In the Kitchen: Hot Chocolate Sticks

Much as I love coffee, there is a very special place in my heart for hot chocolate. Besides the fact that it's chocolate, this is a drink I can sit and share with my entire family. It warms us up from the inside out like no other beverage. With Winter still upon us the days seem to call for a nice cup, but why not serve it up a little differently? This week I decided to try something new. Hot Chocolate Sticks. We had some sitting in our pantry for a while so I figured it was time to test them out. Friends, they did not disappoint. They were amazing! Naturally, it made me curious to see if there were recipes so it could be recreated at home.

I searched all over Pinterest, and after seeing it made by others with varying degrees of success, the recipe that seems to be the most popular was this one from King Arthur Flour.

Are y'all ready to try this with me?



Hot Chocolate Sticks

Ingredients

½ cup heavy cream
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
3 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (chopped chocolate bars or chips)
3/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate
Wooden or lollipop sticks

Recipe

Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Heat the cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; allow it to gently melt. After about 10 minutes, return the chocolate mixture to low heat to completely melt the chocolate. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and shiny. Add a few drops of flavoring oil if you like; hazelnut, coffee, or vanilla are popular flavors. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan; shake the pan gently to level. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Set aside overnight to slowly set up. By this point the hot chocolate mxiture should be firm, but soft enough for your sticks. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn out onto a clean cutting surface. Slice into 1 1/4 inch cubes. For smoothest cuts, heat a knife in hot water and wipe dry before each cut. Stick a wooden/lollipop stick into the center of each block. Wrap in waxed paper, parchment, or plastic wrap to store. This will yield close to 3 dozen.

I think this would be fun if we're in need of a hot chocolate fix at home, but in the spirit of Chocolate Season (or Valentine's as it's sometimes called) it occured to me that this would also be a great favor for the children's Valentine's at school. Considering how much this recipe yields, it wouldn't be hard to do!

Obviously you can make this with other flavors of chocolate, and as I saw from several impressive pins on Pinterest, you can also pour the chocolate into molds of different shapes. Imagine what you could serve up! Hearts, stars, circles~it would take these hot chocolate sticks to an entirely new level of presentation. I'm not sure if I'm feeling quite that adventurous yet, but who knows?

I'll think about it while I'm drinking my hot chocolate!