Strawberry hot chocolate is perfect for a cold day. You can also serve it cold for a decadent treat on a hot day or add a little Grand Marnier or Limoncello for a fun adult treat. I’m having Green’s homestyle Rugelach and Babka with mine!

I’m still using up older strawberries. The joys of Costco. Larger sizes and just me at home sometimes means I need to freeze my fruit or use it in baked goods. I used some of my strawberries in the strawberry marshmallow mousse tarts but I still have quite a few left.

Strawberry sauce is great to have in your fridge. You can top so many things with it – pancakes, waffles, ice-cream, pound cake. The list goes on. It’s so easy and quick to make too. Just 5 minutes.

It’s a glorious day here in Austin, Texas – around 80° F and sunny. This morning, my daughter called me from Purdue (Indiana) where it’s snowing heavily. Strawberry hot chocolate is perfect for both of us because it’s great hot or cold.

Green’s Bakery asked me to try their babka and rugelach. I’m never one to turn down chocolate baked goods. These are amazing! All the buttery, chocolaty goodness I put in my own baked goods delivered straight to my door. Now if the UPS man was just a bit cuter (and single), my Valentine’s Day would be made!

Did I mention their prices? They’re quite reasonable. Babka is a bit labor intensive (It’s a yeast bread) so if you want to make your own, you’ll need to set aside an afternoon to let it rise (3.5 hours). So $8.50 for a loaf is not a bad price especially for babka as rich and chocolaty as this one.

They also have drool-worthy cookies and cakes. If you’re still looking for a Valentine’s gift, order one of their gift baskets. Your Valentine will be in heaven.

Their baked products stay fresh for 6-8 weeks and you can freeze them if you want to order a bunch to save on shipping costs.

Yield: 6 cups hot chocolate

Strawberry Hot Chocolate

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Prep Time 3 minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

Strawberry sauce

• 2 cups chopped strawberries (can be fresh or frozen)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Strawberry Hot Chocolate (per cup)

• ¼ cup strawberry sauce
• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips (I used Santa Barbara Chocolate Dark Chocolate disks)
• ½ cup milk
• Optional - 1-2 tablespoons of Pimms Blackberry Elderflower Liquor or Grand Marnier or Limoncello

Instructions

Strawberry Sauce

1. Put strawberries, sugar and cornstarch in a medium sized saucepan and cook on medium high.
2. As the strawberries soften, mash them with a spoon or potato masher.
3. Cook about 5 minutes until thickened.
4. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Hot Chocolate

1. Put chocolate chips and milk in a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup (or other microwavable container) and heat on high for 1 minute. Stir to combine chocolate and milk.
2. Add strawberry sauce and heat on high for another minute.
3. If desired use a hand blender to blend into a smoother emulsion.
4. If desired add the liquor for an adult version.
5. Pour into serving cup and garnish with whipped cream, more strawberry sauce and chocolate sauce.

Notes

The strawberry syrup in this recipe is enough to make 6 cups. If you want to make all 6 at one time, use 3 cups milk and 1½ cups chocolate chips with all of the strawberry sauce. You can heat the chocolate and milk in a microwave safe bowl or a pot on your stove.

If you want to make your own babka, we have a recipe.

Chocolate Babka