is a little warmer than it’s supposed to be, I’m not complaining. I’ve said it here many times: I can do without winter. I typically hibernate anyway because I really hate being cold. But if you want to know what makes cold weather a little more tolerable, I have a solution for you: whiskey hot chocolate.
Yeah, yeah, yeah – that may seem silly to some of you but trust me, it helps. First off: there’s nothing more comforting than a mug of velvety hot chocolate; add a little whiskey to it and it’s even better. Even though my disdain for winter is quite strong, I can easily forget about the ridiculousness of it all with a little whiskey. I mean, isn’t that how life is, though?
I say all of these things about winter but I recently discovered that I have an abundance of winter coats.I have no idea how or why that is. We live in the south and yes, sometimes it does get pretty cold here, but I’m not quite sure I need so many coats. So, I made the decision to go through my coats and organize/donate items in my coat closet (hello Marie Kondo). Actually, I can’t even say that Marie is the reason why. I thought about the need to do this way before her show popped up on Netflix. “Tidying Up” has just reinforced my need. Now I just need to get John on board with the art of tidying up.
How to: whiskey hot chocolate
Thanks for listening to my rant about needing to clean and get my life together. I’m sure I’ll continue to think about that while sipping some hot chocolate. Much like ice cream, I feel like you can’t be unhappy while enjoying hot chocolate. I mean, that’s scientifically proven, right?
Originally, I made this recipe with regular ol’ whole milk, which is totally fine if you’re into that. Lately, John and I have been enjoying oat milk (yep, we’ve become those people). We love it and have been using it in coffee, cereal and yep, hot chocolate. So as you gather the ingredients for this whiskey hot chocolate, consider a dairy milk alternative. I promise it’ll still be just as delicious.
The other thing with making hot chocolate at home (with or without whiskey) is to remember to have a little fun with the toppings. I chose marshmallows because they’re classic but you can try:
- peppermint
- whipped cream (homemade is best)
- chocolate shavings (you can never have too much chocolate)
- cinnamon sticks
Ingredients
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- 2 cups whole milk (or a non-dairy milk)
- 3 oz. whiskey
- Toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Add the cocoa, chocolate chips, sugar, chili powder and milk in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, whisk until the cocoa is dissolved and the chocolate chips have melted.
- Bring the hot chocolate to a steam (be careful not to let it boil). When it begins to steam, remove it from the heat.
- Add in the whiskey and pour the hot chocolate between two mugs and add toppings.
This recipe originally appeared on my cooking column at NOOGAtoday.
