by Laura Falin posted in Life & Home

I do love me some hot cocoa. We've had a few snowy days here in the past weeks, and the kids always come in from playing outside in the cold and beg for some hot chocolate to warm up. And because I love them dearly (but mostly because I love hot chocolate), I almost always make it.

We like to make our hot cocoa from scratch -- it isn't hard, and it tastes so much better than the powdery stuff where you just add water. There are many ways to make your own hot chocolate, but the simplest is just semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk, heated and stirred with a milk frother.
And this cinnamon version is an unexpected twist on our favorite.
 
Ingredients:

2 c water
4 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 c sugar 2 Tb semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c milk
whipped cream and extra cinnamon sticks for garnish

Instructions:
To make cinnamon simple syrup -- add water and cinnamon sticks to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks and add sugar, bring heat back up to high and stir until sugar is dissolved and the water is no longer cloudy. Set aside.
To make hot chocolate -- Put chocolate chips in the bottom of a microwaveable mug. Add milk and microwave until hot. Using a milk frother or spoon, stir until chocolate is melted and stirred through the mixture. Add 1/4 c cinnamon simple syrup and garnish with whipped cream and extra cinnamon.

 
Now, if you're a grown-up...say, a parent who's now...