Homeshalom's Mexican Hot Cocoa Mix

I was raised in Michigan, where cold and winter are very much a part of the culture. My mom would always make up a big batch of dry hot chocolate mix that you could just add hot water to. That is something that was always one of the kids' favorite parts of winter. :-) We still have cold down here in TN (but nothing like Mich!) and really appreciate "warming our bones" by the cook stove after wood collecting, hunting, outside chores, caring for the animals or play. (We also do this with herbal tea and broth too!!!) So I started hunting for recipes online.

Mom used Nestle Quick, instant dry milk, and white sugar in hers as do many of the recipes online. But I wanted to develop a recipe that had more wholesome ingredients. It is hard to find whole milk powder (not instant) that is organic in bulk...and it is not cheap. But I like to use it for baked goods (adds protein) and have it on hand for a "survival pantry". I am "hard core" about some things - you may not be, so just use regular instant milk powder if you like. In my extensive searching, I could only find organic whole dry milk in bulk at Azure Standard. (You need to set up an account to access prices. But you can request a catalog.) I can tell you at the time of this writing that 50 lbs of Organic Dry Whole Milk is $287 plus shipping. (5.74 pound + shipping) To give you an idea. If you have a better resource for the same thing, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me!!!!

I did the main recipe in "parts", so that it can be adapted to any amount easily. But that might be weird for some folks, so I will give you the amounts to make a half gallon of dry mix below. That is how much I make in a batch and may be an easy reference for you to half or double for the amount you want to make for your batch. :-)

1 part cocoa

2 parts Rapadura (or Sucanat or maple sugar)

4 parts whole milk powder (instant is Ok if that is all you have)

1/16 part cinnamon

2/16 part vanilla powder* (optional)

*I get mine at Frontier, and it is expensive. So you might want to skip that. I probably will in the future after I use up my stock. It is could without, or you could add a couple drops of liquid vanilla to each cup if you like. I use it because is adds a creamy fullness to the beverage that tends to be compromised between the dry milk version and doing fresh whole milk over the burner. I was searching for dry shelf stable ingredients that would give it a round smooth and rich flavor while developing this recipe. However, you can also do this same thing with cream or whipped cream! Really... it is still good by itself too!!!

A note about marshmallows: Most marshmallows contains gelatin (commercially speaking is usually produced from horse or pig, which is Biblically unclean to eat - in case you didn't know. ) You can find Kosher ones during Passover at some (more urban) grocery stores. (But they still have such junk for ingredients otherwise!) There are vegetarian marshmallows out there too, whose ingredient list is much better, but they are very expensive and even harder to find. I have it (on my long list) to learn how to make marshmallows from scratch from the Marshmallow plant (I have a recipe!)...but have yet to try it. (If it works, I'll be sure to post it!)

Put 1/4-1/3C of mix in the bottom of an 8 oz cup and pour boiling water over top and mix. (The little kids are very happy with 1/4C mix, but the bigger folks who prefer more flavor go for a 1/3C). :-) If your mugs are bigger, you will need to increase the powder.

For a half gallon of mix:

1C cocoa

2C Rapadura

4C whole milk powder

1T cinnamon

2T vanilla powder (optional)

A half gallon of mix makes 2 dozen small (8 oz) mugs.

Enjoy!

This post is shared at the Tuesday Twister