Hot Chocolate Bar

 

For Christmas, I hosted my dad’s side of the family at my house for a “due”. There were 14 kids aged 13 and under and I wanted to do something special for them. I thought a hot chocolate bar fit the bill!

I started by making “drinking chocolate”….doesn’t that sound SOOOO good….and it’s miles better than hot chocolate powder. I used a recipe posted by my friend Tina, from The Pink Spatula. Click here for the recipe. I poured it into a ceramic milk carton so that I could microwave it just before serving. I heated milk up in the microwave and kept it warm in carafes.

Because it was a larger group (I was convinced some of the adults might partake!), I put out disposable cups with lids and straws in a basket. Not only did this make for easy clean up but spills were avoided.

Dylan, my daughter, and I dipped marshmallows in melted chocolate and then sprinkled them with….well… sprinkles! We then put a skewer in them and hand written tags with Christmas wishes…Joy, Sweet Tidings, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Noel….Dylan had fun being creative and putting her own touch on the tags.

 

 

I bought dollar store salt and pepper shakers and we filled them with fun toppings including cinnamon sugar.

 

 

Here are the things we included in our bar….

  1. drinking chocolate
  2. hot milk
  3. chocolate dipped marshmallows
  4. mini Rolos
  5. cookies n cream Hershey’s drops
  6. Milsean Demerara Butter Crunch (crushed up)
  7. caramels
  8. crushed candy canes
  9. mint Ovations
  10. chocolate hazelnut pirouettes
  11. chocolate sauce
  12. caramel sauce
  13. whipped cream
  14. The Pink Spatula Cafe au Lait Marshmallows
  15. The Pink Spatula Orange Cranberry Marshmallows
  16. sprinkles (red, green, cinnamon sugar, & chocolate)

 

 

The great thing about a hot chocolate bar is you can include all of your favorite things and have fun putting together a yummy warm drink. My girls both LOVE coffee, so they loved the Cafe au Lait marshmallows with the hot chocolate. Add some whipped cream and chocolate sauce and you have a mocha!

Next time I’d like to create some custom labels for the cups. I saw these ones online…SOOO cute! I just plum ran out of time this round!

 

Image courtesy of http://indulgy.com/post/8L6qdxClM1/love-the-labels-for-hot-chocolate

Use serving dishes and pieces of differing heights so that all items can be seen…it just makes it more visually appealing. I also used square vases and votive holders for some of the toppings (the same ones I’ve used for antipasto platters!).

This is a fun idea for a Christmas gathering, a New Year’s Eve party, a skating party and a winter birthday party!!