Home
Friday, November 23, 2012

Our Family’s FAVORITE Semi-Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix!

semi-homemade hot chocolate Ever since the weather started turning colder…we have been going through a LOT of hot chocolate at our house! We USED to be a Swiss Miss family until last December when I discovered this semi-homemade version of hot chocolate that we fell in love with! It’s SO good once you try it, you will never want to go back to the store-bought stuff again!

Case in point: the hubster recently got back from a business trip to Calgary, Canada. While he was there he went to a restaurant called Tim Horton’s that is supposedly famous for their hot chocolate. He said THAT hot chocolate didn’t hold a candle to THIS.

That convinced me it was time to re-introduce our favorite hot chocolate to those of you who missed it the first time around.

semi-homemade hot chocolate

 

Jillee’s Family’s Favorite Semi-Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 4 cups powdered milk
  • 21.8 oz box Nestle Nesquik (you could substitute the homemade Nesquik, I just haven’t tried it yet.)
  • 16 oz instant coffee creamer
  • 1 cup powdered sugar (you can adjust this to taste. I like it a little less sweet and this amount is perfect).

Mix all of this together in a big bowl. (Trust me on this one!) Pour into a storage jar or canister. To make a mug of cocoa, fill it with water or milk and heat in the microwave. Add 3-5 heaping tablespoons of mix to the cup and stir well.

 

semi-homemade hot chocolate

 

Some the things I like most about this mix:

  • #1 It mixes into hot milk or water wonderfully! No little globs of unincorporated hot chocolate mix floating on top.
  • #2 It’s the perfect sweetness!
  • #3 Like your hot chocolate with a normal amount of creaminess? Add 3 heaping tablespoons of mix. Like it EXTRA creamy? Add 5 tablespoons. It’s very customizable.
  • #4 It is THE PERFECT compliment to buttered toast in the morning. :-)  Especially English Muffin Bread! One of my favorite breakfasts!

And finally…..

  • #5 It makes a GREAT gift!  Especially at Christmastime. For a neighbor or teacher, fill a mason jar with mix and attach a tag. For someone you’re closer to, make a whole big batch and put it in a beautiful glass canister. Trust me, they will LOVE you! :-)

 

 

Be sure to check out the new

One Good Thing By Jillee FORUM!

Start a conversation…meet a new friend…discuss an idea…or just hang out!
See ya there!

 




Comment | 72 Comments

72 thoughts on “Our Family’s FAVORITE Semi-Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix!”

  2. CTY

    Guess who is up early to shop! Reminds me of my first DIY Hot Cocoa Powder recipe. Mine was Carnation Hot Cocoa Mix & creamer (Carnation, Nestle & Coffemate are now the same company). I would also toss in about 20 ground peppermints (processed to a fine dust– your Blendtec would work great). I sold it before Christmas. The one year I sold nearly 300 lbs of it- just by word of mouth through friends and family.
    Especially good when made with milk.

    Reply ↓
  3. Shannon

    This looks great and I can’t wait to try it out, great for gifts!

    But Timmies isn’t famous for their hot chocolate. Only their coffee. I live in Edmonton, and there is one on every corner!

    Reply ↓
    2. julila

      I agree. They aren’t famous for their hot Chocolate and I don’t like it at all. I love the coffee but make my own hot chocolate. Thanks for the recipe!!!

      Reply ↓
      1. Becky

        Your ho-cho mix looks good :)
        I’m also in Edmonton and Timmies is definitely not famous for their hot chocolate. It’s famous for their coffee, but it’s gross too (though I’m one of only a few canadians to think so)

        Reply ↓
        1. Denise

          LOL Becky I totally agree with you! I like Duncan Donuts coffee sooo much better! I swear because it’s popular people just follow the leader and dont try different brands… but that is just my personal opinion! I live in Buffalo, NY and grew up on Tim Hortons in Ft. Erie ON. We mostly went for the donuts but now that it is in the states, that has changed a lot too!

          Reply ↓
  4. Jo

    I just made my second batch of this! My family loves it!!!
    Shannon is right! Tim Hortons (affectionately know as Timmies to us Canadians!) is known for their coffee, which I don’t drink.

