White Hot Chocolate is a vanilla variation of the classic winter drink. Warm and creamy, this mug feels like a special treat – and only takes about five minutes to prepare.
Hot chocolate of all kinds is our family go-to all winter. There’s nothing better than sitting down with a warm mug after playing in the snow! This version has a distinctly different flavor than it’s chocolate cousin, but is equally as well received.
Continue readingActual conversation I had with my four-year-old a few weeks ago:
J: Mom, I like cupcakes, but I don’t like icing.
Me: So you like muffins?
J: Yeah! I like muffins!
She had me rolling with laughter! But it also got me thinking about what else I could top cupcakes with – and these cupcakes were born out of that experiment.
These rich chocolate cupcakes are topped off with a layer of marshmallow and then covered with a crunchy, chocolate-peanut butter topping. You won’t miss the icing with these candy-topped treats!
Continue readingHave you ever made your own marshmallows? I don’t make a lot of my own candy – but marshmallows are the exception. The homemade version is so much better than anything you get in the stores.
They are the best in a mug of cocoa because they get so nice and melty and in the summer they’re awesome for roasting and s’mores.
Continue readingI really love seeing the blog series my friends do – and one of my favorites every year is The Spiffy Cookie‘s #PBChocSat. It’s a nod to her favorite college football team – the Buckeyes – and while I have no real interest in college football, I love anything that involves peanut butter and chocolate.
When she said she was getting a group together to kick off this year’s series, I just had to jump in on the fun.
One thing I’ve passed on to my kids is my love of cookbooks. They already have their own little stash that they love flipping through – and they love to pick out their own things to make.
I try to always say yes when they want to make something out of their books. Of course this one I said yes to before looking at the recipe.
This post is sponsored in conjunction with ChristmasSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the ChristmasSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.
There are two things my four-year-old is loving this season: hot chocolate and the Grinch. I combined the two for him in this fun, festive treat.
Welcome to #ChristmasSweetsWeek 2018 hosted by Terri from Love and Confections and Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures! What better way to celebrate the holidays than with food and a fun giveaway? 44 bloggers from around the country have come together to share over 180 sweet Christmas recipes!! Deck the halls and get ready for very merry sweet treats, like fudge, cookies, Christmas morning breakfasts, layer cakes, martinis, cocoa, and more! Our #ChristmasSweetsWeek sponsors are helping us give away some great prizes. Thank you so much, Sponsors, for your generosity. We have an incredible giveaway below and would love if you would take a moment to read about it and what you can win!
Note: I received complimentary products for this post. All opinions are my own.
I first made homemade marshmallows for Christmas a few years ago. They were amazing and I absolutely adored them floating in a mug of cocoa. And while vanilla marshmallows have been my go-to, I kept dreaming about chocolate ones.
Fluffy chocolate marshmallows floating in rich chocolate cocoa. Sounds heavenly, right?
It took a few tries to figure out how to make it work – trying to mix in cocoa powder never gave me the result I was hoping for but mixing the cocoa powder into a chocolate paste makes them just right.
I used gourmet baking cocoa from Choctoberfest sponsor Rodelle for this and it was such a great choice – the rich flavor is perfect for decadent marshmallows!
As we were sampling these, Jake requested making them into s’mores using chocolate graham crackers too – I’m pretty sure that will be our next project!
Chocolate Marshmallows
(a Kate’s Recipe box original)
Makes about 2 dozen
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. cocoa powder, divided (I used Rodelle Gourmet Baking Cocoa)
Vegetable oil
2 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 c. white sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
In a bowl, sift together the powdered sugar, cornstarch, and 1/4 c. cocoa powder.
Oil an 8×8″ baking pan with vegetable oil and then dust with powdered sugar mixture.
Mix remaining 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 2 Tbsp. hot water to make a paste.
In another bowl, put 1/2 cup cold water and sprinkle gelatin over. Set aside.
In a saucepan with a candy thermometer, combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cook until it reaches 240 degrees then remove from heat.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the gelatin mixture and beat for a minute, until broken up. Add the chocolate paste and beat until well incorporated. While the mixer is going, slowly pour the corn syrup mixture in. Beat on high for about 15 minutes, until thick and doubled in size.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cover top with more of the cornstarch mixture. Set aside overnight.
The next day, invert the pan to remove the marshmallows. Cut into squares and then roll in remaining cornstarch mixture to coat all sides. Stir in an airtight container.
You can see today’s other #Choctoberfest recipes here:
I’ve been in full-on declutter mode lately. My closet got a thorough purge a few weeks ago. Jake’s clothes got a big reorganization with all of his now-too-small things packed up into space bags into the basement. And this week, I’ve been working on the refrigerator and pantry. There are a lot of things I just need to use up (or accept that I won’t and throw them out).
I realized I had two, half-full containers of chocolate icing the other day. Which automatically meant I needed to try another version of the Reese’s fudge I posted last week. And in the pantry, I found some white chocolate peanut butter and leftover ingredients from the S’more Pizza. S’mores Fudge was the obvious choice. It came out delicious – Mark and I both agreed we liked this version better!
S’mores Fudge
(adapted from Reese’s Fudge)
Makes 1 pan
1 container chocolate icing
1 1/2 cups white chocolate peanut butter spread
Mini marshmallows
Crushed graham crackers
Line a small loaf pan with parchment.
Scoop the icing and spread into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and whisk until thoroughly combined. (Microwave in 15-second increments if it’s not melted enough.)
Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle mini marshmallows and crushed graham crackers over the top and press in slightly. Refrigerate for several hours before slicing and serving. Store covered in the refrigerator.