12 nerdy mugs perfect for gifting and drinking holiday cheer from.
Is it weird that one of my favorite things about being on the internet at Christmas is seeing people’s gift guides? It’s like window shopping without having to put on shoes and leave the house.
With all the (exciting) stress of Baking for Two coming out last month and general holiday craziness, I didn’t think I’d have time to write a gift guide this year, but then I remembered that I accidentally did the homework for this post a couple of months ago when I went down a rabbit hole of nerdy mugs and bookmarked approximately half of Etsy.
And if you are looking for some more nerdy gifts, check out my fellow fandom foodies, The Gingered Whisk , Wonderland Recipes , and The Cupcakedex for their guides!
For the Reader
The Book Was Better A mug that speaks an eternal truth.
Marauders Mug* To drink from whilst managing your mischief. Plus it changes colors!
Good Omens Mug Perfect to let some hot cocoa solidify and grow green fur in. 😉
The Film Buff
Howl’s Moving Castle Mug May all your bacon buuuuurn…
BB-8 Mug* A mug that’s almost as cute as what’s on it.
Captain America End of the Line Mug For you and your bionic bestie…
The Television Fangirl
Leslie Knope Mug A daily reminder we could all use right about now.
Community Mug* Miss you, show.
Game of Thrones Mug* For gods of tits and wine.
Doctor Who TARDIS Mug Undoubtedly the most beautiful TARDIS mug of all the TARDIS mugs.
I Ship It Mug It me.
Supernatural Let Me be Your Wings Mug See previous mug. <3
And Some Things to Put in the Mugs
This rich and warming White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha gets its peppermint flavor from crushed candy canes. No peppermint extract needed.
Today’s recipe is a combo of two coffee house favorites: a White Chocolate Mocha and Peppermint Mocha . Let’s make a White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha!
You get the rich, smooth and creamy white chocolate mocha base with a warming peppermint kick. It’s just the sort of thing you want to wake up with around this time of year.
Usually in a drink like this, you would use peppermint extract, but I know that’s not something everyone keeps stocked. So instead of an extract to flavor our mocha, I used something we all have around this time of year: candy canes!
Just crush up a candy cane and let it steep while you heat your milk. It adds sweetness and peppermint flavor and you have one less candy cane to throw away on December 26th. 😉
Ingredients
- Full-size candy cane: Since all of the peppermint flavor in this coffee comes from a candy cane, you’ll want to use a large one. If you only have mini candy canes, 1 large candy cane = about 4 minis.
- Milk: Use any percentage you’d like. For an extra rich and creamy drink, replace some of the milk with half and half or heavy cream.
- Strong coffee or espresso: You can use espresso or coffee brewed at double strength in this recipe (or just regular old coffee for a more mild coffee flavor–it’s still delicious). Instant espresso powder is a handy thing to keep stocked in your pantry for coffee and for baking in general (it will give your chocolate desserts a nice kick). You can order it online and also find it in a little jar in the coffee aisle at most grocery stores.
- White chocolate: Be sure to use high-quality white chocolate that you enjoy the taste of. I find that cheap chips that I’m happy to eat in cookies are not ideal for flavoring white-chocolate drinks.
- Sugar: The amount of white chocolate in this recipe doesn’t provide quite enough sweetness, so we’ll add just a bit of sugar.
How to Make a White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha
- Place your candy cane in a bag and use a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush it into small pieces —it doesn’t need to be powder, but the smaller the pieces, the more easily they will melt into the mocha.
- Heat milk and candy cane pieces together in a small pot or butter warmer until the milk begins to steam. Don’t let the milk come to a boil as it can curdle if it gets too hot!
- Turn off the heat and add the white chocolate and whisk until chocolate and candy cane pieces have melted. For foamy milk, vigorously whisk the milk until frothy or use a handheld milk frother
- Pour your coffee into a 12-ounce mug and pour the milk over the coffee. Add sugar to taste.
Can I make this without coffee?
Sure. But if you’re going to omit the coffee flavor, I’d go a bit heavier on the white chocolate. Go make my White Hot Chocolate and add your crushed candy cane to it.
Can I make this with peppermint extract instead of candy canes?
