homemade hot chocolate

Learn how to make the best homemade hot chocolate with 4 simple ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, and real chocolate. 

Homemade hot chocolate is so simple and so decadent. You’ll fall in love with the silken texture, deep cocoa flavor, and of course, the ease of 4 ingredients! 

Best of all, you can customize the recipe to your tastes. Love bitter cacao with just a touch of sweetness? This recipe is ready for you. 

But if you want a little more sugar, mix in more to your liking. Sub in milk chocolate for an extra smooth, mellow hot chocolate. Use oat milk for vegan hot cocoa. Add a splash of peppermint schnapps.

The recipe is so flexible, and I’ve brainstormed a big list of creative ideas for you at the bottom of this post so you can go crazy with fun flavors.

Whatever you do, don’t forget the obligatory handful of fluffy homemade marshmallows!

This recipe will leave you with a cozy mug of gourmet hot chocolate: creamy, rich, and deeply chocolatey. You’ll crave it year after year!

homemade hot chocolate ingredients:

how to make hot chocolate:

1. Heat milk, cream, and sugar until steaming (don’t let it boil).
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth.
4. Pour in a mug, top with homemade marshmallows.
5. Enjoy!

Why this is the best hot chocolate recipe:

• Really good dark chocolate. The better the quality of the chocolate, the better your homemade hot chocolate will taste. All the flavor nuance, silky texture, and bitter cacao will transfer directly into your mug. Look for dark chocolate that is between 65- 70% cacao for the best flavor.
• No cocoa powder: Recipes with cocoa powder can bring great flavor, but they miss out on a crucial aspect of great hot chocolate: texture. Real chocolate brings a lusciousness to the hot cocoa that just can’t be replicated with cocoa powder.
• Milk and cream: Equal parts of both milk and cream strike the perfect balance of richness. All cream is way too intense, and all milk is a little bit lean. We all want hot chocolate to be decadent, but we don’t want to feel sick after drinking it. You'll love this ratio!
• Just enough sugar: The great part about making hot chocolate at home is control. You can make it as sweet as you want. I prefer to start with ¼ cup of sugar and see how it tastes after a few 'mallows get dropped in. Kids usually want it a little sweeter. And since the sweetness level of every chocolate is different, start low and add more as needed.

make this your own:

• Play with the chocolate: use darker chocolate for a more bitter note to your hot cocoa, or a mix of half dark and half milk chocolate for a more mellow flavor
• Make this vegan by using coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, or other plant-based milk in place of the dairy.
• Add ¼ tsp of your favorite extract for a touch of flavor: almond extract, peppermint extract, coconut extract, vanilla extract.
• Make it a mocha: Mix in 1 teaspoon of espresso powder with the milk and cream and stir until dissolved. 
• Make it an iced hot chocolate: Pour the hot chocolate in a glass jar and refrigerate until chilled. Fill a glass with ice and pour chilled hot chocolate over top! TIP: Blend chilled hot chocolate with 1 cup of ice in a high-powered blender to make a frosty, indulgent, creamy iced cocoa.
• Make it a spicy hot chocolate: mix in ½ teaspoon chili powder with the milk and cream.
• Make it boozy! Try 1 oz of peppermint schnapps, Amaretto, Grand Marnier, Kahlua, or Frangelico for a touch of boozy flavor.

make-ahead hot chocolate:

While this homemade hot chocolate recipe is super easy to make on the spot, you can also make it ahead and store it in the fridge.

It will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

Re-warm on the stove, in the microwave, or in the crockpot!

more hot drink recipes to try!

coconut milk hot chocolate

Spanish coffee

Irish coffee

hot toddy

ginger hot toddy

vin chaud (mulled wine)

hot mulled cider

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