Recipe for homemade hot chocolate

While the weather outside is frightful get our recipe for homemade hot chocolate and stay warm and cozy inside!

It is going to be zero degrees here this week. ZERO. I don’t think we’ve actually had it reach that temperature the entire time we’ve lived here yet – shockingly. For most of the winter, we linger in the teens and twenties and personally, I prefer those temperatures to what is coming.

So, while the weather is ranging outside with below normal temperatures and a coming snow storm, I’m planning on staying in by the fire with my recipe for homemade hot chocolate to keep us warm. Warning: This is delicious recipe is restaurant quality and for serious chocolate lovers. No watered down hot chocolate over here.

How to make this recipe for homemade hot chocolate

There’s two ways to make hot chocolate at home.

1. You can make it over the stove and make it right there in the moment.
2. You can make a powdered version and have some homemade hot chocolate on hand all the time. The bonus is you can also have some to give as a last-minute gift AND little packets of homemade hot chocolate fit perfectly into gift baskets or even make sweet Valentine’s Day gifts. If you want to make it like this in its powdered form, check back next week to see the recipe!

If you want to make it from home in the heat of the moment for you to enjoy, the recipe will differ slightly then from the powdered form.

Making it fresh at home

If you want to make this recipe for hot chocolate on the spur of the moment at home, or have a fresh batch for company here’s what you will need:

• Your favorite milk – We use Whole Milk at our house, but you can make this with your favorite.
• Heavy cream – This will help to add a thickness and a richness to the cup.
• Cocoa Powder – This adds that delightful hot chocolatey flavor.
• Chocolate chips – A little extra chocolate to sweeten your cup. I use milk chocolate chips but you can use semi-sweet and dark chocolate too to make it all a little less sweet.
• Granular Sugar – A lot of recipes use confectioners’ sugar but honestly, that just doesn’t have the sweetness I crave when it comes to making a recipe for homemade hot chocolate. I want sweetness and I want it to taste better than anything I can buy.
• Vanilla Extract – This will help balance out all the chocolate flavors!
• Salt – This is optional but will help pull the sweetness back a bit.
• Topping options – I’m a purist and love just marshmallows but you can get creative here. Add in some chocolate shavings, peppermint, caramel sauce or whipped cream!

Recipe for homemade hot chocolate steps

To begin you will heat the milk over medium heat. Then whisk in the cocoa powder and sugar.

You might wonder why you need to use cocoa powder if you’re making it fresh but this ingredient really gives it that hot chocolate flavor you will crave. Cocoa powder is also a very concentrated form of chocolate so you will get the best flavor versus melting chocolate straight away.

For cocoa powder, I recommend using Divine Cocoa Powder or Ghirardelli Majestic Premium Cocoa Powder. You can find Divine {HERE} and Ghirardelli {HERE}. I usually use Ghirardelli chocolate whenever I melt chocolate for any of my confections like these Ghost Pretzels. I just love the flavor better than any other confectioner’s chocolate. However, I’ve used Divine in my Chocolate Mousse and in this recipe for homemade hot chocolate and I truly love the flavor too. Divine is sold in smaller increments so if you go that route make sure you get enough.

Next, I add the vanilla to help even out the flavor. This will also give it more of that hot cocoa taste.

Once the whole mix has simmered, add in the chocolate chips. Again I use {THESE} Milk Chocolate Chips by Ghirardelli. (This is not a sponsored post.) But you can use any you like.

Serve immediately with your favorite garnishes like marshmallows, a drizzle of caramel, candy canes or shaved chocolate.

Making homemade hot chocolate the way you love it

Depending on how you’re feeling, you might want to make some substitutions to this recipe for homemade hot chocolate.

• Add a little cinnamon and cayenne pepper to make a Mexican Hot Chocolate.
• To reduce calories try using unsweetened almond milk if you like it. Or, use whatever milk you might be regularly drinking. I’m not sure how pea milks or oat milks will taste but if you try it let me know!
• Do you like coffee flavored hot chocolate? Add two shots of espresso to this recipe and give it a caffeine jolt!
• Try adding in peppermint coffee creamer in place of the heavy cream for a peppermint chocolate flavor!

Tips for making this recipe for homemade hot chocolate

• This recipe is for hot chocolate – like it will taste like liquid chocolate goodness with a little bit of milk. If you want more milky flavor and want to tone down the chocolate a bit, add an additional cup of milk.
• I recommend using whole milk with this recipe. You can of course use other kinds of milk but know that it will impact the flavor profile. If you’re already used to a different milk, that might be just fine for you!
• Can I make this in a slow cooker? YES! To make this in a slow cooker, combine all the ingredients in there (except the chocolate chips) and make sure the cocoa powder is well whisked so you don’t get clumps on the bottom. Simmer for 15-30 mixing occasionally to make sure the cream isn’t overheating. Just before moving the dial to “warm” add the chocolate chips and stir until they’re melted. Then leave it all sitting on warm. Turn it back to simmer if you need to heat it up.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, friends! I hope you enjoy this recipe for homemade hot chocolate. Try this with my homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies for the ultimate chocolate experience!