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!

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