3 Homemade Instant Hot Cocoa Mixes (Recipe) |Frugal Front Porch

Nothing warms my fingers, tummy and…well, the rest of me…quite like rich creamy hot cocoa during the cold Minnesota winters.

I’ve tried a lot of homemade hot cocoa recipes but nothing compares to this one. I found the base of the hot chocolate recipe at Mom Advice (scroll down near the bottom of the page for Amy’s recipe).

Being me, I had to add my own little twist. My twist results in a smooth rich texture PLUS I use less mix which means it lasts twice as long and has a creamier richer chocolatier taste than the store bought hot chocolate! (Yay to me for stretching a buck even further!)

Homemade Instant Hot Cocoa Recipe

4 cups dry milk	1 cup non dairy creamer	1 4oz pkg chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 cup sugar	2/3 cup cocoa powder	1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

How to Make

First finely grind or chop chocolate chips. I used my Magic Bullet Express Mixer to grind the chocolate chips to a powdery texture so it will melt completely. I tried a slightly more coarse texture which results in a longer melting time in the mug. The taste is the same, just took a few more minutes for the chunkier chocolate to melt in the liquid.

Place the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times till thoroughly blended. Store in an airtight container. Makes approximately 32 servings and yields 8 cups of instant hot cocoa mix.

Mix and Serve. Mix 3 tablespoons of hot cocoa mixture with 8 ounces of boiling water or hot milk.

Instant Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe

1 7oz pkg Red Hots	pinch of cayenne	3 cups hot cocoa mix (recipe from above)
2 tsp. nutmeg	pinch of salt

How to Make

Grind the Red Hots into a powder. In food processor, blend all the ingredients and store in an airtight container. Makes approximately 12 servings yielding about 4 cups of instant Mexican hot cocoa mix.

Mix and Serve. Mix 3 tablespoons of Mexican hot cocoa mixture with 8 ounces of boiling water or hot milk.

Alternately you can simply omit the plain hot cocoa ingredient and store the Mexican hot cocoa as an add in. Just mix one tablespoon of the Mexican hot chocolate mix with two tablespoons of regular hot chocolate.

*I’ve packaged this for a teacher gift so I went a little easy on the cayenne but if I had made this for my personal use, I would have added approximately a full teaspoon (maybe more) of the cayenne pepper.

Instant Mocha Cappuccino Mix

1 1/2 cup instant coffee	2 cups hot cocoa mix (recipe from above)
2 cups non dairy creamer

How to Make

Blend all your ingredients in a food processor until they are the same consistency. Makes approximately 33 servings and yields 5 1/2 cups of instant mocha cappuccino mix.

Mix and Serve. Mix 2 tablespoons of instant mocha cappuccino mix with 8 ounces of boiling water.

You can adjust the amount of mix you use to suit your taste but I found this was perfect for us. Just remember to adjust your serving size if you change how much of the mix you use for that perfect steamy cup of hot cocoa.

J works with so many teachers and aids I thought this year we’d do a group gift. I’m sending pails of these instant drink mixes for the teacher lounge plus I’ll send some homemade treats and goodies to nourish their tummies as well. With any luck, everyone will get some!