I’m not even kidding when I call this the World’s BEST Hot Chocolate Recipe. It is everything hot cocoa should be; Creamy, rich with a great flavor. This homemade hot chocolate is the essence of coming home from a cold day.
How I created this Hot Chocolate Recipe
Today it rained, it was MARVELOUS (As a born and raised Oregonian I LOVE the rain)! The leaves have all changed colors and there was a beautiful mist over the mountains.
I love fall. I don’t like being too hot or too cold, I’m not a huge fan of snow… BUT if it means I get to make this hot chocolate then I’ll take it.
I love chocolate, in pretty much every form. Bars, cookies, cake, ice cream and liquid!
When we were living in Japan I missed my favorite foods that they don’t have over there. That’s how I got into from scratch cooking – learning to make food that I couldn’t get overseas.
So when I was missing hot chocolate I started trying various recipes, mixing and matching until I was happy with the results.
Now I do not like watery hot chocolate. So I knew it needed to be made with milk. And I already had my Hot Fudge recipe that I loved so I used my understanding about blooming Cocoa to my advantage as I created the final recipe.
Now I make a double batch every week and enjoy a cup on cold mornings. I like to add my Homemade Marshmallows of course – they have this great creamy effect as they melt.
I also tweak this same recipe for my Frozen Hot Chocolate recipe. You can also serve it with fresh whipped cream or my homemade marshmallow fluff or my marshmallow frosting! What do you like with your hot chocolate?
Just take me to the Hot Cocoa Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for homemade hot chocolate, along with links to other winter recipes and get straight to this delicious drink – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
Tips to Make the Perfect Hot Chocolate
By boiling the cocoa and water at the beginning your actually Blooming the cocoa. This breaks up clumps, thickens the liquid and most important releases flavor particles in the powder and results in a much richer flavor.
This is the reason most chocolate cakes add boiling water to the mixture and why I dissolve my cocoa in boiling water and let it sit for a few mins in my chocolate cake recipe.
Once the cocoa has bloomed and the full flavor has been released now you want to add the rest of your liquid and bring it up to heat. I use whole milk – for me hot chocolate should always be made with milk, not water.
You don’t need to, and shouldn’t, bring it back to a boil. Now you just heat it to the temperature you like to drink your cocoa at. Once it’s up to tempurature add the vanilla.
The vanilla is essential for enhancing the flavor and I can always tell if I accidentally forgot it when I taste it. You don’t want to add it early as the boiling and heating process would actually make most of the vanilla evaporate so it should be the last thing you add before serving.
I refrigerate any left overs – but the chocolate and milk does separate after a while so make sure to shake it up or stir it really good before reserving!
The World’s BEST Hot Chocolate
If you love this homemade hot chocolate as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love Hot Chocolate you’ll love these other winter drink recipes!
Warm Pumpkin Pie Drink | Hot Butterbeer | Homemade Eggnog
And these other decadent chocolate treats
Chocolate Cake | Chocolate Cheesecake | Chocolate Lava Cake
Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!
To watch me make this Hot Chocolate along with 2 other fall drinks play the video in the recipe card (if you’re on desktop, a short teaser video should be auto playing for you).
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
The worlds BEST Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 C water
- 4 C whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- In a saucepan mix the dry ingredients.
- Add the water and bring to a boil, keep boiling for one min.
- Then add the milk.
- Heat until it’s the temp you like.
- Take off the heat and add the vanilla, stir and serve
Bella
This is amazing! Made with 2% milk just because I didn’t feel like making a trip to the store (lazy… I know) and it turned out super yummy! Will def have to try with whole milk next time!
Ashlee Marie
I only ever use whole milk – but use whatever milk you like best!
Lorie
How would you make this for a crowd? We are having an open house for the town holiday happenings at our office. People will be in and out and we need the perfect hot chocolate recipe. Could you put it into a large coffee pot for dispensing? Would appreciate your input.
Ashlee Marie
I don’t have a coffee pot since I don’t drink coffee but anything made to hold liquid at a set temp would work. A crockpot would work too.
Haley
This is literally the best thing I’ve ever had! Never going to buy packets again. But what about storing it? I made some and I was the only one drinking it at the time but my husband wanted to have some later that night. Can it be refrigerated and re-heated? Or left out? Thanks so much for the recipe!
Ashlee Marie
you can totally refrigerate the extra and reheat, I do it all the time and just a mug in the morning for myself!
Kathy
Will this keep for a few days if I don’t use it all?
Ashlee Marie
yup! just keep the extra in the fridge
Layla
Hi just wondering if for some reason you don’t finish it all can you put it in the fridge and reheat the next day?
Ashlee Marie
100% yes! I do it all the time!
Sara
To store this, would you just pour it into a jug & refrigerate to reheat later? Not that I had any to spare, it was so good! But if I made a larger batch.
Ashlee Marie
Yes refrigerating will work perfectly! I just reheat mine on the stove.
Kim
What would the ratio for ingredients be if I wanted to make 6 cups?
Ashlee Marie
just use the slide tool under the “servings” in the recipe card
Leslie
Making this tonight! Super excited!
Brenda
My new favorite recipe and my kids really, really enjoyed it! Thank you!
Jennifer
Good but maybe reduce the sugar by half especially of you plan to mix with Bailey’s.
Samantha
I tried this recipe , everyone loved it !
Dog_mom101
It sounds sooooo good!!!! I have been carving homemade hot cocoa!!!!!!!!!!!!❤️
Reba
I’ve made this a couple times now for my husband and kids, they LOVE it!!! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe ☕️
Ashlee Marie
you are so welcome
Amy Cronin
I’ve been doing keto since November, and this recipe has been great! I make a quadruple batch of the dry ingredients and add 3 T of the mix to 1/4 c of heavy cream mixed with 3/4 c hot vanilla almond milk and a dash of vanilla. YUM!
Ashlee Marie
This sounds amazing! I love the almond milk. My brother in law (also doing keto) loves this recipe too.
Rebecca
This is good, but cut the salt by half. Thanks for posting!
Ashlee Marie
Everyone has their own salt that they can handle, I honestly double it at home! But the best part of cooking from scratch is being able to personalize it to your own preferences
Whits@amusebouche
Wow this was awesome..!
Ashlee Marie
Thank you so very much!
Paula
I made this tonight. I added one cup of sweet cream coffee creamer and then three cups of milk instead of straight four cups of milk. I finished with marshmallow creme at the end so it melted into Oblivion. Oh. Heck. Yes! We loved it! I think we’ll be making this again and again. Thanks!
Ashlee Marie
I’m so glad you loved it! and I bet that change with the coffee creamer was yummy. I love homemade marshmallows cause they melt all thick and creamy, going straight to marshmallow creme is a great way to go!
Dianna
Just made this for my family tonight. Oh YUM!!! Can’t wait to make this for the guys at work. Thank you for sharing something so wonderful!
Ashlee Marie
It’s hard to explain to people how worth it is to make – they are like – what’s the difference in this and powdered hot chocolate… SO MUCH! So glad you enjoyed it as much as we do!
Sheila
Hello
We are going to try your recipe for hot chocolate and the homemade marshmellows, do you have a crockpot recipe?.
Ashlee Marie
no, because the cocoa needs to bloom so you need the act of boiling it for the right flavor. BUT once you’ve boiled the cocoa, sugar/salt/water you could add it to the crockpot with the milk for heating – just remember to add the vanilla too and stir often since it separates easily.
Norma
Made this for the first time, SO GOOD. Definitely making again. Thank you.