Chai Spiced Hot Chocolate

Most days I drink water, lots of water. But today it's was cool almost bitingly so and I felt like something out of the ordinary. Something warm and sweet. Something like this drink.....What's better than hot chocolate infused with warm exotic spices. This recipe has been adapted from The View From Great Island and Bon Appetit on line. Both original recipes used fresh ginger slices where I used dried. I suppose this would make a difference in the taste. If you have some on hand you might want to try that instead.

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa
4 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick broken in 2 places
6 whole cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

To prepare:

Add all ingredients in sauce pan over low heat. Whisk to combine. Slowly bring up to drinking temperature. The longer you steep, the stronger the flavors will be so take your time. Strain into mugs. Garnish with star anise and or whip cream. Enjoy!