Creamy and Luxurious Hot Chocolate which is a Hug in a Mug. Comforting warm chocolate drink during cold winter season or just to lift upto your mood on a gloomy day. You will love every sip of this smooth hot chocolate drink, check my white hot chocolate and hot chocolate bombs. Learn how to make hot chocolate with step by step instructions and video.
Hot Chocolate
Creamy Hot chocolate is a drink which you would crave on a rainy or a cold winter day. This cozy drink is pure bliss in every sip just like my ginger milk. Making a delicious hot chocolate needs just milk, sugar and chocolate. As simple as that!
Table of Contents
About Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate is a popular winter beverage and just warms your soul. A great hot chocolate recipe needs not other than a good quality chocolate. The higher the chocolate quality, you get to taste pure creamy decadent hot chocolate.
I liked to spruce up my hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon. You could either use cinnamon stick or a pinch of cinnamon powder. The mild flavour of cinnamon coming through the drink is very pleasant. If you don't like cinnamon you can skip it completely. Want a light boozy hot chocolate, you could add a splash of rum or brandy.
I have shared recipe for homemade hot cocoa mix in this recipe as well. You can easily create hot chocolate bombs using that.
Why You Will Love this Recipe?
- Easy, Fast, Efficient & Completely Fail Proof.
- Rich, Creamy & Decadent Hot Chocolate.
- Easy to Follow & Customise to your taste.
Video for the Best Hot Chocolate Recipe
Hot Cocoa Vs Hot Chocolate
Hot cocoa and Hot chocolate may sound similar but each has their own distinct taste. Instant Hot cocoa is what you get as premix from shops. Usually it is made with cocoa powder, powdered sugar, milk powder and sometimes it has a touch of cornstarch. Even if you want to try at home, you would make it with cocoa powder rather than real chocolate.
On the other hand, Hot chocolate is dark, rich and decadent made with good chocolate (preferably couverture chocolate), milk and a touch of sugar. Couverture contains a higher content of cocoa butter. The added cocoa butter allows for couverture chocolate to melt faster, making it easier to work with in recipes like hot chocolate.
Love this recipe, then why not check my Homemade Dark Chocolate, Hot Chocolate Ice cream & White Hot Chocolate Recipe too.
Hot Chocolate Ingredients
Type of Chocolate
As mentioned above the taste of a good cup of hot chocolate depends on the quality of chocolate you use. Couverture chocolate is recommended because of their high content of cocoa butter. The added cocoa butter allows for couverture chocolate to melt faster, and creates a creamy texture to your hot chocolate. You can choose to use compound chocolate since it has added vegetable oil as emulsifier which in turns helps with the creaminess.
Milk Options
Full fat milk is preferred. But if you are lactose intolerant or vegan. You could opt for any plant based milk of choice. Here are my recipes for Homemade Almond Milk, Oat Milk, Soy Milk. Even a splash of double cream is added with milk for creaminess. I prefer my hot chocolate to be made with only milk.
Sweetener to Choose
Plain refined sugar gives the required amount of sweetness without any added flavours. But Honey, Agave nectar or Maple syrup can be used.
Optional Ingredients
Ingredients like cinnamon, vanilla, peppermint extract, coconut extracts, alcohol of choice is added for additional flavours.
Expert Tips
- Using the Best Quality Chocolate is the Key
- Don't let the milk boil over. heat gently on medium heat.
- Infuse hot chocolate with your favourite flavours.
- Toppings are not essential but you can use marshmallows for topping if you want to be fancy.
How to Make Hot Chocolate (Stepwise Photos)
1)Take milk in a sauce pan and heat it till it comes to a simmering point where you can see steam coming out of the pan. Don't let it boil.
2)Add in good quality chocolate. You could prefer to add chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
3)The chocolate will start to melt with the heat of the milk. Now add in a dash of ground cinnamon.
4)Add sugar or honey to taste.
5)I like to add in a splash of vanilla extract.
6)Mix the hot chocolate really well. Thats it.
7)Pour hot chocolate in serving glass and enjoy.
8)Warm, cozy, hot chocolate is done.
Variations & Flavour Ideas
I have compiled all the variations I have done with the classic hot chocolate recipe in this post. It will give you more ideas how you can take the most "Classic Hot Chocolate" to the next level.
Cafe Style Hot Chocolate
Once you finish making hot chocolate. Take an immersion blender and blend the hot chcoolate for a good 30 seconds or so. This step gives the creamy-dreamy texture to your hot chocolate and makes it cafe style!
Mocha Hot Cocoa Recipe
If I want a simple chocolate drink for breakfast but I can never skip my morning coffee, this is my "Mocha Hot Cocoa" .
Mix 1 tsp cocoa powder, 2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tsp instant espresso powder in a serving mug. Add 2 tbsp of hot milk and use an electric milk frother to mix. Pour more hot milk and serve immediately.
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
This is my go to drink when I feel up against the weather. cozy peppermint hot chocolate is perfect during christmas season.
How to Make Hot Chocolate Powder (Instant Mix)
Don't want to go through all the trouble. Then make a jar of this instant hot chocolate mix and have it handy. All you need is boil it with hot milk, pour and enjoy!
This makes a great edible christmas gift for your loved ones. Here is how you make it.
- 1.5 cup milk powder
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Mix everything together and store in an air tight container. For making hot chocolate, mix 3 tblsp of hot chocolate mix with 1 cup (240 ml) of water or milk and whisk well. Cook on low heat for 2 to 3 mins. Enjoy with some marshmallows on top or peppermint stick.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does hot chocolate last?
Hot chocolate taste its best when made fresh and served hot. Leftover hot chocolate drink can be stored in fridge. When serving, heat gently in a sauce pan till it gets warm and enjoy.
What toppings can we add in hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate taste great plain and simple on its own. But whipped cream, crushed peppermint candy, mini marshmallows, candy cane will add an extravagant touch to the classic beverage.
What to serve with hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate is usually served on its own. But if you are hosting a party and wish to serve some snack. I suggest to make a dessert platter which has not so sweet cakes and cookies like gingerbread cake, ginger honey cookies, gingerbread cookies, chocolate treacle cake and snickerdoodle cookies.
More Tasty Warming Drinks to try!
📖 Recipe Card
Hot Chocolate | Hot Chocolate Recipe | Hot Cocoa
Ingredients
- 1 cup Full Fat Milk
- 3 tbsp Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1 tbsp Honey or Sugar
- ¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Take milk in a sauce pan and heat it. Bring it to a simmering point. Don't let it boil. Stir in chocolate chips and allow it to melt gently.
- Add in ground cinnamon, honey and vanilla. Mix well and Pour in serving mug.
- You can add a dollop of whipped cream, marshmallow, extra sprinkle of cinnamon and enjoy hot.
Video
Nutrition
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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Richa
Why did you add salt
Aarthi
It balances the taste
H
This is probably the best hot chocolate recipe I've found, it tastes exactly like how the cafe does it. Saved my cravings as Sydney goes into another lockdown, thank you!