This year’s Christmas gift was a last minute change in plans because I wasn’t very excited about our original plan and I had just read about a super awesome cocoa mix. I did a test batch and confirmed it was So Quick and Easy and Tasty. Then I did the math to multiply the recipe for 300 of our closest friends and family, and started comparing prices for bulk cocoa online.

Did you know Amazon sells 25 pounds of Ghiradelli cocoa powder? Heads up: it doesn’t qualify for Prime or super saver shipping, but the $40 shipping is probably worth it.

We ended up altering the recipe to use semisweet chocolate chips instead of baking chocolate because I liked it better in the hot cocoa mix, and the chips were easier to procure than 100 ounces of baking chocolate (yay Costco!).

Donovan ground up the chips in the food processor and combined them with cocoa powder, sugar, corn starch, salt and vanilla in our gigantic crab pot – the only container in our home large enough (that wasn’t a bathtub) to hold everything.

But sending out baggies of cocoa just seemed kind of… lame. Not up to our normal gift making awesomeness. We researched sending mugs but didn’t find any we liked that weren’t cost prohibitive. We decided on marshmallows because 1. fun and 2. I’ve always wanted to try making them.

Also I yelled at the menfolk to stand still for two seconds JUST STAND STILL so I could take their photos. It was already feeling like Christmas.

We combined water, sugar and corn syrup in a pot and brought it to 240°F. This took 10-15 minutes for some reason so we passed the time by playing the dogs’ favorite* game: dance party.

(*least favorite)

Once the syrup reached temperature, we poured it into a mixer with some proofed gelatin and mixed it until it was thick and poofy and lukewarm. Then added in some food coloring, vanilla and either mint or cinnamon for flavoring.