Fall Beverage – Bead Yarn & Spatula

You may be wondering why I would take the time to make hot chocolate in a slow cooker when I could easily just make it on the stove. Well, I saw a video on Instagram one day for it and thought it would be a nice treat, which it was. It was also a good excuse to use some white chocolate chips I had and to use leftover pumpkin puree I had from making Pumpkin Cannoli. All pretty good excuses in my book!

In my slow cooker I added whole milk, white chocolate chips, pumpkin puree, cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract, ground ginger and freshly grated nutmeg. Trust me, it’s worth using freshly grated nutmeg as opposed to the powder form. Ground nutmeg can sometimes leave a pungent flavor, but, using freshly grated nutmeg eliminates that. After giving all of my ingredients a good stir, I set my slow cooker to low and let it cook for 2-3 hours. For the first hour, I gave the mixture a good stir every 10 minutes to make sure the chocolate was melting and to evenly distribute all of the ingredients. As an aside, is it still right to say cook when it comes to making hot chocolate? Or, maybe I should say simmer? Hmmmm???

I enjoyed it topped with whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick as a garnish/stirrer. I actually used one of the cinnamon sticks that I added to the slow cooker. This is the perfect autumn warm-me-up beverage. Or, thinking ahead, an ideal complement to your Thanksgiving desserts. You could easily double or triple the recipe for a large group of people.

If you’re curious about the Pumpkin Cannoli recipe check back tomorrow!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate

Servings: 4 cups
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Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

4 cinnamon sticks, additional sticks for garnish

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for topping

Whipped cream

Directions:

Combine the milk, chocolate chips, pumpkin, cinnamon sticks, vanilla, ginger and nutmeg in a slow cooker and stir together.

Heat on low for 2-3 hours, stirring every 10 minutes for the first hour to stir in the melted chocolate. And occasionally after that.

Serve in mugs, topped with topped whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg. Add a cinnamon stick that can be used as a stirrer in case the pumpkin settles.

It’s officially fall! My favorite season… Pumpkins, apples, apple picking, foliage, scarf weather and we’re closer to my other favorite time of the year (the holiday season). I think I have covered it all. And while pumpkin flavored everything has been on store shelves for a few weeks now and I will admit that I did bake a few things that are pumpkin flavored, I have waited until now to post anything pumpkin related. And I am starting small with this Pumpkin Chai Latte. Before I get to the latte though, I just want to touch on the pumpkin flavored phenomena. It’s a bit out of control! It’s so excessive that I am not really tempted to get anything. I did pick up some Pumpkin Flavored Cheerios that remind me more of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios than anything, and some Pumpkin Fruit Butter. I used to love Pumpkin Flavored Milanos and I even enjoyed some pumpkin spice almonds I picked up a year or two ago, but now, I prefer the baked pumpkin flavored treats I make more than anything.

Now, back to the latte. I began by heating milk and steeping a bag of chai tea in the milk for about 5 minutes. And here’s something I learned and maybe some of you knew this but somehow I didn’t… By steeping the chai tea bag in milk I had a chai tea latte. It’s one of the few things I order at Starbucks but I am pretty excited to know now that I can make it at home now. It just needs a little sugar. Once the milk was read I whisked in pumpkin puree and a pinch each of pumpkin spice and honey. You can sub sugar if you prefer your latte on the sweeter side. I then strained it and enjoyed!