Any new ideas for hot breakfast drinks

[lantana]

I have been on a kick of making hot chocolate for breakfast with skim milk, dark chocolate pieces, and a spash of peppermint extract. Then I tried to make a hot spiced pumpkin and milk, which was OK but not great. I was aiming for the taste of a pumpkin flan I had recently. Today I am making some chai and the spices are simmering.

Anything new in your kitchen in the hot breakfast drink area? I would love to add to my repertoire. Recipes that contain milk would be my first choice, but any ideas are welcome.

Thanks,

Alice

[Missi]

I make a London fog- Earl Grey tea steeped in milk.


I LOVE hot cider in the winter.

[MNGirlTX]

How about what we call Russian Tea? Tang, tea, cinnamon...I think that's all...served hot.

[Missi]

Oh, I love Russian tea! I haven't had it in awhile, I'll have to make some soon. Here's the recipe I have:

INSTANT RUSSIAN TEA

1 (1 lb. 2 oz.) jar Tang
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. instant tea
1 1/4 c. sugar
Dash of salt

To prepare mix, combine Tang, sugar, tea, spices and salt. Store in tightly covered container. Makes 4 cups mix or enough for 12 quarts of tea. For 1 quart of Russian Tea, combine 1/2 cup mix with 1 quart of water.

[Luckyfeather]

Hot Buttered Rum! (just kidding...)

[Beth]

Wassail (make ahead and reheat in the morning)

2 qts apple juice
2 1/3 c pinapple juice (3 individual size cans)
2 c orange juice
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 3-4 inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp cloves
1 whole nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove cover and simmer an additional 20 minutes. Strain spices (or tie into cheesecloth or spice ball before adding and remove the,) and serve warm.

Mocha -- hot chocolate and coffee. You can add a pinch of cinnamon, even chili powder or pepper, a little vanilla. Nothing terribly original there.

[MNGirlTX]

Missi - that's how I make it, just without the added sugar and salt.

[Sugarbetty]

I just made Barefoot Contessa's White Hot Chocolate and it was excellent. It is a very sweet drink though. I can post the recipe later if anyone wants it.

[Wendi]

Irish coffee :o.

[ande]

Well, I make a lot of what we call Monkey Milk (got the name & idea a long time ago from a cookbook I got from the library) for my kids: vanilla soymilk (or cow's milk) with a splash of maple syrup and vanilla extract. It's pretty tasty. They drink it warm or cold, but usually warm in the winter, of course.

Love the idea of the London Fog! I'll definitely be trying that one soon.

[Rae]

I drink warm almond milk on cold winter nights sometimes. It's just skim milk with a drop of almond extract, maybe half a teaspoon of honey and a grate of fresh nutmeg on top, all warmed in the microwave. I think this might have been in Eating Well many, many years ago, but I'm not entirely sure where I got the idea from.

[NewMrsG]

I do this:

Skim milk with:
a dash of vanilla or almond extract
half a packet of equal
a sprinkle of cinnamon
a sprinkle of cardamom

And sometimes I substitute coffee liqueur for everything but the milk ;)

I love these other ideas!

[clairea]

I'm not big on sweet drinks in the morning, but since it sounds like that is what you are looking for, a couple of my current favorites are the Double Dark Chocolate Mate from Republic of Tea and the Creme Caramel Tea from Stash Tea. I mix both with steamed milk (and a little bit of sugar for the Creme Caramel).

[Joanie B]

I have an old series of recipe books w/contributions from food editors nationwide that I got years ago ('92!) as bonuses from MADD donations, one of them is Beverages. We're pretty straightforward beveragers (just coffee (Tar Heel blend:p), milk, just juice, tea w/honey, sweet tea (we are native to central NC!)), but I've tried some recipes out of this book that we both like a lot. Hope these help!

Hot Vanilla (Sally Scherer, Macon Telegraph, GA)
(...not-too-sweet yummy flavor that's a nice alternative to hot chocolate...)
1 cup milk
1 tsp honey
1 drop vanilla
pinch ground cinnamon

In saucepan, heat milk til very hot but not boiling. Pour milk into mug, add honey, vanilla, cinnamon. Serve immediately.


Milky Way (Narcisse Cadgene, Freelancer NY)
2 Tbs blanced hazelnuts
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp honey

Spread nuts on baking sheet, bake @350 8-10 min til lightly browned. Heat milk in saucepan or microwave on high 1-2 min. Place toasted nuts in blender, add hot milk & honey. Blend on high 2 min or til nuts are virtually pureed. Return to saucepan/microwave and reheated but not boiling. Serve immediately.


DH loves this! He's the eggnog fan in the house.
Hot Chocolate Eggnog (Paul Grandahl, Albany Times Union, NY)
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In blender or fp, combine egg, milk, water, cocoa, nutmeg, blend til well mixed. Transfer to top of double boiler, heat, stirring occasionally, til mixture is steaming. Do not boil. Serve immediately. (after scorching this the first time in a saucepan right on a medium burner, I do go to the trouble of using a double boiler method:()


Easy Hot Chocolate Tropicale (Ann Hattes, Hartland, WI)
Makes 2 1-cup services
1 1/2 c. hot (not boiling) water
2 1/2 Tbs. sweetened cocoa mix powder
1 ripe banana, peeled, cut into pieces
1 1/2 tsp cream of coconut

In blender, combine hot water, cocoa mix, banana, cream of coconut. Cover & blend til smooth. Pour into mugs, serve immediately.
(I use Alton Brown's hot chocolate mix recipe for this (with heaping spoonfuls of mix), yum, and I don't really care for cream of coconut!)


And since it's cranberry season...
Cranberry Tea (Doris Reynolds, Naples Daily News, FL)
(makes about 14 1-cup servings)
1 lb. fresh/frozen whole cranberries
2 1/2 qts water, divided
2 c. sugar
4 sticks cinnamon
1 Tbs whole cloves
1 c. pineapple juice
2 c. orange juice
2 Tbs. lemon/lime juice

In large saucepan, combine cranberries and 2 qts water. Cook 15 min til cranberries pop. Allow to cool.
Combine remaining 2 c. water w/sugar, cinnamon sticks & cloves (tie cinnamon & cloves in cheesecloth bag, if desired). Boil 30 min. Remove and discard spices (bag).
Strain cranberries, reserving liquid. Save cranberries for another use (the author mentions the originator of recipe, Bernice Slocum, used the cooked cranberries in her bakery's cranberry bread batter instead of raw ones and frugally came up with the tea recipe to use the leftover cooking water).
In large saucepan combine reserved cranberry liquid, spiced syrup mixture, and the pineapple, orange and lemon/lime juices. Heat thoroughly, serve immediately.

[funniegrrl]

CL has a recipe for a terrific Hot White Chocolate with Ginger. This is amazingly good. The recipe and comments are on my blog: http://singlegrrlkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/01/hot-drinks-for-cold-nights.html

[lantana]

Thanks, all, for the great bunch of recipes and ideas. I am bookmarking this one to start working my way through the list. I appreciate all the interesting options.

Alice