Creamy Crock-pot Hot Choco.

OK everyone I know I have not been very diligent with my posts. But here is one that is so simple you cant mess it up, Crock-pot Hot chocolate. Found it on another great site called Mrs Happy Homemaker. I will add her link to the bottom of this post so you can check her out. I did this two different ways. For the step by step process the photos will be of the milk chocolate mixture.(except for the bag of chips they are the size bag you need but its a picture of the white chocolate chips bag I did this so you would have a reference of how big the bag is.) 

I did this with White chocolate and a separate batch with milk chocolate.  I even tried it with peppermint extract.


Severs roughly 6-10 people (depending on the size mug you use.)


For the initial ingredients you will need:

(note this pic was taken after I had added all the ingredients in. Don't worry this jug of milk was partially used prior to making this.)

• 1.5 cups heavy cream(same as heavy whipping cream)
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14oz)
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips(or one 12 oz bag)
• 6 cups of milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the white chocolate mixture:

• substitute the 2 cups of milk chocolate chips for white chocolate chips

• 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract (this is optional. you can add more peppermint if you want but only do about 1/4th of a tsp more because it is strong) You don't want the peppermint to be over powering the whole thing. Unless you really like that peppermint taste then add as much as you like!

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     This is where it gets even simpler.  Make sure the crock-pot is on low. this is so you don't burn the chocolate that you will be adding in. Just add everything in at once, and whisk together! Let cook for 2 hours while string occasionally to prevent chocolate from sticking to the bottom. (yes get the whisk to the bottom of the pot and slowly whisk up any chocolate. It will settle to the bottom every time)

 

 Starting out what it looks like.Trust me its all in there.

 When it looks like this stir. Again be sure to whisk the bottom of the pot to get the chocolate up.

 Should look like this after whisking

After the 2 hrs all you have to do is turn it on warm so that it does not boil the whole time, stir, and serve! Add marshmallows or whipped cream toppings on top if you want. Its that simple. You can even leave it on warm all day and it still taste great!

I don't know if you can tell the color difference in the pics but this one is the finished product. Its a darker brown.

Things to consider:
 

Notice when you have not been string for a while and it sits it will look like the whole thing has separated.  Don't worry just stir it, and your good to go. 

If you refrigerate it:
When you go to heat it up you might notice that it got thicker. All you have to do is add a little more milk and its thins it back out to the texture you want. 


If you accidentally simmer the batch or boil it and the mixture seems way to thick for your liking. No worries, again just add more milk.Mind you this is suppose to be creamy but not thick.


I don't know about freezing it. I know you can freeze jugs of milk so this should freeze just fine. But again I don't know. 


* If you don't want to wait 2 hour for this to cook you could probably turn it up on high and watch it the whole time to make sure the chocolate does not burn, but I would recommend string it the whole time if you do this. * It is very easy to burn chocolate. That and there is a good chance you could reduce it to the point that its to thick. Again this is fixable with adding more milk. 

Here is the link to the original site that I got it from. THANKS MRS HAPPY HOMEMAKER!!
http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2010/12/creamy-hot-cocoa-in-crockpot.html