Hot Cocoa Mix

The grocery store has been out of the cocoa mix that I like, so instead of buying brands I don't like I thought I'd try making my own mix. Here's Alton Brown's recipe so you can make your own hot cocoa mix too!

Hot Cocoa Mix
2 1/2 C powdered milk
2 C powdered sugar
1 C cocoa powder Dutch process (I added about 1/8 C more)
2 t corn starch
1 (scant) t salt (not kosher)
cayenne pepper sprinkles (left this out)
1/4 C Splenda brown sugar
1/4 C mini chocolate chips

Alton says to fill mug 1/3 full with mix and combine with hot water.

Recipe Source: Alton Brown's Hot Cocoa Mix 

Enjoy!

Suz

Muesli

It took me a while to wrap my brain around Muesli, a breakfast cereal developed over a century ago by a Swiss physician, and yet Muesli has become a staple at my house. My daughter has it in her lunch 2-3 days a week and loves it. I send about 1/3 C muesli with Greek Honey yogurt. (My post in 2009 was my introduction to Muesli.) I can't always find muesli at the store. So I've been looking over muesli recipes to see how you make it. It looked really easy, and like you can make it to your individual taste preferences.

Raisins with the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and almond extracts sprinkled on.

Chopped almonds ready to be pan toasted.

Mixed together.

Taste test above. The toasted almonds really sparkle in this and I liked the touch of the almond extract that shone through as well. (I bet coconut would be really good too.)

Muesli
3 C rolled oats
1-2 T Oat Bran
Coconut (really wanted to use this, but was out of it)
1/2 C+ Almonds (chopped0
2/3-1 C Raisins
1/2 t Almond Extract
1/2 t Vanilla Extract
1/2 t Cinnamon
1/8 t Nutmeg (fresh grated)

I was not really 100% scientific about measurements with this recipe. 1/2 lid of vanilla and pour in enough raisins so you'll actually run into one every once in a while... you catch my drift. With the exception of the spices and extracts I think you can be kind of flexible. To get started add the oats and bran to a mixing bowl. Add the raisins to the oats then sprinkle on the cinnamon and nutmeg and then the almond and vanilla extracts. Stir to combine. Chop the almonds and toast them in a non-stick pan. Add almonds to oat mixture and stir to combine. At this point I tossed about half of the mixture back into the pan to toast the oats a little. When slightly toasted add back to the main bowl and stir to combine.

Want to make your own muesli? Google "muesli recipes" to get ideas of how other people put theirs together. Some people add sesame and sunflower seeds, others add walnuts, others make it fresh and add fresh apples. The biggest things that seem to separate muesli from granola are:

• The rolled oats are raw
• No added fat like butter or oil
• No added sugar
• No sweetened sauce baked on (the original recipe called for condensed milk that would have covered this!)

Note: If you like granola check out Almond Granola and Chocolate Granola (which is very good) if you'd like to try them too!

The original recipe for Museli is on the Wikipedia post about Muesli and it looks really good!

Enjoy!

Suzanne