Try Some Hot Vanilla And You'll Forget All About Chocolate

While it may seem surprising to some, there are folks who aren't super fans of chocolate. However, that doesn't mean that they wouldn't love a sweet, hot drink like hot chocolate that can soothe them on a cold, rainy, or snowy day. Of course they can make other hot drinks such as hot spiced apple cider or a pumpkin spiced latte. But thankfully, there's a hot chocolate alternative that will give them some comparably sweet flavor and equally warm up their taste buds. And that drink is hot vanilla.

A cup of hot vanilla will deliver a frothy, creamy, and sweet vanilla beverage with enough heat to warm you up on those chilly days. You can also top off hot vanilla with delicious seasonings to give it more layers of flavor. But before you do that, you've got to make that cup of hot vanilla, and the process is simple and quick.

You should be able to make a nice cup of hot vanilla in about seven minutes with five minutes to prepare your ingredients and two minutes to cook the drink. The recipe for hot vanilla calls for 1 ½ cups of milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

First, get your favorite mug from your kitchen cabinet, but make sure it's one that you can microwave safely. Next, pour your sugar and milk into the mug, and put it in the microwave for 60 seconds. From there, stir the mixture in the mug until it reaches a nice consistency, then microwave the mug for another minute. Once the time is up, take the mug out of the microwave, add your vanilla to the blend, and stir it all together.

You've got yourself a cup of hot vanilla. But you don't have to stop there. Top off your warm, sweet drink to make it more flavorful or even more "adult."

Add seasonings and toppings to your hot vanilla that will complement its sweet flavor. Sprinkle the drink with cinnamon for an infusion of woody flavor that will deliver sweet and spicy sips. If you want the cinnamon but prefer more layers of spice and flavor, then pepper your hot vanilla with pumpkin spice for additional notes of ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. If spice isn't your thing and you'd just like to double down on the sweetness and flavor of your hot vanilla, then let some soft marshmallows float in your drink, or top it with fluffy whipped cream.

You can also spike your hot vanilla with alcohol that will give you a nice warm buzz, as well as some complementary flavor. If you want to go this route, then pour a little bourbon in your hot vanilla, since it pairs well with vanilla flavor. Bourbon actually has a bit of a spicy vanilla flavor with just enough sweetness to blend nicely into your hot vanilla. For those of you who actually like vanilla and chocolate and would love to blend the two into a hot drink for those wintry days, you can also drizzle some chocolate syrup in your hot vanilla or make a vanilla cinnamon hot cocoa.