Chocolate Syrup

Maybe I'm the last person on the planet to figure this out, but homemade chocolate syrup is very easy to make and does not have to contain high-fructose corn syrup (as most if not all commercial syrups do). I found that out when desperate one night for some to put on ice cream. I am pretty sure it's cheaper too, though I have not done an analysis on that. A quick google search brought up many recipes, including this one from recipezaar:

• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 dash salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir everything together except the vanilla extract. Heat to a boil and stir till it starts to thicken, just a few minutes, 3-5. After removing it from the heat, add the vanilla extract. This has to be stored in the fridge. (You will see that my directions differ slightly from the site referenced. Every stovetop recipe I have ever seen that uses vanilla extract says to put it in after removing from the heat. Except this one. So I modified it to do like I've always done it. No originality here.)

It's nice to have around for iced coffee, ice cream, or chocolate milk. Not that we need a lot of chocolate. But sometimes...