KANSAS CITY — With the holidays on the horizon, restaurants are serving seasonal dishes and drinks in festive flavors. While typical holiday flavors such as mint, gingerbread and eggnog re-emerged this year, the breakout star on menus this holiday season is hot chocolate.

As part of its holiday menu, IHOP launched Merry Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, flavored with toasted marshmallow syrup and topped with whipped topping and shimmery round red and green sprinkles.

Dairy Queen recently debuted the Peppermint Hot Cocoa Blizzard Treat, featuring candy cane pieces, chocolate chunks and cocoa fudge blended with vanilla soft serve. The dessert is then finished with whipped topping and candy cane pieces.

Auntie Anne’s is introducing the Hot Chocolate Frost, a frozen twist on the holiday staple. The treat features frozen hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and a drizzle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup.

Tim Hortons launched a lineup of holiday beverages, including Peppermint Hot Chocolate.

Orange Leaf teamed up with Ghirardelli to launch a new frozen yogurt flavor: Peppermint Hot Cocoa Froyo. Made with Ghirardelli chocolate, the seasonal flavor pairs minty and sweet flavors.

“We are excited to once again partner with Ghirardelli to be able to create a flavor featuring their rich chocolate that’s been handmade in San Francisco for almost 170 years now,” said Kendall Ware, president and chief operating officer of Orange Leaf. “They’ve been a quality flavor partner of ours for years and it’s no surprise that combining their hot cocoa with our proprietary frozen yogurt has already proven to be a crowd favorite.”

El Pollo Loco introduced Mexican Hot Chocolate, made with Abuelita chocolate, spiced with cinnamon and vanilla and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar.

View a slideshow of new menu items for the 2019 holiday season.