White Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate? In April?

Crazy, right? In New York, we had about 2 weeks of 70 degree weather. I was wearing skirts without stockings and trading in my boots for my pumps. I even brought all of my winter coats and heavy sweaters to my mom's house to put in storage for next year.

I jumped the gun, probably due to wishful thinking, because now it's back in the 40s and 50s. New York weather is all over the place!

Anyway, after those two weeks of being spoiled with gorgeous weather, the return to our typical early spring climate left me feeling chilled to the bone. Possibly because I currently have no appropriate coats. So I broke out the white hot chocolate.

I actually can't believe it took me so long to share this easy recipe because I think it's the only reason I survived the winter.  It is absolutely delicious, sweet, and creamy. It's far cheaper than buying a cup at Starbucks and, in my opinion, it tastes wayyyyy better. It's also really simple to make. I had assumed that since coffee places charge 5 bucks for a white hot chocolate, there must be some scientific process or magical ingredients. Nope. Just some milk, chocolate, some spices, and a simple stirring motion. Viola!

There's something about homemade hot chocolate that just screams "There's no place like home!" to me.  I love making a mug of this and curling up under my fleece covers with a good book or some trashy television. It is VERY rich so a small mug is more than enough to satisfy your sweet tooth and warm you up! So until the weather warms up again, I'll be choosing this steamy treat for my nightly sweet tooth indulgence :)

If you need to study or get some work done, pour yourself a half of a mug of strong brewed coffee and fill the rest of the mug with the white hot chocolate. BAM! White chocolate mocha! You're practically a professional barista. 

If it's been "one of those days" and you need a little extra relaxation, this white hot chocolate is also delicious with a shot of Bailey's. Or so I've heard...

White Hot Chocolate

• 1 1/4 cups skim milk (you can use whatever percentage you'd like; you can even use half-and-half for an extra rich and creamy taste)
• 1/3 cup white chocolate
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon real vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk and spices until almost boiling.
2. Add the chocolate and stir constantly (so it doesn’t burn) until it is fully incorporated.
3. Serve with marshmallows and whipped cream. 

so much deliciousness with so few ingredients!

Bronx Egg Cream

Hi everyone! Happy February!

I've been MIA because of the busy start to yet another semester and I went home to Saratoga for the Super Bowl. And, as I've mentioned in other posts, I don't do anything when I go home. I just like to spend time with my family and relax. So this quick recipe is inspired by my time at home.

My sister and I were lounging on the couch doing some serious Facebook stalking and browsing Instagram and Pinterest (two peas in a pod, right?). She mentioned that she wanted to make "chocolate fizzies". Because I've passed many of my obsessions/bad habits down to her, I knew that she was making a reference to Law and Order: SVU. I am not joking when I say that she and I have spent full days on the couch watching marathons and have probably seen every single episode at least twice.

I figured we'd give it a shot. But when I searched "chocolate fizzy" nothing came up. I remembered the little girl in the show saying it was chocolate milk and seltzer water so I searched for that instead. I found out that the official name for the drink is a "Bronx Egg Cream".  Apparently it used to be a popular fountain soda but now it's hard to come by so people make it with seltzer water, milk, and chocolate syrup. 

We headed to the kitchen to give it a shot. Now let me start by saying - I do not like to drink milk. I never ever drink a glass of it, it grosses me out. Something about drinking a liquid from an animal's boobs really creeps me out. But putting it in coffee, making delicious hot chocolate with it, and making it into delicious cream sauces and cheeses is totally different.

I'm strange and often illogical. I've accepted it so I hope you can too.

Given my aversion to milk, it makes sense that I wouldn't like this drink. I took a sip of it and that was more than enough. I put the rest in glass with ice and topped it with whipped cream for my sister. Once she stopped laughing at the bad face I made long enough to have some, she said that she really liked it and it tasted like "Yoo-Hoo".

The only negative aspect that she mentioned was that the ice cubes coated in milk were kind of gross. She ate them anyway. Typical.

So give this a shot and drop me a comment to answer the question:  Are you a fan of the Bronx Egg Cream?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

 Bronx Egg Cream (yields one serving)

• 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup (something a little thicker than Hersey's squeeze bottle would be better)
• 5 oz of milk
• 3 oz of seltzer
• whipped cream (optional)

1. Mix the chocolate syrup and milk together.
2. While stirring, add the seltzer water and continue stirring. 
3. Pour over ice and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

yay or nay?

Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate

I told you I wasn't done with pumpkin. Can't stop. Won't stop.

