It's relatively cheap to make a giant batch of cocoa, and if you portion it out and use these cute ideas to decorate it up, it'll be a great gift to give out. You can use it as a gift for a teacher at school, give it to coworkers, or even to relatives and friends who like cocoa!
For the cocoa mix:
(MAKES 80 SERVINGS, APPROXIMATELY)
1 (8 quart) box powdered milk
1 (16 ounce) container non-dairy powdered coffee creamer (if you'd like to change the flavour of the cocoa, this is a good ingredient to do so with. Often you can find this in a hazelnut or vanilla flavour, or even some more exotic flavours like cinnamon. Otherwise, just use the standard flavour, or even a chocolate flavour!)
16 ounces powdered sugar
1 (2 lb) box Nesquik Chocolate Milk Mix
Mix all of the ingredients together.
For chocolate spoons:
Plastic spoons (I'd say plan two for each cocoa mix you're giving)
Bakers chocolate (white or milk chocolate both are really good for this)
Optional: Crushed peppermints (either crush candy canes, or just some mints from a restaurant!)
Put the chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Dip in each spoon so that the scoopy part of the spoon is coated, plus filled a little bit with some extra chocolate. Sprinkle with crushed mints before it dries, for nice colour and a minty flavour, if desired. Let dry.
I think this looks really cute if you package one spoon made with white chocolate and one spoon made with milk chocolate with each gift, but that's just my opinion. After they've dried, wrap spoons (the part covered in chocolate) with cellophane (the coloured kind looks good here, or just use clear). Use ribbon or twist ties to close them.
Now, the packaging. There are a couple of ideas you can do here:
1. Find a really cute tin (you can get some cheap at the Dollar Tree or similar dollar stores!) Wash it, let it dry, and put cocoa in the tin (or put cocoa in a large baggy, and set it inside the tin, so you can also put the spoons, a candy cane, and a small baggy of mini marshmallows inside). If you didn't put the other stuff inside, you can use nice ribbon to tie a small baggy of mini marshmallows, a candy cane, and the stirring spoons to it.
2. Get a jar (preferably one with the two-part lids). Make sure it's clean. Put cocoa in the jar. Get some cute fabric (sometimes you can find a small portion of pretty and cheap fabric in remnant bins at Walmart or fabric stores) and cut a square of it. If you got the lid with two parts (the little circle that rests on top, and then the ring that goes around), set the circle on the jar, lay the fabric square over it, and then put the ring on to close it. If your lid is just a regular lid, put the lid on, place the fabric over it, and either use a ribbon to tie the fabric on, or a rubber band. Now attach the spoons, candy cane, and mini marshmallows to the side.
3. Find an affordable mug (you can get these for $1.00 at Dollar Tree, and some of them are pretty)! Wash it. Take four small baggies and put cocoa mix in them (portion it in single servings). Or just take one larger baggy and put several portions in it. Put the baggies inside of the mug, as well as a baggy of mini marshmallows, the stirring spoons, and a candy cane.
Voila! An affordable, cute, easy Christmas gift. And any leftover hot cocoa can be used for your own family this winter!
Don't forget instructions- one serving of cocoa is 1/3 cup mix to every 1 cup of water used!
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