Easy Winter Warm-Ups

It’s officially winter and that walk from the bus stop to your front door after school, or even the walk from your car door to your front door, can leave you fr-fr-freezing cold. You need to whip up something warm and delicious fast, so that you can cram in as much television watching and Facebook stalking as possible before your parents come home and enforce their draconian 30-minute max rule.

Here are three recipes that use every chef’s favorite kitchen gadget—no, not the spork—the microwave, which makes them super easy. They all take around a minute, which leaves you plenty of time to bend all the rules you want before the folks walk in the door.

• Hot chocolate: Throw a small (or big…go crazy!) handful of chocolate chips into a mug. Fill the rest of the mug with milk. Add in a splash of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Microwave on high until hot, which should take one to three minutes depending on your microwave. While you’re waiting, see how many chocolate chips you can fit in your mouth at once. Our personal best is 78. Impressed? Disgusted? A little bit of both?
• Mocktail: This warm fruity beverage will transport you to a tropical island in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Well, if a place like that existed, it’s totally where you’d get transported. Just trust us on this one. Put a splash of lemon juice and some honey in a mug and fill to the brim with your favorite juice. (Word to the wise, this isn’t great with orange juice, but with cranberry, grape, and apple, it’s awesome!) Nuke till it’s steaming and enjoy your round-trip ticket to Icemacia. That’s what this imaginary island would be called, duh.
• Not quite raw cookie dough: Okay, so this one isn’t going to transport you anywhere tropical…except maybe to Salmonella Town. But the risk of a little food poisoning is totally worth it for this amazingness. Take a tube of pre-made cookie dough, roll up a single serving, and put it on a plate in the microwave for about a minute. It’ll come out kind of cooked, mostly raw, and totally warm. You must eat this with your fingers…and lick the plate when you’re done.

What's your favorite winter treat?

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