Pumpkin white hot chocolate. As soon as I found this recipe, I went to the grocery store and bought two bags of white chocolate chips. I knew that this would quickly become an addiction.

I was right. I had four in one week.  I justify the guilt of consuming that much white chocolate by thinking of how much money I saved by making the hot chocolate rather than buying one at Starbucks. So what if I had to log some extra hours at the gym? It was totally worth it.

I love the texture of this drink. I used skim milk and it still had an extremely creamy texture as if I had used half and half because of the pumpkin. I like to think that means it's more healthy. Leave me to my illusions, please.

The only changes I made to this recipe were to use skim milk instead of whole, increase the amount of cinnamon, and use white chocolate chips instead of a chopped bar. I also changed the servings from 4 to 3 because it would only make 4 small servings and... good luck only having a little of this!

It's definitely an interesting and delicious variation on white hot chocolate. It's gotten me thinking about other white chocolate flavor combinations like with raspberry, peanut butter, peach, caramel, etc. This could get very dangerous.  How long do you think I could live off of only hot chocolate? Until the weather warms up? I'll let you know...

Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate (3 servings) from Closet Cooking

·         3 cups skim milk
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces white chocolate chips
pinch salt

1. Heat the milk, pumpkin puree, and spices in a sauce pan until it just starts to simmer.

2. Add the chocolate and stir until it has melted.
3. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream and garnish with cinnamon.

Pumpkin Smoothie

I cannot stop drinking this.  I've had one (and sometimes two) daily for the last week.

It's really quick to throw together, has very few ingredients, has a great consistency (not too watery and not so thick that you have to eat it with a spoon), and is really healthy!  Oh, and it tastes like cold pumpkin pie.

I know what you're thinking... "pumpkin smoothie" does not sound appetizing. I totally agree. Usually my smoothies are super fruity so this is totally different.  But just try it, I promise you won't be disappointed. Plus, it's HEALTHY and tastes like PIE. So you can have it - guilt free - whenever you want. It can be a sweet treat for breakfast or a light dessert. Can't get much better than that.

I've topped it with fat free whipped cream, graham crackers, and granola. All delicious and add to the pumpkin pie aura. 

 Pumpkin Smoothie  (serves 1)

• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 very ripe medium-sized banana, frozen
• 1/2 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup crushed ice

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth, making sure the ice is completely crushed. 

Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte

I'm giving up on the appetizers.  I'm sorry.  I'll do it when I can but I found myself feeling pressured to constantly munch on them because I had so many leftovers.  And I was substituting meals for appetizers all week and it was making me cranky. But there's good news....

MORE PUMPKIN!

I always said that I would never drink coffee in the morning because I never wanted to need something to help me wake up. My mother needs her morning coffee to function and I swore it would never be me.

Then I started substitute teaching.  I now need a morning coffee.  And generally an after-school coffee.  And sometimes even an evening "pick-me-up" coffee.

Not only does the caffeine get me through the day, I just love the flavor.  Usually I just drink it with skim milk and Splenda but sometimes, when I need an extra dose of happiness in my life, I need a coffee drink that is packed with delicious flavors and labeled with a fancy name.

In the fall, my drink of choice is a pumpkin spice latte.  I can't go by a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts without craving one. However, at about 3-4 dollars per drink, my wallet was getting a little lighter than I'm comfortable with. Therefore, I decided that I had two options:

1) Go on a mission to find a recipe that would allow me to indulge my cravings without breaking the bank.
2) Ask Starbucks if they would consider hiring me and paying me in coffee.

I chose number one because I don't really want to make coffee for other people. Just me.

I found this.  It's quick and easy.  You don't need some at home barista machine to make it.  It takes me about 2 minutes to make and it provides me all the happiness I need to get through my 2 and half hour graduate class. That's a lot of joy in one cup.

This is an iced version because it's still warm enough to enjoy iced beverages.  Or I'm just trying to avoid the inevitable winter season.

Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte (1 serving) from Healthy Food For Living

• 3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• 3 Tbsp pure pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch ground ginger
• tiny pinch ground nutmeg
• tiny pinch cloves *if you don't have all of these spices, you could just use pumpkin pie spice!
• ice cubes
• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee that has chilled thoroughly in the fridge

1. Combine milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and spices in a blender; blend until well-combined and frothy. You could also just put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them until frothy (which is what I did).
2. Pour mixture into a large glass filled halfway with ice cubes. Slowly pour in the chilled coffee. Serve with a dusting of cinnamon and whipped cream, if desired.