My girls picked out this recipe in their Southern Living Kids Cookbook a while back. Yesterday they asked me why they hadn’t been able to make anything for a while. Well, we’ve had a lot going on, but besides that they are not getting done with their school work. Well guess what? They got up early asked for their work ahead of time and then surprised me with, “Okay now we’re all done what can we make?” It’s motivation I guess. With one last burst of cold weather here in Texas I thought it would be a good time to let them make Hot Vanilla milk although in the summer it would be yummy cold. In my opinion it tastes like melted vanilla ice-cream!
Pour four cups of milk into a 1 quart microwave safe container. The Pyrex bowl makes it so easy to measure!
Add 1/3 cup of sugar.
Add 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
And last add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. (Mexican vanilla is our favorite!) Mix gently to dissolve the sugar. Place in the microwave for 5 minutes on high.
Pour into 4 mugs, add marshmallows if desired, and enjoy!
My kids said this is even better than hot chocolate!
I really like the idea of hot vanilla milk. It doesn’t have the caffeine of chocolate, it is quick and easy, and all of the ingredients are always kept on hand. In the summer make it cold! Either way the LaughWithUsBlog crew gives it two thumbs up!
Hot vanilla milk does sound yummy….but us chocoholics prefer hot chocolate = )
I make ‘fantasias’ for my kids… Hot milk, flavored syrup like caramel, fresh nutmeg, all heated up and frothed with a french press. This is very similar. I’ll have to try this variation to keep the milk ideas fresh! Thanks!
Our family loves hot milk in the wintertime. We have it as a “Supper Drink” before bedtime. We scald the milk, add a bit of vanilla and top it with a dash of nutmeg. It is such a cozy drink. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Oh, now this looks divine! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
I can’t wait to try this! I know my kids will love it! 🙂 Thanks for linking up with “Try a New Recipe Tuesday!” I am featuring this recipe this week! Congratulations! 🙂 🙂 Be sure to stop by and grab an “I’ve been featured” button from my sidebar for your blog. The post will go live around 11pm tonight (Monday). I hope you will be able to link up with us again this week.
I LOVE vanilla milk! Coffee Bean & Tea leaf has it (here in SoCal), and I’ve enjoyed it on cooler days/evenings for a couple of years. Thanks for your “at home” version recipe! Pary Moppins version looks great, too, I will have to try!!
Maybe this is a silly question- but will the sugar dissolve if you make it cold?
@Brie, It’s not a silly question! We used a whisk, and it does take longer to dissolve if it’s cold, but it would just be like mixing sugar in a glass of iced tea. It just takes a little longer. The kids loved the recipe as is, but personally I like it better with less sugar so it depends on your sweet tooth! 🙂 It really did taste like melted vanilla ice cream to me!
Hi! Found you on Pin It Tues link up. This looks great! I remember when I was a kid my mom would make warm milk and honey sometimes, this reminds me of doing that, but I prefer the flavor of vanilla over honey. Pinned and now following on FB 🙂
My mom made us cold “vanilla milk” all the time when we were kids. Don’t know that she really had a recipe…just cold milk in a glass, couple teaspoons of sugar and a little vanilla extract. Stir & enjoy a pretty tasty treat! 🙂
Mmm this sounds divine and a nice alternative to adding chocolate, especially before bedtime. Perfect for those of us in the southern hemisphere freezing in the middle of winter right now!
Sooo thankful for this recipe! I’m allergic to chocolate and pray I do not pass the curse on to my 3mo old daughter but can’t wait to try this and other goodies with her as she grows. Thanks again
I love this idea considering my lil ones love chocolate but I’m allergic so now we can have a “special” drink that I can have too.. 😀
Did anyone have a version of this for single servings?
The recipe makes 4 cups so I would just quarter the recipe for one serving. 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, dash salt, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Personally, I liked it better with less sugar, but the kids loved it as is! 🙂 Enjoy!
I didn’t realize there was a recipe. My grandmother, my mom (and now me) make this in single cups and call it magic milk. They use to make it when we were little to fill up our tummies before we went to bed. They told us the sugar would help us to have sweet dreams – that was the magic. I still make it for my boys when they don’t feel good, or just need an extra warm hug before bed. But NOW – now I can make a big batch and add marshmallows. Who doesn’t love marshmallows??!!!!
My daughter loves warm vanilla milk. We make it with the vanilla syrup used to flavor coffee.
What kind of milk do you use?
Awesome! My husband is allergic to chocolate so we always have to find alternativees for him this would be great!
Really good with some grahmn crackers to dip in! (:
ohhhh my goodness! To die for!! having some right nowwww 🙂
Hi what kind of vanilla do you use? the one that you ave linked is not available where i live. Will vanilla essence do the same thing?
Thanks
@Robin Hi! I’m not familiar with Vanilla essence but I would think any vanilla used in cooking would work.
Yum, yum! I am running to go make a glass of cold vanilla milk for me! 🙂
Okay- that was really yummy! Thank you! 🙂
I have to say.. my dad made something very much the same as this, but would put it in the freezer for a couple of hours till it got slushy.. awesome treat this way too…
Can you use imitation vanilla or ?
Yes, imitation vanilla will work just fine. I like the flavor of real vanilla or Mexican vanilla better, but imitation vanilla works!:)
Delicious looking recipe!