    Reply ↓
  5. jo

    Now, I enjoyed a Timmie’s Hot Chocolate just the other day, and it was pretty epic. Creamy, thick, delicious. I like hot chocolate that doesn’t require marshmallows to be drinkable, and Timmie’s? It’s that kind of hot chocolate.

    That said, Tim’s is not famous for hot chocolate, it’s famous for coffee and doughnuts, and for being affordable eats. My city (80,000) has 7 or 8 of them, I think. My husband both had a good chuckle about you referring to it as a restaurant – it’s no more a restaurant than McDonald’s or Burger King – it’s a fast food joint, but the food at Timmie’s is WAY better for you.

    Reply ↓
  8. JackieToo

    This looks wonderful! I’ve been wanting to try something new. My nieces are always so impressed that I have homemade hot chocolate at my house. When I make this for them, I’ll leave out the “semi” part of semi-homemade. Aunties have to have their secrets, after all. :D

    Thanks, Jillee.

    Reply ↓
  9. KimH

    I was introduced to this mix about 25 years when I worked at a cemetery. After a funeral we would bring the hearse driving a steaming warm cup of this cocoa in the cold & rainy seasons.. We made it in larger proportions though cuz all of us workers liked it too Its definitely yummy!

    Reply ↓
  10. Anna

    I love the creaminess, never used coffee whitener or powdered milk before. Not too sweet either which is what I usually find. For British people reading this, powdered sugar is icing sugar, which makes perfect sense when you think about it but I had to google it.

    I did your nesquik recipe for this rather than nesquik, It worked perfectly doing a direct substitution, personally my preference would be to add some more cocoa powder to make it a bit more chocolately now I’ve tried it.

    I also recommend a hand held frother, aerolatte. This is one of those gadgets that is so useful for many things, like protein shakes, lumps in gravy and this,. I filled my mug 30-40% with milk, added 4 very heaped tea spoons of the hot chocolate powder, frothed it for a few seconds so there’s no lumps. Topped with water, microwaved for just over a min, frothed again for a few seconds to get a frothy top.

    Thank you.

    Reply ↓
  13. Anna

    Susan I bought own brand powdered milk from the supermarket here it cost £1 for 400gms, coffee creamer/whitener was just £1.67 for 500gms. Cocoa powder was £2.50, Icing sugar £1, caster sugar £1. I made 1/4 size batch so total cost was £7.17 (I had most of the ingredients already). I’ve made a 15cm tall ribbed sweetie jar full of this which is a single batch of Nesquik recipe (1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder) and then toppped it up with 1/4 of the recipe above. I have enough left of all the ingredients to do at least 4 more batches. I estimate this costs me about £1.50 a batch ($2) which I think is easily about 15-20 cups which is 15-10c a cup! I imagine your prices are not disimilar to mine here in the UK.
    Also the own brand coffee whitener here had better quality ingredients than Coffee mate despite being cheaper.

    I just need now to convert to grams and then I can work out the calories etc.

    Reply ↓
  15. Lindsey

    I am wanting to package homemade hot chocolate in mason jars for gifts this year. How many quart mason jars would this fill? I would need to fill about 8 jars.

    Reply ↓
  16. Carolyn

    Sounds yum and simple! I’m definitely going to make it.. And you’re right: it’s customizable I’d add cinnamon or Graham cracker crumbs and marshmallows our crushed peppermints or even some ginger or orange zest!!! Can’t wait to experiment! Also, I an finding things every day on your website that I love! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply ↓
  18. Hannah

    This is how my Mom has always made hot chocolate. I don’t know where she found the recipe, but she’s been making it that way for over 30 years and yes…it really IS the best!

    Reply ↓
  20. Sarah

    Same recipe my mom used when I was a kid! Love that stuff! **hint hint** even better with a bit of Baileys or Kahlua, or peppermint schnapps added to it. . .

    Reply ↓
  21. Ashley

    thanks for sharing this! i have been trying to think of some easy gifts to have on hand for people we might not shop for, but want to have something special for, and this is a great idea! :)

    Reply ↓
  22. Comet

    Ahhhhhh–TIMS ROCKS!!!!! Not for hot cocoa tho!! LOL!!!

    But–I guess if one were COLD ENOUGH it might be just the thing!!!!

