Spiced Hot Chocolate

Oooh, this is just divine! My teenage son nagged me constantly to make this, so I devised a short cut: Mix all the dry ingredients together. To make one cup, use a very slightly rounded tablespoonful of the dry mix and add a little boiling water, stirring to make a thin paste. Then add the hot milk, a drop of vanilla, top with marshmallows and enjoy! I also add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor.

This hot chocolate is amazing! At first i was skeptical, because chili powder isnt something you normally pair with chocolate, but it gives it a strangely attractive flavor. I substituted 2c milk with vanilla "Silk" (soymilk) and it still turned out delicious. be sure to stir very well before drinking, and keep a spoon handy while drinking, because everything settles. otherwise, this is one of the very best mugs of chocolate i've ever had.

If it is a bit too rich, you can cut it down with a small amount of water. Edit: six years later. I should add that you must use finely ground spices, otherwise you aren't going to have a good time when you drink this. Anyone who claims the hot coco was too gritty did not use finely ground spices.

This was our Saturday morning early breakfast treat. I made the recipe exact, warmed it through while wisking, then taste-testing. I didn't think it had enough cocoa powder so I added another three tablespoons. After that, it was just right. My kids especially enjoyed it--the grownups used their cocoa to make fancy mocha coffee.

I looked repeately at the recipe to see what I did wrong. The only change I made was 1% milk instead of skim. It came out like lightly chocolate flavored water. In an attempt to salvage - I doubled the cocoa powder and sugar and it was slightly better. Then I added a couple sprinkles salt, again a little better but not worthwhile. Then I added about 1/4 heavy cream. An improvement but not good. Then ended up adding 4 squares of Lindt Dark Chili chocolate bar. With the changes, I would give it a 2 or 3. Definitely won't make this again. I recommend trying a smaller version before you go with the whole recipe. The grainy texture from the spices was not pleasant either. I'll keep looking.

Wonderful blend of flavors! I've been watching my carbs and sugars, so I made a couple of alterations: I used unsweetened almond milk and used Truvia instead of sugar. I'll be making this by the cup, so followed the suggestion to mix the dry ingredients (except sugar). I then put a rounded 1/2 T of the mix in a mug with a bit of vanilla and then enough boiling water to make a paste. I then added my almond milk slowly to blend and put the mug in the microwave for about 1 1/2 min. I added one packet of Truvia, but may be able to use less next time. It's not quite as rich as I'd like it to be, but wonderful when you're missing hot chocolate this time of year.

Too much spice, not enough chocolate. I only put a pinch of cloves, everything else stayed the same. It was really gritty (filtering is a must) I guess it would be good with some tweaking but the spices are just too much as written.

It has an awful aftertaste, like I just ate a spoonful of powdered spices.

I really liked this hot chocolate, but the spices were a little too strong for me. I would suggest less cloves and more sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Very good. It's been crazy cold lately and my mom keeps asking me to make her this hot coco. :) The best part about this recipe is the chili powder, it keeps you feeling warm even after you finish the drink.

Very nice recipe. I would like a little more spice. After reviewing the suggesitons. I might add a little more chili spice and a little less clove and see how that is.

Too much chili powder for me. What I did was take it down to 1/4 tsp chili powder and keep everything else the same. Much less spicy and more hot chocolatey.

mhmmmm!

I've recently had to switch over from coffee to other hot drinks due to the need to limit caffeine intake. This is my favorite hot chocolate recipe I've tried so far! I did water it down a little bit, just because I'm not used to drinking a lot of milk, but the spice blend was perfect.

Rich? I didn't find this to be rich at all, in fact, it tasted like watery spices so I added more cocoa. I agree with the other reviewers who mentioned lightening up on the cloves just a bit. I recommend straining the mix before pouring into mugs as it can get a bit gritty towards the bottom. Pretty good, but needs some tweaking.

Sooo good! I was a bit skeptical about the chili powder, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. My sister and I added two extra tablespoons of sugar, and that seemed to help balance out the flavor a little better. We thought this would be perfect with some gingersnaps!

This is delicious! I added 2x the sugar because I know my family has serious sweet tooth, but otherwise it is totally perfect.

Was amazing and exactly what I was looking for. Minor tweak tho: I doubled the amount of cocoa and sugar. Tastes a little bland otherwise. Adding this to my recipe book!

Wonderful recipe! I love rich hot chocolate, and this is both rich and flavourful. I made a container of the dry ingredients, as some people suggested, and use 1.5 TBSP of the mix to make a large mug of hot chocolate (dissolving it first in hot water, then adding warm milk to taste), adding a splash of vanilla.

So yummy!! I would definitely recommend adding one-two cardamons and two tablespoons of condensed milk!

A pretty yummy hot chocolate. I gave it only 4 stars because I think the amount of cloves is too much and it didn't have a very rich chocolate taste. But, to each his (or her!) own! I would at least halve the cloves. Still a very enjoyable drink, Leoele. Thanks for sharing!

Good flavor with a warmth that stays with you. My cups are closer to 15oz so I had to double the cocoa, sugar and vanilla. I also left out the cloves. No one in my family likes them. A trick I do to get rid of the particles that don't dissolve is to pour it through an angled metal coffee filter. This makes for a much nicer presentation if you are serving company.

I liked this, DD did not. I used soy instead of cow's milk, and agave syrup instead of sugar. I enjoyed the spiciness of this, but DD thought it wasn't sweet enough! I will be making this treat for myself next time! Thanks for the recipe!

i forgot to mention in my other review, i used 2% milk and it was great!

So very very good. I do add cinnamon too and a couple of tablespoons of Bailey Irish Cream (salted caramel flavor).

It was not great. I really agree that it didn't have enough chocolate or sugar in it. The spices were a bit overpowering and it was too rich. I added extra sugar and a pinch more of cocoa to it to make it better. You should try that if you felt the same way.

This just didn't turn out for me. I added all the correct ingredients and correct amounts. I'm not really sure if I did something wrong or it was the recipe but I don't think I'll make this again.