Holiday Helper: Hazelnut Bourbon Hot Chocolate

There’s no easy fix for how a lot of us are feeling right now. Part of me feels frivolous for even suggesting that we bake pies and eat gingerbread cookies when things seem so bleak, but I’m not a pessimist at heart. I’m a worrier, a fretter, and a complainer, but what I always want to do above all is make things better. And how do I do that? With phone calls, with donations, with volunteering, and with food. And with hazelnut bourbon hot chocolate.

We have one month to go in 2016, and it’s an important one for revving up our engines of hope, determination, and resolutions for a better future. I can’t promise that 2017 will be a miraculous improvement or even that December will manage to be truly merry, but I can try to help things along. And I’m not saying that you need booze to get through the holiday season, but in the interest of making spirits bright, we might as well use a few shots to get the good vibes going.

With a few generous spoonfuls of warm spices and a few more generous pours of bourbon and hazelnut liqueur, an already-comforting mug of hot chocolate becomes a decidedly festive party drink that you should by no means keep in arms’ reach of the kids’ table.

If you’re feeling ambitious, or antsy, or just need a project for the next few weeks, you can make your own homemade hazelnut liqueur. If you (like me) would prefer a bit more instant gratification, pick up a bottle of Frangelico or Creme de Noisette while you’re stocking the holiday bar. You won’t have to wait two weeks to get your boozy hot chocolate going, which is a fair trade-off in my book.

I usually take my hot chocolate straight—that is, I forego the whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and marshmallows to let the drink be my only indulgence—but if we’re going all out here, we might as well go all out. For my husband, hot chocolate simply isn’t worth drinking unless it’s got a mountain of whipped cream on top, and does not discriminate between the homemade kind (yes, he makes it himself) or the sprayed-from-a-can kind (with a little extra spritz right into the mouth, as is right and correct).

But if I may make a more outré suggestion: have you considered topping your hot chocolate with gobs of marshmallow fluff? That’s what’s floating on the drinks in this post’s photographs, and frankly, it’s unabashedly decadent. Think of it as an extra layer of holiday therapy if you must.

So let’s give ourselves permission to enjoy the holidays, even if just for a little bit, and to use the time to strengthen our reserves for the coming year. We don’t have to wait one more week. We can start now with a mug of hazelnut bourbon hot chocolate: our secret weapon that will power us through.

Recipe Note:

For nut-allergic friends, this cocktail can be an equally festive—and even more spiced-up—drink by substituting SNAP, a ginger cookie-flavored liqueur also used in the Christmas Island tiki cocktail, in place of the hazelnut liqueur.