HOT CHOCOLATE MIX: The frugal farm girl's DIY ready-made mix series.

Ready-made mixes: Homemade goodness made simple, one jar at a time.


Welcome to post #3 in my DIY ready-made mix series. Isn't this fun?! Not only do you save money when you make your own convenience mixes: You become more self-sufficient with every mix you learn to make. Now that's empowering! You're the boss. Not only are you able to create mixes that are free of additives, preservatives, chemicals, dyes and GMOs, you also get to tweak things just the way you like. Not chocolaty enough? Add more cocoa powder. Not sweet enough? Add more sugar. Knowing how to make your own mixes puts you in the driver's seat, not the commercial food manufacturers. 

So are you ready for round three? Then throw on an apron and let's get mixing!

HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

This hot chocolate mix turns out super rich and creamy, partly due to the addition of chocolate pudding mix it uses. So if you made the chocolate pudding mix from last week's post, yay! You're prepared! (If not, check out the link in the recipe below).  

How to make the mix
In a large bowl, combine the following ingredients and whisk them together until thoroughly blended:

3  1/2  cups powdered sugar 
3  cups dry powdered milk
1/2  cup homemade chocolate pudding mix 
1/2  cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
1/2  cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2  cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Mix everything together in the bowl, then transfer to a food processor and pulse for about 1 minute to produce a fine even powder. 

Store your hot chocolate mix in an air-tight container in your pantry. One batch of mix makes just under 2 quarts. That'll last a while, right? 

How to use the mix

To make hot chocolate, gather together the following:

3  tablespoons homemade hot chocolate mix per 1 cup of milk 
Milk, 1 cup per serving, you decide how much

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cold milk and hot chocolate mix, stirring constantly with a whisk. (Be sure the mix is added to cold milk and allowed to heat with it. If the mix is added to hot milk, your hot chocolate will turn out clumpy.) Continue stirring for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until the hot chocolate looks smooth, creamy and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and serve with marshmallows or whipped cream. 


Homemade hot chocolate mix:
Just in time for the holidays!



FREE PRINTABLE LABELS

Don't forget to label your ready-made mixes!  This hot chocolate mix looks very similar to the brownie mix and the pudding mix. You can see why labeling is a must for your homemade pantry supplies. To help you out, you'll find that each post in this series contains a link to a free downloadable page of 8 labels and instructions to attach to your homemade mixes. These labels are simple and easy to read, and done to look a bit retro (which I love) with their lettering and color scheme. You can print your labels onto white card-stock, cut them out, and use double-sided tape to stick them to your jars of mixes. Or, keep it super simple and print your labels onto this sticker paper by Avery. Just cut them out and stick them right to your jars. Enjoy!







Let's chat. Do you have a favorite DIY ready-made mix recipe? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Until next time...

Joy--Fearless Farm Girl,

"Farm girl: it's a verb, because it's what you do."

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