Hot chocolate is a yummy drink to warm you on a cold day, especially during the holidays! Here’s an easy jar mix recipe for hot chocolate or hot strawberry!
There is nothing to warm you on a cold day like the old stand-by, hot chocolate! If you like to try something new every once in a while or of you have family or friends who don’t like chocolate (Is there such a person? : ) ) on your gift list, here is something different– Strawberry hot chocolate. Try dipping the rim of the glass in in some melted white chocolate chips for a more festive look.
Take your favorite hot chocolate mix or use the one I have included below and replace the chocolate Nestle Quik with Strawberry Quik and the chocolate pudding with vanilla pudding. Serve hot with whipped cream or marshmallows, topping it all with red sugar or sprinkles for a really festive look.
Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe
10 2/3 cups dry milk
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 lb. (2 cups) Nestle Quik (chocolate or strawberry)*
1 1/2 cups non-dairy creamer
2 small packages instant chocolate (or vanilla) pudding mix**
1 tsp. salt
Sift the ingredients into a large bowl. Place the mix in airtight containers.
*I am so picky about hot chocolate made with water because, even in the best recipes, it still doesn’t have that made with milk taste so I add an extra 2 cups of Nestle Quik to my recipe on top of what is written above for the perfect taste.
**You might add a package of white chocolate or cheesecake pudding for a different flavor in place of one of the vanilla pudding mixes.
Attach this to the jar:
Hot Chocolate: 5 Tbsp. (1/3 cup) Hot Chocolate Mix, 1 cup hot water (not boiling), marshmallows or whipped cream
Place the Hot Chocolate Mix into a mug. Add water. Stir until Hot Chocolate mix is dissolved. Garnish as desired with marshmallows or whipped cream. Serves 1.
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Beth says
Hi,
I used to buy the store brand of Nestle’s Quik and we ran out, so I mixed three parts of plain sugar with one part baking cocoa, along with a smidgen of salt, and shook it up in the empty container. The kids said it tasted fine and although it doesn’t mix really well with cold milk, it did mix up sufficiently in hot milk. Just this morning, I made up a new batch, using 3 cups of sugar and one cup of baking cocoa, and based on paying $2.95 for 5 lbs. sugar and $2.49 for 8 ounces of baking cocoa (store brands), I calculated a cost of $1.78 to make enough homemade Quik to fill our old container higher than the store original amount, net weight on container is 30 oz. So, where I shop, this would have cost $3.69 or more. If I remember this correctly, there are about 2 cups per pound of sugar, and there are 45 tablespoons of baking cocoa in an 8 oz. can. Salt adds something, and I used a half teaspoon for this amount. I don’t know why I never did this before! I have sixteen children who love hot chocolate.
Jill says
A pinch of salt tends to bring out the flavor in anything with a lot of sugar. When I make my basic powder sugar (buttercream) frosting I always add a pinch of salt to it. It really makes a difference and adds to to sweetness oddly enough.
Sarah says
I heard some time ago (but haven’t tried it yet) that you can buy the full-fat dry milk, instead of the nonfat dry milk, in the Mexican foods section of the grocery store. Supposedly this makes it taste like hot cocoa, not hot chocolate water.
Have you tried this?
Sarah
Jill says
Sarah I haven’t tried this but maybe some of our other readers have.
Diva says
I buy the Nido brand powdered whole milk, using this in place of the powdered skim milk and creamer would be good in the mix (have to play with the proportions). Also, when making cocoa mixes, instead of just stirring the ingredients together, taking a couple of minutes to whirl everything together in the blender or food processor makes a big difference. It ensures that it’s thoroughly, uniformly mixed, plus I find that the cocoa powder dissolves much better in the hot water when I blend the dry mix into a finer powder. Oh, and if you like flavored cocoa, substitute gelatin for the pudding. Add cherry gelatin, and you have chocolate cherry cocoa! Orange or strawberry would be good, too. You might reduce the sugar a bit if using gelatin.
Deena Caunt says
I use Nido too. Its great in everything. I even put in in the milk to make my homemade yogurt better
Wendy says
If given as a gift, you could add a 1/3 cup measuring cup with the mix to make it easier for the person to fix.
countrymama says
when you combine your cocoa and sugar, add either full fat or non fat dry milk powder, let’s say two parts, since that is how you are calculating your recipe, I would also suggest that instead of all milk powder; you could add one part milk powder and one part coffee whitener, this is how I make mine and it is “delish”. I also use confectioners sugar as it dissolves much better and gives a nicer flavour.
Lori McGarrity says
On the Hot Chocolate mix; Hot Chocolate Mix
10 2/3 cups dry milk
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 lb. (2 cups) Nestle Quik (chocolate or strawberry)*
1 1/2 cups non-dairy creamer
2 small packages instant chocolate (or vanilla) pudding mix**
1 tsp. salt
Is the recipe correct to just call for 1/3 cup powdered sugar whereas the others that are very similar to this one had way more than 1/3 c. of powdered sugar. Is that a misprint?
Jill says
I sometimes double the sugar just because I like my stuff extra sweet but this is what the original recipe called for. What the difference is is in this and some of the recipes you looked at might be the fact that we add Nestle’s Quik which is already sweetened (it would be no different then just using Nestle’s with some milk) plus we add the pudding mix which is all ready sweetened too. Many other recipes call for cocoa powder which is bitter and used in baking and that is why they have to use extra sugar in theirs plus they don’t use the pudding.
Heidi says
Any idea how this compares in cost to instant hot cocoa mix? I’m sure it tastes better, but my kids don’t mind the store stuff, we make it with hot water and then add a large dollop of milk to the mug.
Jill says
It really is hard to figure because the prices are all over the place for the ingredients but a few years ago I figured it and decided that it was close to the same in price but I could adjust the ingredients for the taste I wanted. I rarely make my own because it is so much cheaper to by Nestle’s Quik or Hershey’s chocolate to make my cocoa with – almost half the price. The thing is the powdered mix is convenient for when you can’t get milk easily or for convenience like traveling or camping. Now though it seems so many are using the packets with milk so if you want to save Nestle’s is the way to go.
I have never been able to understand why people buy the mixes to use at home instead of Nestle’s. If you get the packets much of what you are paying for is packaging.
One last thing I was wondering if any baby boomers like me have noticed that the flavor of Nestle’s has changed from years ago. I am wondering if they decreased the amount of sugar in it or something because I now add a spoonful of sugar to my cocoa when I make it and it tastes just like it did years ago.
Sheri says
They dropped some of the sugar to make the mix 15 grams of carbs, but they added sucralose to make up the difference.
I think I might like to make a mix with cocoa, sugar, powdered milk, then cool it with some half and half.
Thank you for reminding me!