Hot Cocoa Bar from Cozy Cakes Cottage

We love our Foodie Friends so we are so happy to bring you this guest post today from “Cozy Cakes Cottage”.  LOVE it!

When the temperature drops around here my little girl looks up at me and says, “May I have hot cocoa, please!” We don’t have what others consider real winter weather, so we claim anything under 65 degrees as cocoa weather. This year I decided to designate an area near the kitchen as the hot cocoa spot. A little area where all our favorite cocoa fixings are ready for our hot cocoa cravings.

Every year I move a little painted table out of our living room to make room for our Christmas tree. Destiny! That little table became our hot cocoa bar which I tucked in a corner. What I love about this wintry setup is that I already had everything I needed right in my home. If you’re interested in setting up a home cocoa bar for you and your family, here’s what I included (note: you can also adjust this for a tea or coffee bar):

A tiered bottle drying rack is perfect for housing our winter mugs. To add Christmas flair, I hooked candy canes around it.

Festive spoons, marshmallows, straws and cinnamon sticks for stirring. Tucked in back to the right of the tree is a bottle of caramel syrup for days when we want to give our cocoa a twist.

A winter snowbird, dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, dark cocoa powder, vanilla, and more marshmallows (yummy gingerbread flavor) round out our hot cocoa essentials.

I added a little pup for my little girl to enjoy seeing each day and then we decorated the little tree with candy canes and mini whisks. On the bottom shelf I store some of my favorite cookbooks, Christmas cheese spreaders, and an espresso pot in case I’m feeling the need for a major caffeine boost (hello morning!). I can easily replace the Christmas theme for a general winter theme in a couple weeks, too. I have plans to turn this into a tea & coffee bar come spring and it should be fairly easy to switch up this little table for those delights.

I warm milk for my family and let them add the cocoa fixings most days, but sometimes I whip up a giant batch of my creamy dreamy hot cocoa and homemade whipped cream which you can find here. It keeps warm in a slow cooker for days when you’re playing out in the cold and need a steaming mug of cocoa upon your return indoors. And if you need a little something fun for little ones, try these hot cocoa stirrers–fun to make and dip into hot cocoa. Enjoy!

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