(While the article below is a repeat, the info a got from an acquaintance is new as of Thursday.  An employee posted on the store’s Facebook page that chocolate chips would be costing from $120 to 175 more per 50-lb box.  Cocoa has increased 180% in the last six months. And I think I heard that Trump said cocoa now costs more per ton the copper.  I could be wrong on that last bit, though.  Regardless, it might be a good time to replenish the cocoa supplies.)

Chocolate.  You know it’s truly going to be TEOTWAWKI if you don’t have it.

You already know why you want it in your preps.  You probably don’t need
a whole lot of help with recipes, either, though I’ll provide a few
later in this post.  What you are looking for, most likely, is how to
store it best.

Chocolate chips (semi-sweet).  For maximum long term storage, up
to five years, they should be put into canning jars and vacuum sealed. 
Unfortunately, I have no personal experience with this, that is, with
the part about five years.  The max I’ve been able to store chocolate
chips here is three years.  We are so good at rotating our chocolate
chips.  And while I firmly believe that storing chocolate chips in
canning jars is truly the best way to go, I have to admit, it is not
what I practice here.  It’s partly because I’m a little lazy, but also
partly because I know we will be rotating through these chocolate
chips.  There is no doubt.  So I’m not concerned about longer term
storage.  And because I’m not concerned about storing for the long haul,
I have taken to putting the bags of chocolate chips into four-gallon
buckets.  The buckets go into the crawl space with much of our other
long-term food storage, where the temperature is cooler and more
consistent.  If I were storing for longer term, I’d definitely do it as I
did in the beginning–vacuum-sealed in canning jars.

Milk chocolate.  The higher milk content contributes to a shorter
shelf life than for semi-sweet, definitely in the range of months and
not years.  Were I to store it, it would be vacuum-sealed in canning
jars.

White chocolate.  I rarely use it; certainly not enough to store
it.  But my husband brought some Baker’s semi-sweet and white chocolate
baking bars home a couple of years ago because they were on clearance. 
Those half-dozen or so bars went up on a high shelf in the laundry
room/pantry and were kind of forgotten.  (OK, so they were totally
forgotten.)  I came across them as I was tidying.  I couldn’t find a
date on them anywhere, but I know they came home post-Christmas one
year, so they’re somewhere between two and four years old.  First, I
carefully opened the white chocolate.  It was no longer white, but
rather caramel-colored.  I think I probably sniffed it first, but I’m
not sure.  And besides, the true test would be to taste it.  Nasty!  It
probably erased whatever memory of the smell I may have had.  So, so
nasty.  Into the trash.  The semi-sweet  bars were just fine.

Cocoa powder.  Stored in a cool, dry place, it keeps pretty much indefinitely.

Hot cocoa mix.   The Home Storage Center states that their hot
cocoa mix has a shelf life of two years.  In my supply here it looks
like the last time I bought hot cocoa mix there was five years ago,
because the best-by date on the pouch says February 2016.  So I’m
testing cocoa that’s almost three years past it’s best-by date.  Three
children with discriminating palates and I all say it tastes just fine. 
What I would not trust, however, is the “cut here” dotted line, so that
the bag can be resealed.  That was a total fail this time. 

DIY hot cocoa mix.  Cocoa powder stores almost indefinitely. 
Sugar stores indefinitely.  Powdered milk has a 20-year shelf life.  So
all three of these, the main ingredients in cocoa mix, ought to be able
to be combined to make your own mix, right?  I searched the ‘net for
quite some time last night and came up with the recipe to try.

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups dry milk
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne

Now the recipes were all pretty much the same.  Some called for sifting
the powdered sugar and cocoa to make sure there weren’t any lumps.  One
used brown sugar instead of powdered.  Most omitted the cayenne; in 5
1/2 cups of mix, it’s only going to make a difference to the most
sensitive of taste buds.  I didn’t notice it.  What I did notice was
that it was truly, truly awful.  I followed the recipe exactly
and then mixed it up to make some hot cocoa without paying attention to
the mixing directions.  Yes, it was so, so bad.  So I very irritatedly
(yes, I know that’s not a word, but it’s how I felt) threw it all out.  
Then I glanced at the mixing directions.  OK, so I was only supposed to
use two tablespoons.  So I got back into the trash and carefully
removed two tablespoons of mix that were not contaminated in any way.  I
added two ounces of water and stirred well.  I then added milk and
heated it in the microwave.

Nope, it was no better.  Still very, very awful.

(Note:  In the above recipe I used non-instant nonfat dry milk from the
Home Storage Center.  Results may be better using a higher-end instant
dry milk.)

So why exactly did I include that recipe if it doesn’t work?  Because
you need to know that just because someone somewhere on the ‘net says
something works, doesn’t make it true!!  And then there can also be
honest differences in taste buds.  I like fresh mushrooms; most of my
children don’t.  Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups are the only way to go
for me, but it seems most people are happy to eat Reese’s.  Store brands
are just fine for most things, but my crackers better be Honey Maid and
Krispy or Premium.  You have to try recipes out yourself now so you
don’t waste precious food later.

Nesquik.  Nesquik (remember when it used to be just “Quik”?) can
make a bad day a whole lot better.  It can also make powdered milk taste
a whole lot better, especially if you didn’t have time to get it
thoroughly chilled.  Per
the customer service representative at Nestle, “after it is produced
our regular Nesquik Powder has a recommended shelf life of 24 months
while the No Sugar Added has a recommended shelf life of 18 months.
After opening either of those, the recommended shelf life is 3 to 6
months.”  


In
our experience, Nesquik will last a bit beyond the 24 months, but not
much.  Somehow it starts to taste like pencil shavings.  I’m not quite
sure how that is, since I’ve never been one to eat much in the way of
pencil shavings, but that’s what it tastes like.

DIY Nesquik. 
There were no where near as many options as there were for hot cocoa. 
It’s basically a 1:2 ratio of cocoa powder to sugar, with a pinch or two
of salt.  

And it also tastes like barf.  Well, maybe just really bad.  But notice there is only one really.   Not two very‘s or two truly‘s,
like the hot cocoa mix above.  If your kids have anywhere near the
average number of brain cells or taste buds, they will not be fooled by
this poor attempt at a copycat recipe.

[The rest of this article is a few years old.  However, I wanted to note that the type of cocoa used makes all the difference.   Dutch-processed is the key here.  If you want to read more on it, click on The Trick to Making a Great DIY Hot Chocolate Mix below.]

A final note. 
Chocolate can be stored in the freezer.  I supposed if I had unlimited
space I would do this as well, but I really need the room for meat and
some veggies.  Chocolate that is stored in the freezer will develop
“bloom,” a whitish, tannish, grayish cast to it.  It is the cocoa butter
separating from the cocoa and does not affect the taste in the least,
only the appearance.  

Links to related posts:

The Trick to Making a Great DIY Hot Chocolate Mix
Dry milk   
Canning Candy  
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake  
Food Storage for Christmas  
Food Fatigue  
DIY Tootsie Rolls