After you arrive home, take a bubble bath, and catch up on sleep, treat yourself and your family to some delicious desserts! These desserts don’t even require an oven, and can be great as gifts instead of the traditional Christmas cookies. These treats will surely get you in the holiday spirit!
Hot Chocolate on a Stick!
These can be the perfect gift for a friend who loves hot cocoa, or they can be great to have in the house when you want to sit by the fire and read.
What you need:
-A double boiler, or sauce pan with a glass or metal bowl that can sit on top
-An ice cube tray
-Popsicle sticks or wooden chop sticks
-8 oz. baking chocolate, preferably sweetened, milk, dark, or white chocolate
-1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
-1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
-A pinch of salt
What to do:
1. Set up a double boiler. Fill a sauce pan with a few inches of water and place a metal or glass bowl on top. The water should be just below the bottom of the bowl. While the water is heating up to almost a boil, break the baking chocolate into even sized pieces. You can do this by cutting it, or some chocolate, like Baker’s Brand, comes in small pieces. Add the chocolate to the bowl and wait for it to melt almost completely.
2. Just before all the chocolate has melted into a smooth consistency, remove the bowl from heat, but continue to stir. Add cocoa powder, confectioner’s sugar, and a pinch of salt and continue to stir.
3. Once the mixture is complete, pour into an ice cube tray and stick a popsicle stick or wooden chopstick into the individual molds.
4. Put the molds in the fridge for just about 10 minutes to make sure they start to set, and then remove them and let them cool on the kitchen counter.
5. If you’re feeling fancy, you can dip the set chocolate into another batch of melted chocolate, and then roll the individual chocolates in holiday sprinkles, chocolate chips, or crushed candy cane.
When you are ready to make hot chocolate, heat up a serving of milk, or cream if you are looking a real treat, and stir the hot chocolate stick until it melts. Add whipped cream, marshmallows, or fluff!
For a gift, make a batch of these treats and put them in a mug with a good movie to enjoy on a chilly winter day!
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Photo from http://candy.about.com/od/christmascandy/r/Hot-Chocolate-On-A-Stick.htm
Homemade Peppermint Bark
One of the holiday foods that I most look forward to is the tin of Peppermint Bark from William’s Sonoma. I could easily eat the whole tin- and that is why this easy recipe is dangerous to have on hand!
What you need:
-A double boiler, or sauce pan with a glass or metal bowl that can sit on top
-Cookie sheet
-Parchment paper
-12 oz. dark baking chocolate
-12 oz. white baking chocolate
-1 ½ cups crushed candy cane or mints
-1/2 teaspoon mint or peppermint extract (I’m a huge fan of peppermint, so I would add a whole teaspoon, but it’s all personal preference!)
What to do:
-Prepare a cookie sheet by using parchment paper as a lining.
-Set up a double boiler. Fill a sauce pan with a few inches of water and place a metal or glass bowl on top. The water should be just below the bottom of the bowl. While the water is heating up to almost a boil, break the dark baking chocolate into even-sized pieces and place in the pan until it is smoothly melted.
-Pour the melted dark chocolate evenly onto the prepared cookie sheet and move the pan around or use a spatula so it is completely covered. Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer.
-After cleaning the dark chocolate bowl, melt the white baking chocolate in the same way. Add mint or peppermint extract, and then fold half of the crushed candy cane or mints into the melted white chocolate.
-Take the dark chocolate cookie sheet out of the freezer and pour the white chocolate over the chilled dark chocolate. You can try to spread the white chocolate evenly, but it is difficult to do so without mixing the two chocolates. I prefer to drizzle the white chocolate on. It might not look perfect, but it will still taste delicious!
-Sprinkle the remaining crushed candy cane or mints over the chocolate and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour to completely harden.
-Once it is chilled, break the bark into pieces and put it in gift bags or on a pretty plate to give as a gift…if you and your family don’t get to it first!
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