Almond Butterscotch Hot Chocolate

What is it about a nice steaming hot mug of hot chocolate on a cool winter night?

I mean, really. There’s just something about it that screams “comfort” and “cozy” and “all warm and fuzzy inside.”

For the majority of my life, when I wanted my hot chocolate fix, I would head to the cupboard and pull out on the convenient little packets of mix (most of the time, they used to be the “diet” or “sugar free” varieties…because god forbid I drank the real thing…foolish girl that I was), get the water boiling in my teapot, and have my hot cocoa that way.

It wasn’t until about a couple of years ago when I discovered the deliciousness that is homemade hot chocolate. Made with fresh milk and real ingredients, giving it the most superb, rich, and creamy taste. It saddens me to think about just how long I had been missing out on this.

And sometimes, adding marshmallows just makes it that much more exciting.

I don’t always take the time to make homemade hot chocolate at home, but whenever I do, there’s only one kind of milk I use, and that’s Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla. Not only do I save about 55 calories by swapping it for skim milk, but the difference in creaminess, texture, and flavor is just fantastic.

So if I’ve got you intrigued, here’s one of my favorite recipes for homemade hot chocolate:

Almond Butterscotch Hot Chocolate

Servings: 1 full mug or 2 smaller mugs

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
• 1 cinnamon stick, split lengthwise
• 1/8 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1 ounce good chocolate (milk or dark), finely chopped
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butterscotch syrup/sauce*
• 1 tablespoon hazelnut syrup (such as Torani)*

Directions:

1. Bring milk and cinnamon stick to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick, rinse, and reserve.
2. Whisk in cocoa, chocolate, sugar, and salt, whisking vigorously until mixture is foamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with cinnamon stick.

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Sometimes, of course, there are those days where you just might need a little extra “zip” in your hot chocolate; not so much these days, but it’s happened in the past. Its days like those where I jazz mine up a bit to create the most delicious alcoholic version.

*To make an Almond Amaretto Butterscotch Hot Chocolate, try substituting the following:

• Replace the butterscotch syrup with 4 ounces butterscotch Schnapps
• Replace the hazelnut syrup with 1 ounce amaretto

**Edited to add: Those measurements are for TWO cups. If you’re only making one cup, halve the two ingredients above.

You’ve definitely got to try that version…trust me. Do it for me.

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Nutritional Information (for non-alcoholic version):

Calories: 195.1
Total Fat: 6.4 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Poly Fat: .1 g
Mono Fat: 1.0 g
Sodium: 152.0 g
Potassium: 251.4 mg
Total Carbs: 37.6 g
Fiber: 3.3 g
Protein 2.9 g

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and Fitfluential, LLC. All opinions expressed are my own. Learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.

Tagged as: alcoholic homemade hot chocolate, Almond Amaretto Butterscotch Hot Chocolate, Almond Butterscotch Hot Chocolate, Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla