By ERIN TURNER
I have a few people in my house who love chocolate so there always seems to be a bottle of Hersey’s Chocolate sauce in my grocery basket. It’s one of those things where I get to the check out line and suddenly a bottle of chocolate sauce gets rung into the register and I’m thinking, “I know I didn’t put that in the cart,” and there behind the shopping cart is a boy with a wide smile and twinkle in his eye!
Yesterday was my oldest son’s birthday and when I asked him what menu he wanted for his birthday dinner, he requested ice cream. I said, “Well, of course we’ll have ice cream for dessert but what about your dinner?” He responded again with, “Ice Cream!” Well, needless to say we didn’t have ice cream for dinner BUT we did have lots and lots of it for dessert! In fact, I set up an ice cream sundae bar with various toppings including huckleberries, sprinkles and crushed Oreos. It was fun and very festive!
When we were at the store I had my son pick out some of his toppings. Thinking we had the chocolate sauce at home, we opted not to buy any and just picked up a bottle of caramel and strawberry. So imagine my panic when I looked in the refrigerator and realized we were fresh out of my son’s beloved chocolate sauce! Do I run to the store, break my own rule about buying anything for full price and drop $4.29 for the sauce that would make my son so happy? Heck no! I did better than that…I made a homemade version of Hersey’s Chocolate sauce! It saved me a trip to the store, saved me some cash AND saved the birthday party!
This sauce was a hit and tasted so yummy on top of ice cream! I am anxious to try it out in milk and see what my kids think about it! I have wanted to make this homemade version for awhile now because the commercial stuff is overly pricey AND I’m not a huge fan of all the ingredients. This homemade version is made with only ingredients that most of us have on the shelf: sugar, unsweetened cocoa, a touch of salt and vanilla extract. Really…that’s all! Isn’t that great?
The other awesome thing about this recipe: It literally took me less than 10 minutes to make it! If you can boil water, you can make this frugal, chemical-free Chocolate sauce!
Here is the recipe from 52kitchenadventures.com:
Ingredients
1 ¼ cup organic sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water
¼ tsp salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar and cocoa powder until most of the lumps are gone.
2. Add water and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
3. Bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes, until thickened, continuing to stir frequently.
4. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes, then add vanilla extract.
5. Store in an air tight container in the fridge and enjoy within 2-4 weeks.
It really is THAT easy! I actually was shocked and sort of stunned that I hadn’t tried this recipe earlier! And now I’m pretty sure we’ll always have chocolate sauce on hand and will never be caught off guard again!
I highly recommend it because of the time and money it saved me but I think the recommendation from my 15 year old Birthday Boy who is a chocolate fiend is a much better recommendation. Notice the smile on his face? Believe me… that says it all!
Happy Birthday Ethan Turner!
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Erin’s got tons of tips for saving money, couponing, sticking to a budget, and living sustainably in her blog archive. And Check out our new Coupon section.
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Erin Eisenman-Turner is proud to be a native Missoulian. Along with her husband and three sons, they raise chickens, pigs, rabbits, and vegetables at Turner Family Farms in the Orchard Homes area. When the farm chores are done, the coupons clipped, and the blog written, you can find Erin exploring Montana, collecting antiques, and trying to maintain a well-run, happy, and organized home for her family.
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