Whether you’re making hot chocolate from a packet or from scratch, there are plenty of ways to kick your drink up a notch. Impress your friends during a cold winter night with these fun ideas.
1. Fluff
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Bet you haven’t had fluff since your childhood, am I right? Now you have an excuse to buy it again. Instead of adding marshmallows, try putting a heaping spoonful of this on top of your drink. The fluff will melt evenly and make your hot chocolate super creamy.
2. Ice Cream
Photo by Leah Nordman
I’m always so sad when it gets too cold for ice cream any more so this lets me keep the indulgence going. If you add a scoop of ice cream to your piping hot chocolate it will cool it down a bit and also act like a less grown-up affogatto (espresso with vanilla gelato). You can even get creative here and try different flavors of ice cream, like peppermint or mint chocolate chip.
3. Espresso/coffee
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Chocolate + coffee flavor = a match made in heaven so it’s a no brainer that this is the perfect combination. This is a great switch up to your morning coffee, it still gives you that much needed caffeine kick but also adds some sweetness.
4. Peanut Butter
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This may seem a little strange but if you add a spoonful (or two+) of creamy peanut butter to your hot chocolate it will melt and result in a rich and creamy drink. Try to find the smoothest peanut butter out there so it won’t give you a grainy texture. Add fluff on top of it and it will be just like a peanut butter and fluff sandwich.
5. Baileys
Photo by Sarah Wu
3 parts hot chocolate and 1 part Baileys and you have a boozy drink to keep you warm all night.
6. Nutella
Same idea as peanut butter here but a spoonful into your hot chocolate just adds an even nuttier chocolate flavor. Or if you’re making your own hot chocolate you can substitute cocoa for Nutella. Simply heat your milk with Nutella in a saucepan and voilà.
7. Caramel
Photo by Allie Brady
Mix in as much caramel as you can handle and then sprinkle some sea salt in/over your whipped cream. Salted caramel hot chocolate, yum.
8. Cinnamon and Cayenne Pepper
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Make your own Mexican hot chocolate by simply adding a couple pinches cinnamon and cayenne to your drink. Depending on how spicy you like things, you can really go crazy with the pepper. If you’re looking for a garnish, a cinnamon stick works great in here.
9. Raspberry Jam
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Buy some seedless raspberry jam and mix in a spoonful for a fruity hot chocolate. A great way to make this mix-in even better is by using white hot chocolate instead of milk or dark. I also highly recommend topping with white chocolate shavings on top of whipped cream.
10. Eggnog
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Add a splash to eggnog to your hot chocolate and you’ll be transported to Christmas day opening presents with your footie pajamas on. You can really get fancy with this and make your own eggnog to add in.
11. Mint Leaves
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If you’re making hot chocolate on the stove, mix in a few sprigs of fresh mint and you’ll get a great mint flavor (just take out the mint when you’re ready to drink). A short cut to this if you don’t have fresh mint leaves is to just add a few drops of peppermint extract.