I've been drinking a lot of tea lately. (Which is good because we have a huge tea backlog and this means we're actually slowly but surely working our way through some of it. TF and I have actually made a noticeable dent in the mountain of tea over the past few weeks!) That said, today I was in the mood for hot chocolate. I've made various types of hot chocolate before: there is the ubiquitous "just add water" powder of course and various types of homemade cocoa. This recipe is very similar to most of the homemae hot cocoa's I've done over the years, but it occurred to me that I don't think I've ever bothered to write down the basic hot cocoa formula. I just end up doing something similar but slightly different every time. So, here's one that came up in my YouTube suggestions. It's good: pleasingly chocolatey and not too sweet. Goes well with a few mini marshmallows! And it's very easy to tweak and adjust according to your preferences.

Hot Cocoa

Slightly adapted from Joshua Weissman

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 c. whole milk
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder, preferably Dutched
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• mini marshmallows or whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1. Sift cocoa powder into milk.
2. Stir in sugar.
3. Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently. Do not boil, but make sure to get it very hot.
4. Just before mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Divide mixture between two mugs.
7. Add mini marshmallows and/or whipped cream to taste.