Sipping from a steamy mug of hot chocolate, complete with bobbing marshmallows, is the surest sign that it's the holiday season. Though making your own at home can be as easy as tearing open a packet of hot cocoa powder, mixing it with milk or water and zapping it all in the microwave, a more hands-on approach means that your blend can be tailor-made to your preferences. Follow Food Network Kitchen's lead for Homemade Hot Chocolate, and watch how they spike the base blend for three wintry hot chocolate cocktails.

If you're not making your own hot cocoa powder from scratch, there's no shame in buying the store-bought blend by the packet. That said, if you have more hot cocoa powder on your hands than you know what to do with, we've got ways to use it for treats that might be even better than the drink.

A pan of brownies is a chocolatey dream on its own, but these Hot Chocolate Brownies take it one step further. Blend leftover hot chocolate mix into the batter of these one-bowl brownies for an extra-special treat that's studded with marshmallows and made for the holidays.

Special mornings deserve a special breakfast, and these Hot Chocolate Pancakes are just the thing. Not only is leftover hot chocolate mix blended into the pancake batter, it's also added to the maple syrup and simmered for the most-decadent topping to ever be drizzled over pancakes.

When you're faced with a hankering for chocolate pudding over the holidays, this from-scratch Hot Chocolate Pudding is the way to go. While standard chocolate pudding gets it chocolatey vibes from straight cocoa powder, this silky recipe opts for hot chocolate mix instead — and it goes all the way with a topping of mini marshmallows or whipped cream.

Get more ways to use up leftover hot cocoa powder, plus ideas for chocolate holiday cookies for baking all season long.