Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Kicking Off All Things Christmas: Peppermint Bark Hot White Cocoa

Ah, December – my absolute favorite month of the year! The weather’s finally cooler…and we celebrate Michael’s birthday, Christmas, and our wedding anniversary this month!! I like to get an early start on the festivities…I put out my Christmas decorations this weekend, and we decorated our tree tonight...complete with an ornament that reminds us of our Lucy-cat!

One of my favorite holiday flavors is PEPPERMINT, and I especially love peppermint bark! There’s just something special about creamy white chocolate topped with crunchy pieces of peppermint. A few days ago, I found myself wondering if there was a way to make hot chocolate that combines the flavors of peppermint bark – white chocolate and candy canes. I found a recipe online for hot white chocolate, so my little concoction was born: Peppermint Bark Hot White Cocoa.

This warm and tasty treat is super-simple to whip up with a few basic ingredients, and it literally tastes like a liquid form of my favorite holiday candy! It's chilly here in San Antonio tonight, so this was a great way to warm up and wind down after dinner. I poured my cocoa into a festive holiday mug and topped it with whipped cream and crushed peppermint. I found this cool container of crushed peppermints for sprinkling at my local grocery store.

I GUARANTEE that I’ll be finding lots of ways to use this fun and tasty decorative garnish on all sorts of holiday goodies in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This is certainly much easier than crushing candy canes in the food processor!!

The next time you feel that the holiday season is getting a bit too hectic, here’s what you should do: whip up a batch of this minty white cocoa, play some festive holiday music, put your feet up, and relax for a few minutes. Then you can get back to the seemingly endless to-do list of shopping, baking, wrapping, and other holiday plans…I promise they’ll still be there when your cocoa is gone!

Peppermint Bark Hot White Cocoa
adapted from Epicurious
Step 1: Add 2 cups 2% milk and 1 cup half and half to a medium saucepan. Turn the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.


Step 2: Whisk in 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips until they’re melted evenly into the milk. Add ½ tsp. peppermint extract and stir to combine.


Step 3: Ladle the cocoa into three coffee mugs. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle some crushed peppermint on top.


That’s it…it only takes about 10 minutes to put this tasty holiday treat together. This stuff is so good that you might feel a wee bit naughty for drinking it. But I promise Santa will forgive you and keep you on his "nice list"!! If you love peppermint bark, you’ll go crazy for this minty white cocoa!

21 comments:

  1. YES! This sounds amazing! What a clever idea -- Thankfully a grocery run is due, so I must make this today! :)

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  2. Love your ornament, and lights...so pretty.
    What a wonderful idea with the peppermint chips. I always had to crush my own.
    Nice little hoiday comfort cocoa treat...thanks for sharing, Wendy!

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  3. What an incredible idea! I LOVE peppermint and I LOVE white chocolate. I would have never of thought of combining the two in hot chocolate! I will definitely be making this soon. YUM! YUM! and YUM! :)

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  4. I've never had bark but I should! And this hot cocoa sounds just perfect. I can even serve these to my friends that cannot have or avoid regular chocolate...peppermint has to be my fave holiday flavor too!

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  5. I'm ready for the x-mas posts, I love the holidays and seeing everyones trees and yummy recipes like this is putting me in the mood!
    -Gina-

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  6. This totally sounds naughty! But delicious! I'm just getting started on my holiday decorations, love this time of year :)

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  7. Thanks...everyone has to splurge once in a while, right? We drink skim milk at Casa Garcia, so a 2% and half-and-half combo was really rich-tasting to us!! It's ok to be naughty once in a while, yes? That's my excuse when we go to Cheesecake Factory!

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  8. Oh I could go for a mug of this right now! I LOVE the entire Christmas season... and am making it my goal to not get caught up in all the worldly~ness of it. Maybe if we all drink a lot of this yummy drink, that will help! :)

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  9. Can I please have a mug of this? It is finally cool enough to enjoy something hot like this! December is my favorite month too. My birthday is in a couple of weeks and my parents celebrate their anniversary two days later. Thank you for sharing. Happy Hump Day!

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  10. @Monet - December is a big month for us too: Michael's birthday is 12/13, Christmas, our anniversary is 12/27, and my Dad's birthday is NY Eve! So...we're celebrating non-stop the entire month.

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  11. Oh my hubs loves loves (almost as much as me) peppermint bark. It's his favorite Christmas treat. Can't wait to serve this up as this weekend is supposed to be rainy and chilly here. Thanks so much for sharing! Happy early anniversary! So much too celebrate!

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  12. What a wonderful looking cup of cocoa! Where did you find that peppermint extract? I made the mistake of buying mint extract and it is not peppermint.. I was very disappointed!

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  13. @Evan: A family member gave me a bag full of those Adams extracts. They got them as a gift and gave them to me since they won't use them. Their website shows them to be available at HEB and Albertson's in the Austin area.

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  14. Your Peppermint Bark Hot White Cocoa looks soo good! I'll be on the lookout for the crushed candy cane chips. Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Could something so nice really be naughty? Loved your photo styling. Can't wait to make this. Sounds like just what the doctor, or Santa, ordered.

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  16. Oooh, that looks so delicious. Could use a cup of that tonight - nice & chilly in Louisiana!

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  17. That is some over the top hot chocolate!! Love the crushed peppermint sprinkles, I'll have to look for them in the store here!

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  18. This sounds so cozy and yummy!!

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  19. I could get cozy with this - you've made one of my favorite holiday candies into a drink! And it's so festive!

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  20. That looks so good. Peppermint must be the taste of the season, because I'm seeing peppermint posts everywhere!

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  21. Oh you just made my daughter's week! I'm going to have to share this! YUM! Seriously, you have no idea how excited I am thanks to this!

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