The holidays are coming which means it's time to start baking and making anything that can be prepped ahead of time. I always start with candy, since it can be stored the longest. The kids and Imake these chocolate peppermint treats to dress up our holiday hot chocolate every Christmas. They're fun to make and super simple, plus super cute and yummy!

It's really more of an assembly than a recipe, which make it perfect for little hands to help with! We made an entire tray of them to make sure we have enough for the whole holiday season.

After all...when the weather outside is frightful and you need some hot chocolate to warm up, these are a sweet treat on the side. They're also pretty good with coffee!

Chocolate peppermint marshmallows

The ingredients we used are:

Regular sized marshmallows
Soft peppermint sticks for crushing.
Small candy canes
Chocolate for melting (any kind will do, I used Milk chocolate chips)

Melt chocolate chips in small container. You can add a few drops of vegetable oil to thin the chocolate if it seems too thick.

Place soft soft candy cane sticks in 2 layers of plastic bags and crush with mallet. Pour into small bowl. 

Dip marshmallows into chocolate then roll in peppermint pieces. Set upside down to dry.

When cooled, make a slit in the end of the marshmallow without the chocolate using a sharp knife and push candy cane stems into the marshmallow.

Add to hot chocolate and enjoy! The kids love these sweet treats and I think they add a festive touch. They can keep for about a week in a sealed container, longer if stored in the refrigerator.

Just as a note...you can use regular candy canes to crush. However, the soft ones melt more quickly in the hot chocolate. The hard candy cane pieces don't melt as quickly, so they can hang on the side of the cup without melting off.

You can also use red and green sprinkles on the sides of the marshmallow if you want to go easy on the peppermint flavor.

Looking for something else  makes? I don't have too many other recipes, but all the other ones I wrote can be found on my recipes page. Enjoy!

~L