A word of caution though – pure Vanilla extract contains a very high percentage of alcohol!! Please be careful when serving to children, pregnant women, or anyone avoiding alcohol.
This sounds like the recipe that my granddaughter told me that she would like to try. When I was much younger, my grandmother always had us drink hot milk with pepper in it if we had a stomach ache. Still drink it for the same reason today. Don’t know about the medicinal value, maybe just cause she had us do it, but it usually works. I usually use about a quarter teaspoon of pepper in the cup of milk.
Milk already has a lot of sugar in it, so I don’t see the need for extra. But will try the recipe minus the extra sugar……too many diabetics in the family.
If I can add a suggestion, I added pumpkin pie spice to mine, it would be amazing with vanilla almond milk, and the spices it would be like the pumpkin pie almonds from costco
That first photo looks DELISH!!!!!!! Pinning- Making- 🙂
Looks Yummy! I can’t wait to try it!
Does this work ok without the salt? My kids are on a low sodium diet due to illness. I would really hate to waste milk if it does not. 🙂
@Michelle, Yes it works without the salt.
I love doing taste tests, so I compared this recipe with another that was on pinterest. The consensus among my taste testers was this recipe hands down. We will look forward to having this again soon.
This is the recipe our child psychologist gave to me when my daughter had insomnia. She said the combination of milk, sugar, and vanilla helped induced sleep. I gave my daughter a warm cup each night. Worked like a charm!
My mom made the cold version of this to encourage me to drink more milk. She would also let me color it with food coloring. I thought it odd (and a little sad) that most of my friends only drank white milk. 😉
@Nita, How fun! My kids were just playing with food coloring today!
I love this!! Pinning to try soon! 🙂
reminds me of snow cream! Love that stuff. That is made with fresh snow, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla or chocolate or caramel or whatever flavor you want really!
I just made this for the first time tonight. Because I am sensitive to caffeine, hot chocolate is not an option for me in the evenings. I made a single serving with 1/4 tsp. vanilla and just because I had it on hand I also added 1/4 tsp. of maple extract. I also did not have marshmallows so I used a dollop of cool whip. It was awesome!!! After reading some of the other comments I am going to try some of the other suggestions such as nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. Can’t wait for tomorrow night.
@Lisa, I’m caffeine sensitive too and I know some of my kids are. Hot Chocolate at night and I’m in real trouble. lol Your additions sound delish!
Can this recipe be made with almond milk?
@Holli, We’ve never made it with Almond milk, but it sounds like it would be good!
This is excellent to drink before bedtime the warm milk and try replacing sugar with honey and you will be sure to have a good night’s sleep!! I drink warm milk with honey before bedtime and some times with turmeric.
Have fun -Anastasjia ♥
hi, just wanted to say my mom has made this for me since I was small. However we did it in single batches with a spoonful of sugar and a little vanilla, and no salt. Also we drank it cold, and yes it is delicious cold. I will have to try your recipe for making it hot, I can’t wait.
I F YO UC A NRE ADT HI S YO UA RE VE RYSM AR T. YO UA R EAL S OIN TEL LI GEN T. J USTWA NT E DT O GI V EYO UA N E XT R ACH A LL E N GE. B YE 🙂 😉 Also made the recipe. So good.
It looks so delicious and the best part is that the ingredients are easy to find and they’re not expensive, thank you!
I know this is an older post but I’ve been browsing your blog a bit. I’m a total vanilla lover. I make my own vanilla extract and, since my eldest was about 3 and decided he wanted “coffee” in the morning sometimes, I’ve used it to make vanilla milk. I often just do a splash of vanilla in milk and they drink it hot or cold. I don’t even add sugar most of the time lol If I do feel like sweetening it, I add some maple syrup or raw honey. Just heat the milk with a splash of vanilla in it and then mix in a spoonful of honey. That way they get all the good stuff from the honey in addition to a delicious drink. Yum! I think I’m going to make some for myself right now…
If you want it really rich, add a teaspoon of butter (not margerine) per cup of milk. Absolutely delicious!
This is really yummy right now as I just made a cup, its a rainy day.it is really helping me alot right now as I have had to stop drinking two large cups of coffee with lactose free milk every morning first thing then I turn to hot teas but i can’t have green or black teas, I try not to use much if any sugars or honey but honey is my first choice.due to being hypothyroid I have to make ingredient choices I can have.so your recipie inspired me to have a cup with a little variation.one cup of lactose free milk, I added a little buttermilk left over from making my home made butter made with heavy whipping cream and heated in the microwave for two minutes then add one spoonfull of honey,half teaspoon vanilla extract,then I added a couple shakes of cinnamon sugar.stir. love it .thank you!
I’m so glad you were able to substitute to your taste and health! We love it.
What is the benefit of the salt in your recipie ?
Only taste! I tell the kids it’s like every batch of cookies calls for a little salt. I don’t know why, but it tastes better. They challenged me and taste tested it. Now they put a dash of salt in even when they make just a personal cup. 🙂
I have made vanilla milk for fifty years, but always cold! My son loved it as much if not more than chocolate. I’m anxious to try it heated!
Fun! I hope you liked it. We love it all year round and make it hot more often than cold. Enjoy! 🙂