The Best White Hot Chocolate Recipe.

| the best white hot chocolate recipe with the cutest marshmallow polar bear garnish |

I was first seduced by white hot chocolate at Le Rouge in Westport, Connecticut. During a visit there one day, Aarti, the chocolatier, made one of her signature hot chocolates for me with imported white chocolate. It was a Saffron Pistachio White Hot Chocolate sprinkled with finely chopped, toasted pistachio nuts and it was incredibly delicious. It is one of those drinks that I could not get out of my mind. It tasted exotic and for a moment I felt like I was in a European café.

After we got back home from skiing in Vermont this weekend, I decided to create a homemade version. This one was for the kiddos, so I substituted the pistachios for a polar bear made out of marshmallows. Jackson and Catherine were over the moon when they saw the mugs of chocolate with the polar bear garnish! The recipe for the white hot chocolate and how to make the adorable polar bear are included. Enjoy!

The Best White Hot Chocolate Recipe

White Hot Chocolate (yields 3-4 servings:

• 2 cups of milk
• 1 cup of half and half
• 1 cup of white chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli)
• 1 tablespoon of bourbon vanilla extract

Combine the milk and half and half into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the mixture gets hot, add the white chocolate chips and whisk until completely melted. Stir in the vanilla and pour into mugs. Top with whipped cream and immediately garnish with a marshmallow polar bear (instructions below) before serving.

Marshmallow Polar Bear:

You will need three different sizes of marshmallows, the instructions below will make one polar bear and the step-by-step photos are also included. This is very simple to make:

• 1 giant marshmallow (known as campfire marshmallows)
• 1 medium-size marshmallow
• 2 mini marshmallows
• 2 candy eyes
• 1 brown m&m (for the nose)
• 1 tablespoon of melted white chocolate (this is the glue)

| white hot chocolate mixture |

| melt a few white chocolate chips in a small bowl to make the “glue” to assemble the polar bear |

| cut the medium size marshmallow in half |

| spread some of the melted white chocolate on the cut side of the marshmallow |

| press it onto the center of the giant marshmallow |

| add a drop of the melted white chocolate onto the medium size marshmallow, towards the top |

| apply the brown m&m |

| add two drops of the melted chocolate directly above the medium size marshmallow and add the candy eyes |

| lastly, add drops of melted chocolate to the giant marshmallow towards the outside edge of each eye |

| add the mini marshmallows to make the ears |

| I can see you smiling |

| love this adorable sweater wrapped mug to keep your hands from getting too hot |

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For more information about Le Rouge, you can read my blog post about it here.