The Conversation
The best part of the holiday season is putting on your coziest clothes and snuggling up to your loved ones with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate to keep you warm. Our twist on hot chocolate comes in the form of a candy-filled hot chocolate bar. This is great for any winter night in, but could also work nicely as a Christmas dessert when everyone is full from dinner.
Ingredients:
– hot chocolate
– chocolate chips or baking chocolate
– sprinkles
– whipped cream
Optional (choose whatever candies or toppings you like!)
– marshmallows
– peanut butter chips
– white chocolate chips
– york peppermint patties, broken up
– butterfinger, crushed
– cinnamon sticks
– nutella
– oreos, broken up
– Bailey’s
– Kahlua
First thing to do is to create your scrumptious chocolate-dipped spoons. First, put a bag of chocolate chips or baking chocolate into a small pot – we used a butter warmer. Add half a tablespoon of vegetable oil and cook on medium. Stir while cooking with a spatula. The consistency should be fairly thick, but smooth.
Dip your spoon in, shake off excess chocolate (the spoon should not be dripping), add sprinkles (or crushed candy cane, crushed Oreos, etc) and set down on parchment paper to cool. To speed up the process, you can place them in the fridge or freezer. If you don’t have time for this, use Nutella instead! For our hot chocolate day, we put finished spoons out on a plate but they also make great gifts if you wrap them in parchment paper with a ribbon.
Next, heat up your hot chocolate and set up your hot chocolate bar. When you make your hot chocolate, make it weaker than usual, since you’ll be sweetening it up with a cornucopia of sugary goodness.
For our fixin’s, we served Reese’s peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, broken up York Peppermint Patties, crushed Butterfinger, and marshmallows. We tossed the marshmallows in cinnamon and the tiniest bit of red chili pepper for a little kick. For drink stirrers, we used cinnamon sticks and our chocolate-dipped spoons, but candy canes would be perfect for making a drinkable Christmas dessert.
If you’re feeling like a little experimentation, heat up some caramel syrup and pour over whipped cream with a little bit of sea salt. So delicious.
For the grownups, add a little side bar with Kahlua and Baileys! And there you have it, a super simple, super sweet hot chocolate bar to add more than a little sugar to all your holiday festivities.
More From DIY Recipes
Back in January, we introduced you to a feel-good cause to inspire your New Year's resolution: a walking challenge to help raise funds for the amazing cancer fighters at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I took part in the challenge with the Brit + Co team and ended up walking 105+ miles in January — it was awesome.
This spring, there's a new challenge on the horizon, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Big Climb. The ask: On May 15, 2021, you can step up to take cancer down by committing to climb 1,311 steps, walking 3.2 miles, or doing 440 chair step-ups at home as part of the Big Climb. If you need some motivation to bring movement back into your daily routine — look no further!
As always, it's free to sign up, but climbers are encouraged to set a fundraising goal to help beat cancer. We'll be organizing another Brit + Co team to step up, and I hope you'll join us too! Keep scrolling for a peek at where I'll be completing the challenge in my Los Angeles neighborhood around the hidden Silver Lake Stairs. Happy climbing!
Never underestimate the power of an accountability buddy! I asked my in-laws, my partner, and a few friends to join me so we can keep each other motivated and accountable in completing the challenge — virtual high-fives all around! Also, my dog Fox is a great climber, too.
An aesthetically pleasing backdrop is a huge motivator for me! I'm fortunate to have all sorts of painted steps around my neighborhood to keep the challenge interesting, but you can also keep cool inside with at-home chair step-ups.
Don't forget to share your progress on social — #BigClimb!
Feel free to break the challenge up if you need to by tackling half the distance in the AM and half at sunset. Here's me 1,311 steps later and ready for a break — but, think I earned this one!
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