    We are sloooooley getting Tims here in the lower 48 US states. Used to be I had to go to Montreal for a “Fix” of croissants and Nanaimo Bars. Still can’t get the Bars in the US (at least not anywhere I have been!) yet tho –but I can make ‘em myself.

    They have much BETTER food items than Dunks (and I love Dunks ICED coffee!) and less sweet and FRESHER donuts than Dunks in most places.

    IT seems that either you are a Dunks Fan or a Tims Fan.

    We have heard that Tim’s is going to be making a big investment in getting a firm foothold in the New England area—YAY!!!!!–and a few Tims have opened up here in Mid-to Southern NY State. For which we are VERY thankful! Keeping the Law Students happy at SUNY-UA now!

    I make a super simple hot cocoa that is not too sweet AND no sugar. Use regular Toll House COCOA (not chips etc!) in the little box and use a few tablespoons (you will have to adjust to your taste here!)-and mix with some milk in a sauce pan. Heat and whisk til blended—will be thick–and slowly add the rest of the milk you need—measure one of your mugs to get this amount!–and whisk til just about to boil. Remove and add a few drops of vanilla. Pour and THEN add Splenda to taste. (Heating most Splenda changes the flavor; adding it to something hot doesn’t) If you really want to make this even MORE yummy add some cream while heating and whip the rest with a stick (immersion) blender and add Splenda and a few drops of vanilla (can add these at the start) —this blender makes extremely thick whipped cream that tastes sooooo much better than a regular beater or those canned kinds you will never want those again!!!! I am sure that you could use any sugar free soda flavors–I have hazelnut and others for coffee etc—or creamers.

    The whole thing start to finish takes less time than it did to read the directions! Dark and rich. OR –add less cocoa for a lighter flavor

    Reply ↓
  23. Kristi

    My mom would make this every winter & I have made it every winter for my family-I don’t know where she found the recipe but it has been a family favorite for more than 40 years! Growing up in northern Minnesota you need a warm cup of hot cocoa to warm you up and this sure fits the bill!

    Reply ↓
  24. stellans

    I love opening my email program in the mornings and seeing a post from this blog! I haven’t seen a post yet that I couldn’t take something from – thank you so much.

    I love making homemade hot chocolate mix, and my recipe is very similar to yours though I use my food processor to blend mine into fine powder because it seems to mix better.

    Also, my family requested a mocha mix (think International Coffee Suisse Mocha), so after some experimenting, I came up with a pretty good formula. Just in case anyone might be interested, I’m putting it here:

    Homemade Mocha Mix
    Ingredients:

    1 cup granulated white sugar (equivalent sugar substitute will also work)
    1 cup powdered milk
    3/4 (cup instant coffee granules
    1 cup powdered non-dairy vanilla-flavored creamer (sugar-free will also work)
    1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

    Directions:

    In a 5 cup or larger food processor bowl (necessary to thoroughly ‘powderize’ the ingredients), combine all ingredients and process until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Store in a sealed container.

    To serve, stir in 2 rounded (not heaped) tablespoons (not teaspoons…really) of cocoa mixture into 1 8-oz cup of hot water. My husband likes this topped with a little whipped cream (we sometimes use Redi-Whip, but never Cool Whip). Also, my mother requested I make a batch for her with cinnamon in it, so to the above list of ingrediencts I added 1 tablespoon of cinnamon before processing. Success!

    –stellans in NC

    Reply ↓
  25. Cheryl

    I am excited to try the hot chocolate mix – and I enjoyed hearing that your husband went to Calgary and ate at Tim’s – my home town and love Tim Horton’s especially their soup and donuts and bagels. Yum. Don’t miss the snow though much prefer St George’s weather.

    Reply ↓
  26. Anna

    For me it came to:

    5 heaped tsps (40gms)= 165 calls and 5.8gms of fat = 1 mug of hot chocolate. (homemade nesquik & proper sugar, so I’m sure it can be bought down a little)

    Thanks for the mocha recipe, will try that. I’ve been trying this with my new Nespresso capsules (coconut hazelnut and macademia) so far it’s not really working.

    Reply ↓
  28. troy

    Hi there, I wonder if you could take out the coffeemate and use whole milk instead – SODIUM ALUMINUM SILICATE is listed as an ingrediaent – read on ….. just saying!

