I know, I know, I know: The best hot beverage to pair with “Gilmore Girls” would be coffee. But, I don’t drink coffee, so I’m going with a loaded up mug of mint hot cocoa.

This recipe is vegan and gluten-free, making 1 “serving.”

Ingredients
1 cup almond milk
0.25 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 tablespoons vegan, gluten-free hot cocoa mix
vegan whipped cream (as much or as little as you like)
1 small square vegan, gluten-free mint chocolate, shaved

Instructions
Pour the milk, mint extract and cocoa mix into a mug big enough to hold all of them with room to stir and extra space at the top.

Stir them together and microwave the mug for 1 minute. Stir again.

Spray some vegan whipped cream on top and shave the mint chocolate over the top.

Sip and savor with an episode or five of “Gilmore Girls!”

The Easy Route
You might be able to find a packet of mint hot chocolate, eliminating the need for peppermint extract. You might also be able to find vegan mini mint chocolate chips or premade shavings that could work instead of making your own from a candy bar.

The Pairing
“Gilmore Girls” first aired when I was in high school, and I tuned in each week. It’s one of the few shows I kept watching every week during my college years.

I also rewatched the whole series a couple times after that, including in the run-up to the limited sequel series Netflix made a few years ago.

The show follows Rory and Lorelai Gilmore, a mother-daughter duo living in the small town of Stars Hollow in New England.

Lorelai had Rory when she was a teenager and raised her on her own, so they’re very close, sometimes seeming more like best friends than mother and daughter.

Lauren Graham is absolutely amazing as Lorelai, and Alexis Bledel is very believable as Rory, a teenager who sometimes makes questionable choices on the path to growing up.

The real heart of “Gilmore Girls” lies in its supporting players, from Edward Herrmann and Kelly Bishop as Lorelai’s parents, Richard and Emily, to the ensemble of characters in Stars Hollow, including (but not limited to) Scott Patterson as Luke, Yanic Truesdale as Michel, Keiko Agena as Lane and the one and only Melissa McCarthy as Sookie.

There is a lot of character development done over the series’ seven seasons, and it was a weekly joy to have this cast of characters pop up on my TV.

If you decide to make hot cocoa and/or watch “Gilmore Girls,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes