Hot Chocolate Is The Perfect Wintertime Drink

There's nothing more satisfying than a mug of hot chocolate on a cold and snowy February day. Maureen C. Petrosky, author of The Cocktail Club and The Kitchn's 10 Minute Happy Hour Column shared some of her favorite hot beverages on The Today Show. She included a special recipe for Nutella hot chocolate, which can be spiked or not – it's up to you.

Nutella hot chocolate

Petrosky calls this hot chocolate her "10-minute happy hour."

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup Nutella
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 ounces bourbon, Frangelico, cacao rum, or chocolate liqueur, optional
• Oven-toasted marshmallows, optional (instructions below)

In a pot over medium-high heat, bring the milk to a simmer. Add the Nutella to your hot chocolate, stirring it until it has melted. Add a cinnamon stick and bring it to a simmer.

Ladle the Nutella hot chocolate into mugs and top it with oven toasted marshmallows. (If serving with marshmallows, toast them on a foil-line baking sheet for 30 to 45 seconds or until golden brown.)

Spicy Hot Chocolate

Maybe you want to enjoy some spicy hot chocolate. It's spicy in a gingerbread way, according to Arkansas Online. The source says this hot chocolate has a very mild chile bite to it. You can also skip the chile powder or reduce it to just a pinch.

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder, or to taste
• 13/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium pot, whisk the chocolate, cocoa, sugar, and chile powder. Place the pan over medium-low heat and whisk until the chocolate begins to melt. Slowly whisk the milk and cream. Drop in a cinnamon stick and bring to a simmer.

Remove the pot from the heat. Cover pot tightly and steep for one hour. Whisk in vanilla and taste for sweetness, adding more sugar if you like, according to the source. This hot chocolate recipe uses 70 percent chocolate, making it sweet enough.

Warm over low heat before straining and serving hot. Enjoy your cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired.

Cacao - Hot Chocolate Alternative

If you're too lazy to make hot chocolate from scratch, just add a teaspoon of Nua Naturals raw cacao powder to a cup of hot almond milk. This hot chocolate alternative will give you glowing skin, according to The Independent.

The Inquisitr recently reported the things that makes hot chocolate so great. Not only does it keep you warm and bring back childhood memories of sledding and building snowmen, but it's also so cheap that anyone can afford it and enjoy it. What is your all-time favorite hot chocolate recipe?

[Images: Steven Depolo, Maureen C. Petrosky / The Kitchn, Nua Naturals]