Try This Snow Day Hot Chocolate From 'Kids Cooking' With Your Little Chef!

This homemade hot chocolate from our Kids Cooking cookbook is so easy, you’ll never go back to the store-bought kind! The best part is that you most likely have everything you need in your pantry, and you can mix together the dry ingredients ahead of time for when those sudden snow flurries strike.  

If you’re looking to go 100 percent homemade, you and your kids can also try a marshmallow recipe from the Klutz Maker Lab Candy Science! It’s a great opportunity for a sweet science lesson (candy making is chemistry!), plus they'll love adding food coloring and cutting them into fun shapes.

The dry hot chocolate mix also makes the perfect gift. All you need to do is download and cut out our label here, bag a few homemade marshmallows, and attach them to a mason jar filled with the dry ingredients. It's a great DIY gift for teachers, friends, or anyone you’re looking to spread a little holiday cheer to!

Snow Day Hot Chocolate

From Klutz Kids Cooking

Makes 4 Servings

Prep & Cook Time: 15 minutes

You will need:

• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon (optional)
• ¼ cup water
• 4 cups milk
• Saucepan
• Whisk

What to do: 

1. Place the cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon (if you like cinnamon), and water in the saucepan. Blend them with the whisk until the cocoa is all mixed in.

2. Add the milk slowly and stir them all together.

3. Grownups do this step! Set the saucepan over low heat. Keep stirring everything until it’s hot.

4. Just before serving, beat the cocoa with the whisk to make it foamy. 

Marshmallows

From Klutz Maker Lab Candy Science

Makes 30-36 Marshmallows

Cook time: 40 minutes

Cool time: 8 hours

You will need:

Kitchen supplies:

• 8x8 baking pan
• Mesh sieve
• Large mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
• Medium saucepan
• Handmixer with paddle or whisk attachment
• Cookie cutters (optional)

Ingredients: 

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 packets unflavored powdered gelatin (¼ oz each)
• 2 tsp vanilla or other flavored extract 
• Food coloring (optional)

What to do: 

1. Use a paper towel to coat the bottom and sides of your baking pan with vegetable oil.

2. Hold your mesh sieve above the baking pan and pour in the powdered sugar. Dust the sugar into the pan so that there is a thick coating on the bottom and sides of the pan. Use more than a cup if necessary. You can use a rubber spatula to even out the layer of sugar and stick it to the sides.

3. Grownups do this step! In a medium saucepan, pour in the granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and ½ cup water. Place the saucepan on the stove and turn the heat on high. Stir the mixture occasionally with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until it comes to a boil.

4. Grownups do this step! As soon as the mixture is boiling, stop stirring. Lower the heat to medium high. Let the mixture boil for another 10 minutes. You will hear the mixture crackle as bubbles form and burst. This is normal! Just don’t get too close to the pot as it bubbles.

5. While the sugar mixture boils, prepare your gelatin mix. In a large mixing bowl, pour out your gelatin packets. Add 1 cup water and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the gelatin is fully dissolved in the water.

6. Grownups do this step! Once the mixture has boiled for 10 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat, and let it rest for 1 minute.

7. Grownups do this step! Make sure your hand mixer is in the bowl of gelatin mixture and plugged in but turned off. Turn the mixer on low, and have a grown-up co-maker slowly pour the sugar mixture into the large bowl with the gelatin mixture.

8. Grownups do this step! After all of the sugar mixture has been added to the bowl, switch the mixer setting to high. Keep beating for 5 minutes. The mixture should change from a clear sugar liquid to a fluffy white mixture. Hold the bowl with your other hand if you need to keep it steady.

9. Grownups do this step! Add your flavor extract and continue to whip the mixture for another 2 minutes. You can add a few drops of food coloring into the mixture at this stage. Keep whipping it to maintain the thickness and get it to the color you want.

10. Pour the mixture into your baking pan. Let it sit for at least 8 hours to allow it to set. When the marshmallow mix has dried, cut it into cubes or with cookie cutters and enjoy!