Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cocktail, with mint infused liquor (or muddled mint), and homemade real hot chocolate, using milk of your choice. A festive fireside sip.
Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cocktail
Many of us are in a cold climate this time of year are after a hot chocolate drink. How about one that has been spiked with peppermint vodka? Perfectly stirred with a candy cane? That is exactly the cocktail we need to start off this brunch!
If, where you live during this holiday season is warm, this drink served iced cold will be spectacular as well. So don’t think I left y’all hotties out!
Hot Cocktail For Cold Winter
What’s not to love about a little booze now and then! While I am most often a wine sipper, I do like the occasional special occasion sip that sets a mood for a celebration.
Warm weather drinks are often made to cool and refresh, therefore have ice. This spiked cold weather sip is going to be served hot, chocolaty and spiked with a little peppermint vodka.
Definitely, if you love this hot cocktail (even as a mocktail), sip, you’re sure to welcome another homemade hot cocktail I call Golden Milk Turmeric Cocktail. How’s that for a yummy way to sip on that ole healthy turmeric!
Hot Chocolate Peppermint Vodka
When I entered the age of being served a cocktail, a peppermint drink was usually make with peppermint Schnapps.
I found the minty flavor refreshing, but also found the liquor had way too much sugar, almost syrupy.
When peppermint vodka hit the scene and I had to test it out. It had all the mint I wanted in the flavor, but without all the excess sugar.
Vodka, already flavored with peppermint, was going to be the perfect booze for my hot chocolate cocktail.
Likewise, for peppermint hot chocolate without the booze, simply crush mint leaves with simple syrup and you’ve got a great non-alcohol version!
REAL Hot Chocolate For A Hot Cocktail
Come on… who doesn’t enjoy a little Real Homemade Hot Chocolate when it gets cold outside! From the time I was a kid, hot chocolate was served to me and my sisters as a special occasion drink.
Hot chocolate when I was a kid, was always made with cocoa powder, a little sugar and milk, as in, dairy milk. It was simmered on top the stove until the milk was warm, the sugar dissolved and the cocoa blended. Yum.
Milk, in my later years, took on a new face. Almond milk, coconut milk, even oat milk and an entirely new profile of milks. Warm milk of your choice, with chocolate, is simply a lovely drink, wouldn’t you agree?
Milk In My Hot Chocolate?
No more tummy troubles now! Plant milk, especially Homemade Plant Milk, such as:
- Almond milk
- Oat milk
- Walnut milk, or any nut made into a milk
- Sesame seed or hemp seed milk
Enjoying a cocktail made with plant milk, I must admit, tastes even better than dairy milk, and I do love dairy milk.
Homemade plant milk is easy to make, costs way less than store bought, doesn’t have the preservatives in it needed to keep it from going rancid on the shelf, even though refrigerated.
Peppermint In My Hot Chocolate Cocktail Or Mocktail
This holiday drink doesn’t have to be spiked and still have that delicious mint chocolate flavor to sip warm.
Fresh Peppermint is sold in most grocery stores year round. Dried peppermint can also be easily obtained in a mint tea bag, that has only dried mint leaves.
Peppermint grows so easily in a contained area of the yard or in a pot, something you just can’t kill once it has taken root.
Should you grow or buy fresh peppermint and want to dry it yourself to use it later, simply tie a bundle together and hang it upside-down. It will dry in about a week.
Put the dried leaves in a food processor, herb grinder or blender to grind the leaves. Store in an airtight container.
Mocktail Peppermint Hot Chocolate
The easy, most natural, way to flavor a mint hot chocolate drink is to simmer the dried mint leave, or fresh, in milk with cocoa, strain and pour.
A perfect drink for the kids or non-alcohol drinkers, to be able to enjoy the same fancy fireside sip as those with peppermint vodka.
Don’t Forget The Peppermint Candy Cane In Your Cocktail!
It’s the winter holiday season. What child or adult doesn’t love a candy cane, especially when the candy cane is peppermint.
A candy cane is simply sugar and water, boiled into a hard candy to be formed. Flavorings can be a variety of extracts.
We all love a little swirl stick in our hot chocolate so make sure to give each holiday cup of peppermint hot chocolate a candy cane to add to the festive vibe!
Ingredients Needed
- Cocoa
- Sugar
- Water
- Milk, of your choice
- Peppermint Vodka, or mint leaves
- Whipped cream, dairy or non-dairy
- Chocolate squares
- Candy cane
Equipment Needed
- Sauce pan
- Heat proof serving cups
- Whisk
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Hand mixer
- Hand grater or vegetable peeler
Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cocktail
Ingredients
- Cocoa – 2 tablespoon
- Sugar – 1/4 cup
- Water – 1/4 cup
- Milk – 4 cups, milk of your choice
- Peppermint Vodka – 2 shots
- Whipped cream – for topping (optional), dairy or non-dairy
- Chocolate square – for topping (optional)
- Candy Cane – for stirring
Instructions
- Place cocoa, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer on low for 2 minutes.
- Add milk and heat until hot. Do Not Boil.
- Pour into serving mugs. Stir in peppermint vodka. Top with whipped cream and a shave of chocolate (optional).
- Serve hot with candy cane and enjoy!
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
