Madi Michajliczenko

Madi and Addie clink their mugs together on a playground.

After a fun-filled movie night, Madi and I decided it was time to try our hand at cooking. From hot chocolate to focaccia to truffles, we made a variety of winter themed recipes that you can try at home too. After collecting an assortment of extraordinarily sugary ingredients, because let’s be honest, cooking is a lot better when there’s sweet snacks to eat along the way, we were ready to face the kitchen.

Rosemary Focaccia

Because of the long rising time, we began our cooking adventures with the focaccia. Bread-making is no easy task, but focaccia is definitely one of the less complicated types of bread. The recipe starts with combining water, sugar and yeast. After sitting for five minutes, the flour, salt and oil are slowly added in while mixing.

Getting off to a great start, I realized I had forgotten an entire cup of water. At first we were confused, adding in splashes of water and oil to hopefully make some form of dough. Luckily, Madi looked back at the recipe on the website and we were able to correct the mistake. Once we had reached the point where the dough was ready to rise, we had some excess time on our hands.

To pass the time, Madi and I had fun blasting our favorite songs and singing, definitely bothering the rest of my family (and probably anyone within a one mile radius). Following the first rise, the dough was rolled out and rose a second time. We prepared our masterpiece for the oven, then let it bake.

Twenty minutes later the bread was finally done and we couldn’t wait to try it. For the best experience, try a slice fresh out of the oven. This was by far our favorite recipe out of the three. Between the soft dough and flavorful rosemary, this focaccia is the perfect warm snack for a chilly winter day. Due to all of the aforementioned combined, we had no choice but to rate the recipe a five out of five. Therefore, we highly recommend that you try this recipe too. It’s simple, fast and fun for the whole family to make together.

Oreo Truffles

After trying the focaccia, the time had come to conquer the Oreo truffles. Leaving Madi with the meticulous task of counting out each Oreo, I prepared the food processor. I soon realized I had been left alone in the kitchen as Madi went on a search for my cat, Maisy. After successfully locating and talking to Maisy, Madi reappeared in the kitchen to finish up the truffles.

Then came the fun part: watching the Oreos combine with the cream cheese. As the blender violently whirred, the mix became smooth and smelled delicious. We placed the truffles in the freezer, getting ready to dip them in chocolate.

Now, one would think that this is an easy task: pick up the truffle, dip in the melted chocolate, add the sprinkles on top. However, due to our lacking cooking skills, Madi and I seemed to struggle more than the average person would with this effort. Let’s just say the looks of the truffles were not a good representation of the taste.

Next, we each tried out a dipped truffle with sprinkles. We certainly did love the taste of the cookies and festivity of the sprinkles, but I think I speak for both of us when I say these truffles were a bit too sweet for our liking. Had we tried these on their own, not with sweet hot chocolate and other snacks, they might have gotten a higher rating. But because of the sugar overload we were already experiencing, these truffles got a three out of five rating. This is the perfect recipe to try with younger siblings and friends. Despite how sugary they are, they’re easy to make and taste good in moderation.

Hot Chocolate

Leaving the simplest for last, let’s review the hot chocolate process. During the focaccia rise time and truffles freezing, Madi and I squeezed in this quick recipe as a drink to wash down our snacks.

For this hot chocolate, all we had to do was pour some milk in our mugs and microwave them. Then, we added in the rest of the ingredients and just microwaved and stirred until the consistency was smooth. We piled the rest of the mug with whipped cream (the best part) and added colorful sprinkles to top it all off.

Eager to try the tasty dessert, we snapped a quick picture then tried the first sip. This hot chocolate was undoubtedly some of the best hot chocolate we’ve ever tried. The temperature was perfect, and the whipped cream gave the flavor the elevation it needed. The rich chocolate blended perfectly with the sprinkles, overall leaving this recipe at a four out of five. If you love watching your favorite movies with a warm drink in hand, this is the recipe for you. The chocolate and warmth give off a feeling of comfort and overall raise your mood on a cold day.

To wrap it all up

We hope that these recipes can find their way into your own kitchens too, seeing as we had a great time making them. Between the focaccia, truffles and warm hot chocolate, there are winter recipes for everyone to enjoy with the family.