Not everyone suffers from this problem, but I personally have leftover holiday candy. Mine is a half bag of Sunspire chocolate drops, which I bought as dreidel game “gelt.” It turns out you don’t need an entire 10-ounce bag of M&M wannabes to play a good game of dreidel, and being one of the only women on the planet who does not require frequent intake of chocolate (some kind of hormonal imbalance, I’m sure), I had these things sitting around for the past two weeks.

I did notice them sitting there and I did think about snacking on them. Somehow, though, I couldn’t get into the idea of crunching down on the sugary candy shells and the room temperature chocolate inside.

Then, the other night, I hit on a way to use my candy — and any other holiday chocolate dregs. Hot chocolate! Considering how my local D.C. Starbucks, ACKC, and even the wacky frozen yogurt people over at Mr. Yogato are getting into it, I’m shocked that I didn’t think of it sooner. Maybe it took walking by Max Brenner in NYC, which plunged my thoughts into the rich lava flow of hot chocolate I tried at their Herzaliya branch. When I got home, the next time I glanced at the abandoned bag, I knew what to do.

So here it is — a spicy way to bring new life to your leftover candy.

Gelt-Ridden Mexican Hot Chocolate

For each 12-ounce mug:

• 1/4-1/2 cup leftover chocolate candy, chopped if in bar form or shaped like large coins
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 pinch each of ground cayenne, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and/or ground cloves
• 1 splash vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of the milk until just steaming. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. If the little buggers (the chocolate pieces) refuse to entirely melt this way, gently heat the milk mixture until they do, or put over a double boiler.

Gradually add the rest of the milk and the water, whisking as you go. When the mixture is blended, return to the stove, turn the burner to medium, and add the spices and vanilla extract. Heat until steaming once again, or boil briefly for a South American scorched flavor.

Serve hot in big mugs, and sip as you put away your Chanukah decorations.

Photo from Cheaty Monkey.