Dairy Free,  Dessert,  Gluten Free,  Holiday,  Recipe,  Vegan,  Vegetarian

Edible Gifting Week #5: DIY Vegan Hot Cocoa Mix 4 Ways

I’m ending my series of edible holiday gifting ideas with #5, hot cocoa mixes! A cup of hot Cocoa is like the quintessential holiday drink. It’s an icon that everyone can associate with Christmas. Come on, who doesn’t love a hot cup of cocoa to sip on during the cold winter season?

I’m going to assume that you all just did a little cocoa dance, or at the very least are silently cheering with me for the wonderful creation that is sweet and cozy hot cocoa. Now, if you just mentally responded to the negative, then you’d better go find someone else’s parade to rain on because cocoa and I are really having a moment right now and it’s going to take a lot more than rude comments or pointless negativity to mess this thing up. Just sayin’.

I know it’s around the time of year where we’re all searching for the just the thing to get for everyone this Christmas. Well I have great news for you, this is it! Talk about the perfect gift. I mean, of course your friends and family can go out and by generic hot chocolate mix for themselves, but that’s just going to end in a disappointing cup of tasteless, watered-down, artificially flavored, dark colored liquid in a mug. And no, this is not an advertisement for kleenex to mop up all those tears. I’m just being (brutally) honest here.

 

But you can be super happy now because…..we’re havin’ cocoa tonight!!! It makes it taste even better when the person you give it to knows that you added lots of love to it. I couldn’t decide on just one flavor so I went with four different kinds because that’s what you get when you put indecisive with creative and a side of coo-coo-cachoo. So firstly, I really wanted to make this a more allergy friendly version of this classic gift so I picked up some powdered coconut milk so these could be dairy free,

A. there’s the Mexican Hot Cocoa! If you like a little extra heat to stay warm, it’s for you. I know this weirds a lot of people out, putting hot peppers in chocolate, but it’s amazingness guys. You’ve at least got to do it once. If you’re not a fan I totally get it, but at least you can rest in the knowledge that you’re not wasting a life’s worth of Mexi-cocoa when it would actually be your jam.

2, if you’re as crazy as I am about your peanut butter, then you really need to try the “Reese’s” Hot Cocoa because that one is kil-ler. I had the idea pop into my head when I was brainstorming for this post and I was like, Hey, why have I never had PB in my cocoa? Life changing moments those are. You can make your own peanut butter cups (I have a recipe here.) or use some like these store-bought peanut butter cups.

And D, For the peppermint/candy cane fans or those who secretly prefer vanilla, there is the Peppermint Hot Cocoa and following my Reese’s epiphany I decided to use some peppermint patties. You can buy them online -> chocolate peppermint cups.Although, I’m a diy kind of person so I made my own (Let me know if you guys think I should post that recipe some time, cause it’s so good and so fun to make for the holidays.)

Then there’s the good old classic hot cocoa mix for you purists with some chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.Although, I must admit I like traditional things too. Sometimes simple cocoa and marshmallows is exactly what you’re craving, you know?

This is definitely something you need to do. The internet is chock full of printable hot cocoa labels and I made some that you can print if you click the link below. Or you can of course just write them by hand. All you need to add is the instructions to put 4 to 5 tablespoons per 1 cup of hot milk or water.

-> Hot Cocoa Labels <-

 

Edible Gifting Week #: DIY Hot Cocoa Mix 4 Ways (Vegan + GF)

Give the gift of warm and cozy hot cocoa this season! Choose to make any (or all!) of these vegan flavors of DIY mix for that special someone.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 2-cup jars

Ingredients

Classic Hot Chocolate:

Peppermint Patty Hot Cocoa:

Reese's Peanut Butter Cocoa:

Mexican Hot Chocolate:

Instructions

  1. Layer ingredients for each mix in 2-cup jars, bottles, or desired container. Decorate with ribbons, yarn, or bows. You can also include extras such as chocolate spoons, cookies, small ornaments, candy canes, or pirouette cookies. Get creative and make them your own!
  2. Include the following instructions in a note or tag with jars:
  3. Instructions:

    Mix contents of jar together. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of mix per 1 cup of boiling milk or water. Makes 6 - 8 cups

 

(p.s. Bonus points if you got my holiday A,2,D reference!)



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