    Sodium aluminosilicate also goes by the names aluminosilicic acid, sodium salt, aluminum sodium silicate, sasil, silicic acid and aluminum sodium salt. It is used as a food additive to prevent caking or clumping in dry powdered mixtures. It is also added to latex paint to create a flat finish and is a component of household cleaning products. Although it is generally safe in these products, handling the raw chemical material may be dangerous.

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/442548-dangers-of-sodium-aluminosilicate/#ixzz2DE6dWjNg

    Reply ↓
  30. susan

    Walmart’s version of Coffeemate has less of the crappy stuff in it…I’m finding that a LOT of their things have less of the lousy stuff…and their version of Countrytime Lemonade is good.

    Reply ↓
  31. ~joanne

    ?for U….my Nesquick is 30 oz size…but it looks like you put the whole container in….so maybe I have a larger size…just checking the size to make sure I use the right amounts??? Also…you have 2 in the picture…is that just to make a pretty picture?

    Reply ↓
  32. Amanda

    Does this taste like coffee? I do not like coffee at all (not even the smell) but I would love to find a great hot chocolate mix. I’ve tried so many that claim to be the “best” but so far I haven’t found one that actually is. I don’t want to waste time/money making this if it has even a hint of coffee flavor.

    Reply ↓
    1. Deserae

      I don’t think it would taste or smell like coffee at all. There isn’t anything in it that has a coffee flavor. The instant creamer is just like powdered milk, but creamier.

      Reply ↓
  33. Jules

    Just made a batch of this & my youngest daughter (the hot chocolate connoisseur) HATES it! Oh no!! She says it’s too much cream, not enough chocolate. I double checked to be sure I didn’t use the wrong size Coffee-mate. I have powdered cocoa but I’m not sure how much to add or if that’s even the solution. Help!
    I sure enjoy getting your emails every day, Jillee!

    Reply ↓
    1. Natasha

      Jules,

      I would have to agree with your daughter on this one as I for one like the chocolate flavor so I went back and played with it a little more and found that if you add in a double batch of the homemade nesquik that it gives it really good chocolate flavor. I even went a step more and did one more single batch of the nesquik and added it in and I LOVE IT!!! But try this and see if your daughter approves. Good Luck

      Reply ↓
  35. Anna

    I’m with Jules, it is very creamy and good BUT I think I would like more chocolate!! @ Natasha did you add the homeade nesquick to the mix along with the store bought kind?
    Jilee, what should I do?!?! :) (ps you are great and I LOVE your site)

    Reply ↓
    1. Jillee Post author

      hmmmm….I wonder if adding a few tablespoons of cocoa powder would do the trick? Maybe start there and add more until you get the “chocolatyness” you’re looking for. :-)

      Reply ↓
  37. Ann

    The BEST hot chocolate mix I’ve ever had! I just finished making my first batch and I’m ready to make another. I have to many friends and family that would love it for Christmas! Thanks!

    Reply ↓
  41. Stephanie Lendabarker

    I wanted to make the hot cocoa mix but wanted to use the homemade Nesquik. How much of the homemade Nesquik do I use in the recipe as opposed to the Nestle Nesquik?

    Reply ↓

  42. Pingback: Semi homemade Hot Chocolate mix » Arabianmama

  43. liz

    this is awesome! didn’t even use the powdered milk, just added to a cup of warm milk. and i did use the home made nesqucik, fabulous! gave them as gifts this year too :)

    Reply ↓
  47. Karen423

    I made a half batch of this at Thanksgiving and have been enjoying it since. Gave a big jar to my son and his girlfriend at Christmas (along with some homemade canned apple butter). Use to make this years ago and had sticker shock getting the Nesquik. I am going to make some more, using the homemade Nesquik.

    Reply ↓
  48. noretta reynolds

    I love this recipe have used it for years. my family likes me to put the dry milk in the blender it helps it to blend more easily and no floating flakes .[ it makes the milk more fluffy]

    Reply ↓
  50. Marilope

    Jillee, we love your recipe for the hot chocolate. We are having what we call a “cold spell” here in South Florida and we have been drinking it every night and sometimes during the day.
    I would like to make a “Café con Leche” mix, that’s coffee with milk. How would I adjust the proportion of a 21.8 oz box Nestle Nesquik for instant coffee? Thanks

    Reply ↓

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *