Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate ♥

Hello Friends! Happy Friday! 

So it's no secret I am a lover of pumpkin spice coffee.  I know, it's not for everyone, but for me I'm all in!  From Sept-Nov it's pretty much all I drink.  That is until I discovered pumpkin spice hot chocolate!  Have you ever had it?  I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and I was instantly hooked.  This hot drink combines 2 of my favorite things.  Chocolate and pumpkin!

How could I go wrong?

I will admit it takes a little effort.  You have to get a pan out and plan on whisking for a few minutes. But I assure you, if you want to treat yourself to something festive on Halloween night, give it a try!

It's DELICIOUS~ 

The recipe comes from The Striped Spatula ♥

1 1/4 cups milk

1-2 tablespoons  pumpkin puree

1-2 tablespoons light brown sugar (depending how sweet you want it)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground ginger

a pinch of ground cloves

a pinch of sea salt

3 oz. chocolate chips (or about 1/2 cup)

In a small pot whisk together all ingredients except for the chocolate.  Heat over medium-low heat, constantly whisking so all the spices and pumpkin are incorporated into the milk. Continue doing so until bubbles start to form around the side of the pan. 

Reduce heat to low and add chocolate.  Whisk constantly until the chocolate is melted, glossy, and slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. 

Pour into a mug and top with whip cream and sprinkles! 

*TIPS*

It's important to constantly whisk while this is cooking.  You want to make sure all your spices and chocolate are incorporated and also make sure the milk doesn't burn.  If you keep WHISKING your hot chocolate will be thick and creamy  ♥

The recipe calls for using semi sweet chocolate. I used milk chocolate chips because that's what I had.  It came out delicious.  

I used 1 heaping tablespoon of canned pumpkin and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.  In my opinion it was just enough.  Not too sweet and not overly pumpkin-y.  Just right : ) 

This recipe makes one large mug or 2 small mugs of goodness! ♥

Click the link to The Striped Spatula for more tips and variations of this recipe, including an adult version (spiked with bourbon!) and a white chocolate version which I am dying to try! 

Enjoy! ♥

Tonight I am taking John and a few friends to a haunted house here in our town.  I've heard it's very scary so needless to say I'll be waiting outside! 

Have a cozy weekend everyone!

XO