Happy, happy Friday! How are you all faring in all the holiday madness? Perhaps you’d like to sit back and relax with some peppermint cocoa? We made a boatload of these to give out to classmates, teachers and friends. They are easy to whip up, but require some waiting time (12 hours for the cocoa blocks to set) so you do need to do some planning, but there’s still time before Christmas!
I used this ubiquitous recipe from King Arthur Flours, and these cocoa blocks are amazing. AMAZING. The blocks melt easily in milk and yield a creamy, rich cocoa with a hint of peppermint that makes me yearn for handknitted wool blankets and a crackling fire. I added a splash of vanilla extract, and sprinkled five broken candy canes on top of the mixture before it hardened, but otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. The candy cane topping made cutting a little tricky, and I am unable to cut straight it seems, so these are oblique blocks. We sneakily kept quite a few for ourselves and it’s been a huge hit in our household.
I cut mine into approximately 1.5inch x 1.5 inch blocks and it’s more than enough for 8 to 12 ounces of milk, depending on how intense you want your cocoa to be. According to the comments/forums I checked, these should last a couple of weeks at room temperature in an airtight container and can be frozen if not used within that time frame. I seriously doubt they’ll remain uneaten that long though, especially because they’re so tasty as is.
I also cranked out a little instructions tag (pretty self explanatory, but always cute to include). It’s a penguin drinking hot cocoa! I made it a printable, if you decide to make the peppermint cocoa version and want to add a little festive touch. I made these late last night, so I didn’t get to photograph them in situ, but you get the idea. Now that I’m looking at this photo above, it would be fun to make tags with a nutcracker for a non-peppermint version…hmmm. Perhaps I’ll add that here later.
Enjoy!
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K: Mama, you’re so pretty and kind and smart — who wouldn’t want to be your daughter or son?
Me: …[suspiciously]what do you want?
K: [looking at me with big, bright eyes] Nothing! Okay, could I maybe have one more cocoa block?
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Fellow craftistas
It is crunch time this weekend
O good luck, good luck!
Wishing you a merry, productive weekend, friends!
Sanae, you are so pretty and kind and smart – who would not want to be your reader!? And no, I don´t want anything! The recipe sounds fantastic, I will take it on holiday with me when I spend a few days at the baltic sea after christmas. It will be wonderful after a long walk on the beach! And the tag….! I will print it out just for me because it is so pretty! (I gifted my bag with your tag today and my friend l o v e d the combination!) ( I will not say anything about the beautiful mug and your photography, because that would be too much ;-)!)
That bag you made for your friend is incredible, Ute! SO impressed. Hope you get to enjoy the cocoa blocks; a baltic sea vacation sounds dreamy…and thank you for the sweet words!
sanae, you might have just earned my highly gluten intolerant neighborhood their christmas cheer. so busy i wasn’t even going to hand out goodies this year, but you’ve made it so easy…….looks awesome!
Great! These are a snap to make since it’s mostly hands-off, and I hope they work out! By the way, your new shop is beautiful, Ashley!
oh the yumminess! I myself do enjoy a good cup of cocoa, so this sounds right up my alley:) Thanks for sharing the recipe and the printable! Best of luck with this last weekend of Christmas crafting!
Ah, it’s a crazy weekend, Lucinda! These cocoa blocks are super delicious and I want to try a version with homemade marshmallows!
I had never even heard of these but they do sound yummy. LOL at K and her pretty, kind and smart technique !!! I am going to try them tonight so we can have some after our walk tomorrow. Thanks Sanae for the idea and recipe link.
K just requested that I make more of these and I think I just might cave…hot cocoa after a walk sounds perfect!
Those cocoa blocks were so good – thank you so much!
So glad you liked them! We had WAY too many of them these last few weeks and K is asking me to make another batch 🙂