Chubby Reindeer and Spiced Hot Chocolate

Ahhhhh December. Snow, the scent of pine, and the overwhelming stress of exams. Could there be a better time of year?

In an effort to distract my friends (and definitely not myself) from the impending doom of exams, I decided to host a little Christmas party! If you know college kids, you’ll know there’s nothing they like more than free food and procrastinating. Throw a little holiday cheer on top, and you’ve got a winning combination!

Because I wasn’t sure on numbers, and people said they’d be in an out all night, I decided to make gingerbread cookies, eggnog, and a vat of hot chocolate. Classics are hard to beat! I’ve included the hot chocolate and gingerbread recipes in this post, but if you’d like the eggnog recipe you can find it here!

I knew I wanted to:

a) make hot chocolate in my slow cooker so people could help themselves

b) not go bankrupt from the amount of chocolate that went into it

c) still have it be rich, chocolate-y, and creamy and

d) give it a little twist to make it more unique.

I settled on a spiced hot chocolate bar; a cinnamon-cardamom hot chocolate, and provide whipped cream, marshmallows, and candy canes. Made with a powdered hot chocolate base, it wasn’t bank breaking and made a full slow cooker! The slow cooker kept it the perfect temperature without having to babysit it, and the additional toppings let people personalize it. 

Fun fact: This hot chocolate also works really well mixed with a couple shots of whisky. Just saying. 

So the hot chocolate was taken care of! Now, I just needed a gingerbread recipe…….

I ended up adjusting a recipe from a longtime baking crush, sprinklebakes

I increased the sugar, spice, and chilling time, which met my requirements for flavour but had one little issue….

Chubby reindeer.

Or, better put, slightly spreading cookies. Honestly, I thought it was pretty cute with the reindeer(and the Santas I made) so I didn’t scrap the recipe.

To decorate, I just dipped thei feet and antlers(and tail sometimes) in white chocolate , and then set it to set on a parchment lined sheet. After a few minutes, I sprinkled pearl and gold sugar. Finally, I dipped a tiny sugar pearl into white chocolate and used it for the nose. I left it all in the fridge overnight to harden, and that was that!

Spiced Hot Chocolate

makes about 3 quarts

Ingredients

• 2 litres of milk
• 250 ml heavy cream
• 1 cup dark chocolate(chopped, or chips)
• 1 package(225g) carnation instant hot chocolate
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 5 cardamom pods
• pinch of clove

Combine all the ingredients in a crockpot and turn on high. whisk every 20 mins for the first hour, and serve!

preferred toppings: mini marshmallows, peppermint candy canes, unsweetened whipped cream, white chocolate chips

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Chubby Gingerbread Reindeer

makes 10-15 cookies

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups ap flour
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of clove
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup fancy molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup white chocolate
• sprinkles

1. Combine and whisk together all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
2. Add the softened butter and paddle until it comes together
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the molasses and the egg
4. Add the molasses mixture into the bowl and turn on low until it comes together.
5. Split the dough into 2 equal chunks, shape them into patty shapes, wrap them in plastic wrap, and let sit in the fridge for 6 hours minimum.
6. Preheat the oven to 350
7. Roll out the dough, 1 gingerbread patty at the time. Roll out to 1/2-1/4 inch thickness on a heavily floured service. This is a sticky dough.
8. Dip your cutters into flour and punch out your shapes. Space the cutouts out on a sheet and put into the freezer for 15 mins. 
9. Bake for 9 minutes.
10. Let cool for an hour.
11. Melt the white chocolate. Dip the parts of the reindeer into the white chocolate, let sit on wax paper for a few minutes, and sprinkle over with your chosen sugar or sprinkles.
12. Dip a sugar pearl into the melted white chocolate and use it for the nose. 
13. Let set overnight to harden

These last for a week uncovered, and stay soft. Enjoy!