Heat up milk in a sauce pot, over medium to medium-low heat, until hot but not simmering.
Use a fine strainer or a mesh sugar shaker to sift in the cocoa powder to ensure that there are no clumps.
Whisk in the cocoa powder and add chopped chocolate, peppermint chips, sugar, peppermint extract, and vanilla extract. Slowly continue whisking as chocolate melts and incorporates into milk.
Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to cook for a few minutes. Make sure to slowly stir from time to time.
Take off heat and serve.
Notes
Storing: You can store leftover peppermint hot cocoa in a glass jar with a lid or any other airtight food storage container you may have. Make sure to keep it refrigerated. Properly stored, it should be good for 2-3 days. Make sure to pour our the amount you need rather than dipping a spoon into it.
To reheat peppermint hot chocolate, simply pour it into a small pot and heat through just until hot. Make sure to reheat it slowly over medium-low heat to avoid scalding it!
More peppermint flavor options: there are a few options to get peppermint flavor into your hot cocoa. You can use soft peppermint candy like Andy’s mints, Hershey’s peppermint kisses, Ghirardeli peppermint bark. In addition to the soft candy option, I like to use a little peppermint extract to enhance the flavor.