This year I decided our neighbor & teacher holiday gift would be homemade vanilla hot chocolate. I figured it would be easier than making and decorating oodles of cookies. I was wrong. Well, only because I QUADRUPLED the recipe. And ended up having to grind about 10 pounds of chocolate. With a Cuisiniart mini-prep. Yeah, it was a feat.
BUT…the vanilla hot chocolate is delicious! And a fun, unique gift to give friends for the holidays! You’ll find the recipe at the bottom of this post.
A few quick notes. I have a Cuisinart mini-prep, which is what I used to grind the chocolate. It works fine…but if you DO have a bigger food processor, use it!
This is the recipe I used the vanilla beans for. I saved the sugar-coated bean pods after I was done making the vanilla sugar…I figure I can use them in other recipes, even though the seeds are gone.
If you plan on making TONS and TONS and TONS like I did…you’re going to need BIG bowls. I ended up having to use three giant bowls and mixing all the ingredients between the three bowls, trying to evenly distribute the ingredients by mixing and remixing the contents of each bowl.
No matter what amount you make, be prepared to have chocolate coating your kitchen. Also, I wore a towel over my face because I was literally inhaling cocoa powder when mixing it all together. That all said, if you don’t double (or triple…or quadruple!) the recipe, you’re not going to run into any of these issues. 
Here was the final product. Aren’t they cute? I used some free gift tag templates from HP with matching ribbon.
Vanilla Hot Chocolate Mix
From Epicurious, makes about 10 cups
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split crosswise (see tips, below)
- 1 1/2 pounds high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 8 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process (see tips, below)
Place sugar in large bowl. Split half vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape seeds into sugar, and add pod. Work seeds in with your fingers. Cover snugly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.
In food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and milk chocolate until finely ground.
Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend.
Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.
To serve, Jane’s instructions: I heat 2 cups of milk over the stove and whisk in about 1/3 cup of the mix. You can also heat the milk in the microwave and it works…but the stove is a little better. If you like it richer, add more mix!
Jane Note: I used 16 oz mason jars and was able to put ~1 3/4 cups of mix in each jar. When I quadrupled the recipe, I filled 19 jars, plus a little left over.
Tips:
•Save the other half of the vanilla bean for another use, such as a second batch of vanilla sugar, which keeps indefinitely and can be used in baking, coffee, or simply to sprinkle on fruit or waffles.
•Dutch process cocoa has been treated with an alkaline solution, which gives it a darker color and less bitter flavor and makes it dissolve more easily.
Hello! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and then count on you to share your own! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
Yummy!! I will have to do this next year. I just didn’t get my act together early enough for these kinds of gifts this year. Did you make marshmallows? The ones in the photo kind of look homemade since they’re square.
Comment by Katie @ goodLife {eats} — December 15, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
I did make the marshmallows and if you come back tomorrow you’ll find out more about them!
Comment by Jane Maynard — December 15, 2009 @ 6:11 pm
Wow this is an awesome gift idea. Not enough time for me to get this done for Xmas but a great birthday gift for my friends!!!
Comment by Geraldine — December 15, 2009 @ 7:58 pm
You are a really nice neighbor/parent!
Comment by anne marie — December 15, 2009 @ 7:59 pm
[...] Maynard holiday gift this year was homemade vanilla hot chocolate. I decided to make homemade marshmallows to go with the hot chocolate because it sounded yummy and, [...]
Pingback by Homemade Marshmallows, a Fun Holiday Treat! | Make and Takes — December 16, 2009 @ 8:10 am
[...] Marshmallows over on Make & Takes Didn’t those marshmallows in yesterday’s hot chocolate look really yummmmmmy? Well, they ARE. And if you want them, be sure to read my post on Make & [...]
Pingback by This Week for Dinner – Weekly Meal Plans, Dinner Ideas, Recipes and More!: Homemade Marshmallows over on Make & Takes — December 16, 2009 @ 8:15 am
This is so neat! My honey and I have always talked about doing mixes for cookies and scones for the holidays but I think this one will top the gift giving list for next year… but we’ll definitely try it out before then! Happy Holidays
and Happy Birthday to your two munchkins!
Comment by BeccaV — December 16, 2009 @ 8:35 am
omg these looks fab!! i’ve been looking for a mix recipe that sounded good to me and i’ve finally found it! can’t wait to try this out!
Comment by ashley — December 16, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
How big are your mason jars and how much do you think one batch makes?
Comment by Melissa — December 17, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
Mmmmmmmmmm – these homemade marshmallows look like heaven. Glad to have found your blog from your contribution to makeandtakes
Comment by Margot — December 17, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
melissa, so glad you asked that! I just added that info into the post…I was going to include that info originally but forgot.
So, I got 16 oz jars…and I fit 1 3/4 cups of mix in each jar…and I filled 19 jars, with a little leftover for a 20th jar. That was with the recipe quadrupled.
Comment by Jane Maynard — December 17, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Thanks for the recipe at the tweet-up today! I’m super excited to try this!
Comment by Heather H — December 17, 2009 @ 6:07 pm
I can’t wait to make this! One question, how essential is the vanilla… I know, I know, “vanilla hot chocolate…” and all, but what about just plain “hot chocolate” if I omit the vanilla??? What do you think?
Comment by karen — December 18, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
I’m sure it will be just fine!
I haven’t had it without, but seriously, I’m sure it will still be great!
Comment by Jane Maynard — December 18, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
This is such a great recipe and gift idea!
Just made it right now and it is perfect and affordable.
I also added a little vanilla sugar, white chocolate, and cinnamon.
I made a dozen 8 oz. tins perfectly!
Thanks for the great recipe and gift idea Jane
Comment by Talia G — December 18, 2009 @ 10:15 pm
hey jane. i’m way late on this comment. after seeing you, i had to catch up on your blog. i gave away homemade marshmallows and hot chocolate to my neighbors for christmas this year, but i did cocoa blocks. it’s pretty much a square of chocolate ganache on a stick that you swirl in hot milk. they looked pretty (i wrapped them in candy wrappers), and tasted great. here’s the recipe if you ever want to try it:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cocoa-blocks-recipe
i’m going to have to try that epicurious recipe. it sounds divine.
Comment by Lindsay — December 31, 2009 @ 12:20 am
I’m so glad to know those came out! my sister-in-law just sent me the link and I thought that would be perfect for next year. MMMMMMM….
Comment by jane maynard — December 31, 2009 @ 10:16 am
[...] Homemade Vanilla Hot Chocolate from This Week for Dinner [...]
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