Absolutely. Skip the candy cane and make the recipe as written. After adding the sugar, add peppermint extract to taste—peppermint extract is STRONG, so you’ll only need a couple drops.
More Starbucks Copycat Recipes
- Homemade Mocha
- Iced Mocha
- Iced White Chocolate Mocha
- Caramel Latte
- Iced Caramel Macchiato
- Chai Latte
- Dulce de Leche Latte
As written, this recipe makes 1 12-ounce drink. To change the recipe yield, hover over the number of servings (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider.
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 Large candy cane
- ▢ 1 cup milk any percentage
- ▢ ⅓ cup strong coffee or espresso
- ▢ 3 tablespoons ( 1.5oz ) chopped white chocolate (high-quality chips are fine*)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ( 4g ) granulated sugar or to taste
Optional Toppings
- ▢ Whipped cream
- ▢ Crushed candy cane for sprinkling
Instructions
- Place candy cane in a plastic bag and use the bottom of a cup, rolling pin, or meat mallet to crush it into small pieces.
- In a small saucepan, combine milk and crushed candy cane. Heat milk, whisking occasionally until milk begins to steam.
- Remove from heat, stir in chocolate, and continue to stir until chocolate is completely melted and candy cane pieces dissolved.
- Add coffee or espresso to a 12-ounce mug. Whisk the milk and chocolate mixture vigorously (or use a milk frother to whisk) until frothy. Pour over coffee. Add sugar to taste.
- Top with whipped cream and more crushed candy cane if desired and enjoy!
Notes
This easy Mini Cranberry Breakfast Cake made with orange zest and buttermilk is the best way to wake up and makes just enough for an intimate breakfast or brunch with friends.
And now on to the recipe…
In Baking Mischief’s first year, I’ve posted a few sweet breakfast recipes. There’s the ever-popular Overnight Cinnamon Rolls for Two , my Pound Cake Cupcakes for Breakfast , and my Crêpes for Two , but I have yet to post a breakfast cake, which is unforgivable because breakfast cakes are the best.
So today, here you go: a Mini Cranberry Breakfast Cake. And seriously, guys, this cake is everything you want in a breakfast plus, it’s mini! It’s baked in a 5×7-inch pan, so it will serve 4 generously, 6 as part of a breakfast spread, and if you leave it sitting on the counter with a knife all morning, you and a partner could probably polish it off before noon. 😉
As far as breakfasts go, a Cranberry Breakfast Cake is just a lovely way to wake up. Throwing it together is a cinch, and it just plain tastes good.
The top is a little crisp and crunchy with sprinkled sugar, and the cranberries baking inside are just tart enough to offset that sweetness. Thanks to buttermilk in the batter, the cake is moist, but not too wet and the orange zest keeps things nice and interesting.
I like all of the recipes I post on this site, but some really stick with me, and this is definitely one of those. I shot these photos a couple of weeks ago when I had family around to feed this too, and I’ve been dreaming about making it again ever since.
There’s one cup of cranberries left in my freezer (you can make the cake using fresh or frozen) and every morning, I have a conversation with myself over whether it would be an appropriate breakfast for one. 🙂
But seriously, do yourselves a favor and try this one. It’s going to be a favorite!
This recipe uses only a small amount of buttermilk. Check out my post What to Do With Leftover Buttermilk for ideas to use up 0r store leftovers. And if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, that post also has a recipe for how to make a buttermilk substitute with milk and lemon juice.
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- ▢ 7x5-inch Baking Dish
Mini Cranberry Breakfast Cake
- ▢ 1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 teaspoon for topping
- ▢ Zest from 1/2 orange about 1 teaspoon
- ▢ 1 large egg
- ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/4 cup buttermilk
- ▢ 1 cup cranberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 7x5-inch baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, cream room temperature butter and sugar until visibly lightened in color, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Whisk in zest, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well-combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir half of the flour mixture into your wet ingredients, followed by the buttermilk and then the rest of the flour. Mix until just combined and fold in the cranberries.
- Transfer batter to prepared baking dish and gently smooth out the top. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes* until top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, with just a few dry crumbs.
- Cool for at least 5 minutes before serving and enjoy!
Notes
Recipe Adapted From Alexandra Cooks
