Homemade Chocolate Syrup

On a cold, snowy day like today, nothing beats snuggling up with a good book (or blog) and a mug of hot chocolate :) To "sweeten" the deal you can even make your own chocolate syrup! I haven't compared prices, but I'm very confidant saying that it is certainly cheaper than buying store-bought.

Growing up we kids learned to make chocolate syrup early on. It was a staple in our kitchen, to the point that one didn't often need to refer to the recipe book to make this recipe. It really is quite simple, only takes a couple minutes to make, and tastes great!

In a 2 quart, heavy saucepan combine the sugar, cocoa and cream of tarter.
Whisk in 2 cups of water. (You have to whisk it a bit to get the cocoa powder mixed in even this well.)
Bring the syrup to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Please note that the syrup does expand and will run out of the pan if you're not careful! You have to stand and watch it like a hawk and may even need to lift the pan off the burner to prevent boil-over.
Once the 10 minutes are up, remove from heat and add salt and vanilla. Cool the syrup, pour into desired container and keep refrigerated. Enjoy!

I store mine in a 1 quart Rubbermaid container like this:

I will add that this is sweeter and more chocolatey than Hershey's Syrup, so when making a glass or mug of chocolate milk you don't need to use as much to get the same flavor. Also, if you use real vanilla, you might want to add only 1 tsp., then taste and see if you want to add more. This last time I made it I used Watkins instead of the normal store-brand imitation and the vanilla flavor is much stronger than my liking. I think I will cut it back next time.

Chocolate Syrup

2 cups sugar
1 cup Cocoa
1/4 tsp. Cream of Tarter
2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa, cream of tarter and water in a 2 quart, heavy saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 10 minutes without stirring (watch carefully so it doesn't boil over!).

Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla. Cool, pour into storage container and store in the refrigerator.

This post is linked to Life As Mom and The Grocery Cart Challenge.