I secretly love those little packets of hot cocoa mix — but I recently decided to quit buying them and start making my own. The nice thing about making your own hot cocoa mix is that you have free control over what goes into it (and what stays out of it). Like yours super chocolatey? No problem. Want to take down the sugar and add a bit of cayenne and cinnamon? Do it. Today, I'm sharing my recipe for basic hot cocoa mix, plus a few suggestions for mix-ins that I've been loving lately.

The basic mix itself should stay fresh for at least 4 to 5 months if kept stored in an airtight container, out of direct sunlight, and at room temperature — no need to refrigerate. (I should say that the mix I make never sits around in our cupboards that long, since we drink it up, but there's nothing that would go terribly rancid here or that I'm worried would spoil).

All winter, I've also been sipping Theo's drinking chocolate. I initially fell for it because it contains actual chunks of chocolate — it's not a dusty, dry powder. So for my homemade recipe, I decided to hand-chop some chocolate so it would be more in line with Theo's delicious mix. If you're pressed for time, you could chop the chocolate in a food processor instead; I just like the uneven nature achieved by hand chopping it.

From: www.thekitchn.com