Thick 'n Spicy Hot Chocolate

The weather outside is frightful, but my oven is so delightful, and since we’ve got no place to go, give me some hot chocolate.

Wait, that isn’t how the lyrics go? Really? Because in my mind, when you have terrible weather you need hot chocolate. And today, I needed some hot chocolate. But I was out of Swiss Miss (feel free to gasp in horror here. It’s not great stuff but man is it convenient when you need hot chocolate and you need it now) so I hit the internet. I found this recipe and for once had all the ingredients already, so I gave it a try.

But I wanted to spice things up a bit so it’d be reminiscent of one of my favorite hot chocolates from Chicago – Mexican hot chocolate. I know that Chicago did not develop the concept of spice and chocolate, but I had it for the first time there during college so in my mind the two are linked. This worked out even better than I could have dreamed. And probably only took a minute longer than the Swiss Miss.

Yup, it’s a keeper! 

Thick ‘n Spicy Hot Chocolate

Adapted from LiveLovePasta  

Traditionally this would be made with half-and-half or cream, but since I like my arteries I used the 1 percent milk already in my fridge. Personally, I think it still tastes fantastic, but feel free to substitute if you’d like an even richer hot cocoa. You can also leave out the spices for a more traditional hot chocolate. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

3 ounces semisweet bittersweet chocolate chips (about 6 tablespoons)

Pinch cinnamon (up to 1/4 teaspoon)

Pinch cayenne (up to 1/4 teaspoon)

Equipment

Small pot, mixing bowl, mug

In a bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch, whisking until smooth (make sure there aren’t any lumps!). Place the remaining milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. When the milk begins to bubble around the edges whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens slightly, usually less than a minute. Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the chocolate and spices until very smooth. Pour into two cups.