Warm & Toasty Drinks---Recipes.

If you have any other recipes to add, feel free to leave them in the comments section. Thanks!!


Cocoa Colada
Submitted by: Sarah
Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine

Prep Time:10 min

Cook Time:5 min

Serves: 2 servings

Directions

Bring two 14-ounce cans coconut milk and 1 cup water to a simmer over low heat. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 8 ounces chopped milk chocolate and whisk to melt. Spike with coconut rum, if desired, and garnish with toasted coconut.

How To Make Toasted Coconut

Submitted by: Sarah

By Rhonda Parkinson, About.com Guide

Toasted coconut adds flavor to Asian dishes and makes an attractive topping for desserts.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Lay coconut flakes out flat in a baking tray.
3. Stir in a small amount of cinnamon and/or sugar for flavor if desired.
4. Heat the flakes for about 5 minutes, until they turn a rich brown color.
5. Use as desired.

Recipes to try on your own:

Hot Cocoa from Scratch (Single Serving)
Submitted by: Liz

• 2 t. Dutched Cocoa (you can use regular, but Dutched is yummier. Hershey's doesn't work very well though. You can often get Dutched less expensively at health food stores than at the grocery store.)
• 2 rounded t. sugar
• 1 1/2 t. (1/2 T.) milk
• a little more than 3/4 c. milk
• vanilla, mint, or other extracts; flavoring syrup like hazelnut; or cinnamon
  

1. In a small mug (10 oz. is the size we have I think), mix the cocoa and sugar with a spoon. If you like your hot cocoa darker, you can use less sugar and/or more cocoa. My mom likes to use 2 t. sugar and 2 rounded t. cocoa.
2. Pour in the 1/2 T. milk (I usually approximate rather than measure) and mix thoroughly. When you do this, it will seem like you don't have enough liquid at first, but if you just keep mixing with a spoon it will turn into a thick paste.
3. Then add a little of the 3/4 c. milk and stir, then add the rest or the milk and mix. (This method works the best, but if you forget and just add all the milk at once without making the paste, it'll still work mostly).
4. Microwave on high 1 minute.
5. If desired, add extracts or flavoring syrup: I like one drop of mint, 1/4 t. of vanilla, 1/2 t. of hazelnut flavoring syrup, or a couple shakes of cinnamon. And of course, you can top it off with marshmallows or whipped cream if you like.