I know you should know by now that I am the Queen of National holidays. I love seeing what is there to celebrate. During the holiday season I do a hot cocoa bar for the family as we watch Christmas movies and relax! With that in mind, here’s my take on National Hot Cocoa Day! National Hot Cocoa day is on Sunday December 13th. We did ours last weekend.
Keep it Simple or Go Big
It’s up to you how extravagant you want to be. I’ve done both simple and huge cocoa bars. Neither one is wrong. This year we kept it simple. Kids love hot chocolate but they also love candy more. To present upset stomachs like we have had in the past, I elected a small cocoa bar.
Know Your Audience
With us being home I didn’t open it up to anyone outside of my home. My children are all 11 and under. They have just about the same taste in toppings. I was able to grab a view items which I will link in today’s post. This isn’t sponsored by the way I just want you to have what you need. If I was opening this up to others outside of my home I would have had toppings of all kinds. You want to have enough toppings to cover all who may want to participate.
Serving Tray
Whether you use a table and had decorated dishes to hold your toppings or a decorated tray, start with the base. Some will have signs as well. Again I usually do all of that but this year we kept it simple with no signs but added twinkle lights. I’ve had my tray for quite a few years and to be honest I’m unaware of where I even purchased it.
Stuffed Puff Marshmallow did send me the chocolate peppermint filled marshmallows
Presentation is Everything
I wanted to use my fancy containers etc but the way 2020 has me in my feelings I decided to let the basic day unfold. I made sure to include the following ingredients:
Peppermint spoons-these are so good, edible, and made a great hit! You can get them from Amazon!
Stuffed Puff marshmallow comes in many flavors. The one we went with was chocolate covered peppermint! They hold their shape for quite some time. They are delicious
Pirouette Cookies can be found at your local grocery store. I purchased from Target with Drive up.
Crushed peppermint pieces from target as well!
I also got the Hot Cocoa kit from target. I didn’t use the hot chocolate that comes from it but I loved the toppings of caramel pieces, mini marshmallows, and more crushed peppermint pieces.
Chocolate chunks and I’m not sure where I got them. I’m thinking from the grocery store.
Rice Krispies Reindeer
I’m not the bear reindeer maker but the kids loved them. I made the Rice Krispies as directed on the Rice Krispies box, placed a craft stick in the middle, used Ghiradelli Dark chocolate melting chips for the ears, and to hold the eyes and ears.
The eyes were candy eyes from Target of course! The red nose were peppermint M&Ms.
I shaped them and it took all of 15 minutes to do. It would have taken sooner but one of the kids needed me.
We watched my favorite movie of course, ELF! I mean did you expect me to watch anything else?
So for this weekend or any weekend make it about fun. Let the adult in you and your children if you have them have as much fun making up their own combinations.
Pro tip: do the hot cocoa bar closer to bedtime. This way they get a little chocolate wasted, settle down with a movie, and add some Irish Creme and Bourbon for the adults and relax! Trust me everyone will have a great night!
Here is my quick crock pot vegan approved hot cocoa recipe! Super easy. If you can stir you can make it!
Let me know in the comments, is hot cocoa your thing?
