Thirsty Thursday: Pumpkin Pie Hot Coco

I know I'm not the only one sneaking in vegetables in every damn thing I can. I realize this is something they'll probably tell their shrink BUT, IN MY DEFENSE...if I can get them to eat extra veggies and we don't both end up crying - it's a win in my book all day long!

This pumpkin pie hot coco is so good I swear you won't even know it's got good stuff in it!

Our hot chocolate is rich and velvety, it's great on it's own so if you're not feeling the pumpkin side of it, leave those ingredients out. I promise it will be great too!

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Your List of Ingredients

• 1/2 (rounded) cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

• 4 tsp Corn Starch

• 14 oz. Dark Chocolate, chopped into small pieces

• 4 + 1/4 cups Milk

• 15 oz. Canned Pumpkin

• 1/2 (flat) cup Sugar

• 1 tsp Vanilla

• 1 tsp Pumkpin Pie Spice

• 12 Marshmallows

Step 1: Get to know your ingredients

I think it's important to note here that this isn't a slow cooker hot chocolate recipe. The structure of the drink needs the full boil, so please, trust the process. It can however, be multiplied if you're making for a friend too or even a crowd.

We should also chat about 3 of the ingredients. For the dark chocolate, you want bars (or you could go for chips and not need to chop) but, you want a really good quality chocolate here. Go at least for "bittersweet" but, you can go as dark as you like. Just note, the darker the chocolate, the less sweet the final drink will be (and that's ok if you like that - I do, my boys don't). On the milk, you can go 2%, whole, even half & half works. I'll admit, I've not tried this with non-dairy alternative milks. I'm lactose intolerant but, I don't even bother testing with greatness! I just throw back some meds and know any pain thereafter is a work-place injury. Also, keep that 1 tbls separate for ease of use in the recipe when the time comes. Lastly, on the pumpkin, YES, you can use pumpkin pie filling (sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do). It will however increase the sweetness so you could balance by using a darker chocolate or reducing the sugar - unless you like it sweeter in which case, you're all set!

Step 2: Get everything prepped

In a small bowl, whisk until smooth1 cup of the milk and all of the cornstarch and then set aside. Then, sift the cocoa into a medium bowl along with the sugar and whisk to combine well too. If you chose a chocolate bar over chips, go ahead and chop all of the dark chocolate into small pieces. This helps it to incorporate better without burning.

Step 3: Time to cook!

In a medium pot, add the 3 and 1/4 cups of milk, canned pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spice and bring to a boiling before reducing the heat to low. Start whisking and add the milk/cornstarch mixture followed by the cocoa mixture (slowly or you'll be covered in it). Whisk until smooth and add the chopped chocolate and continue to whisk for about 3 minutes - you just want that chocolate to melt. Take it off the head and stir in the vanilla.

Step 4: Garnish!

With the pumpkin theme here, a cinnamon stick is a simple but, fun garnish but, my crew has a marshmallow addiction so we go with toasted marshmallows. You can use a kitchen torch, parchment lined baking sheet under a broiler (with a watchful eye) or over an open flame. Depending on the size of your cup, we usually do 2-3 per cup and we use the larger ones just to mimic s'mores a bit. If you'd like, dust with just a touch of the pumpkin pie spice so your guest know what's coming!

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Pumpkin Pie Hot Coco

Go season or go for the traditional on this one and either way, it's the best way to end a cold night in a really indulgent way!