Hot Cocoa Bombs

‘Tis the season for Hot Cocoa Bombs, the most delightful way to drink hot chocolate! Stir one of these cocoa mix-filled treats into a mug of warm milk and you’ll be on your way to warmth.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Bombs recipe

Food gifts are one of the best parts of the holidays. Cookie plates, boxes of chocolates and homemade liqueurs definitely make the season a little sweeter.

Hot cocoa bombs are one of the latest trends in homemade holiday gifts. These chocolate confections filled with hot chocolate mix and mini marshmallows are a delightful and fun way to enjoy hot chocolate.

To enjoy them, all you have to do is drop one of these chocolate spheres into a mug and pour hot milk over top. Watch in awe as the chocolate shell melts away and the fillings bubble to the top. Stir them together and you’ve got a warm mug of hot chocolate ready to drink.

They are relatively easy to make without a lot of experience in chocolate making, promise! Below I’ll show you how to make them to give as gifts.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Hot cocoa bombs are a true delight. They are fun to make, give and drink.

• These chocolate confections are easy to create with just a few ingredients.
• You can get creative with the presentation, flavors and fillings.
• Recipients will love stirring them into their own mug of hot chocolate.

Making hot chocolate bombs is a fun activity to do with friends and family.

Serve them at a holiday party or hot chocolate party and let guests enjoy mixing up their own cups of cocoa. Keep milk warm in a slow cooker for guests to ladle into their mugs.

Hot cocoa bombs make great Christmas gifts for friends, neighbors and teachers. You can make them for other holidays too, like Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.

Add a gift tag: I created these printable hot chocolate bomb gift tags that you can add to your presents. They explain how to make them into a cup of hot cocoa.

What are hot cocoa bombs?

Hot cocoa bombs are chocolate balls filled with hot cocoa mix, marshmallows and other fillings.

When stirred with hot milk, the outer shell melts away and the fillings are released.

Marshmallows and sprinkles float to the top and the melted chocolate shell and hot chocolate mix inside can be stirred into the cup.

Hot Cocoa vs. Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are similar in flavor but the ingredients are different. Hot chocolate is made with real, melted chocolate. Hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder.

Since this recipe contains both chocolate and cocoa, you could call them hot chocolate bombs or hot cocoa bombs.

Whatever you want to call it and however you make it, it’s delicious!

Equipment

To make hot chocolate bombs, you’ll need to pick up a few things.

Molds: First and foremost, you need a silicone mold to make them in. These silicone dome molds are perfect because they are easy to release the chocolate.

Chocolate warmer: Though you can warm the chocolate in the microwave or in a double-boiler on the stove, it’s much easier to use a melting pot. Chocolate is very finicky when it meets heat, so a device like this keeps the chocolate warm without overcooking it. Bonus that you can use it to make chocolate-covered strawberries too!

Food-safe paintbrushes: For best results, use culinary paintbrushes for assembly. You can get by with a small spatula or spoon, but a small pastry paintbrush is more delicate and less messy. You can also use them for decorating the tops of the bombs.

Bags for gifting: To give these beauties away, I like to put them in cellophane bags and tie them up with a ribbon. These iridescent bags are really fun and festive.

Other gifts: For my friends who drink, I like to bag them with a mini bottle of sweet liqueur, like Irish cream or coffee liqueur. You could also add a swizzle stick or a chocolate spoon.

Ingredients

Hot chocolate bombs don’t really need much more than melting chocolate, marshmallows and hot cocoa mix, but you can make them as fancy as you like.

You can find most of these ingredients at the grocery store, but if you are looking for more options, try a craft supply store like Michael’s or JoAnn’s.

Melting chocolate wafers

Melting chocolate wafers are designed for melting and recreating into candies and confections. They are much better than chocolate chips for hot chocolate bombs.

This Ghirardelli variety pack comes with three flavors — milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate.

They come in other flavors, like salted caramel or strawberry, and colors like red and green.

Hot cocoa mix & fillings

You’ll want to fill the bombs with your favorite hot cocoa mix. That is, the hot chocolate powder kind used for making hot cocoa, not cocoa powder for baking.

You can go with classic chocolate or get fancy with a flavor like peppermint. If you’d like to go the homemade route, making your own hot cocoa mix is pretty easy to do.

In addition to the hot chocolate, you’ll want to add some other mix-ins. Mini marshmallows are a classic. You could also add ground cinnamon, sprinkles, candies or chocolate chips.

Toppings

When the bombs are made, you can decorate them. Toppings can help to mask the little seam where the two halves of the shells meet.

Drizzle melted chocolate or white chocolate over top, and then sprinkle on a few toppings, such as:

• festive sprinkles
• mini chocolate chips
• chocolate shavings
• chopped nuts
• edible glitter
• crushed candy canes
• toasted coconut

How to make Hot Cocoa Bombs

Making hot cocoa bombs is easier than it looks, but you’ll definitely want to set aside a space to work and a couple of hours since the chocolate will need time to set up. If you have multiple molds, you can work on one batch while another is in use.

Step 1: Melt the chocolate wafers. A chocolate warmer is ideal to keep you from having to warm it up constantly, risking burning the chocolate. If you do use the microwave, put the chocolate melts in a microwave-safe bowl and warm it in 20-second intervals, stirring in between until it is melted through.

Step 2: Fill the molds. With a spoon or brush, paint the melted chocolate into the hot chocolate bomb molds. It doesn’t have to look pretty on the outside since no one will see the insides. Make sure the chocolate is in an even layer and there are no thin, weak spots.

Set aside until it firms up to room temperature. (Refrigerating can help to speed this up.)

Step 3: Remove from molds. Carefully remove the dome halves from the chocolate mold. Use the molds as a stand while you assemble the cocoa bombs. This helps to cut down on fingerprints!

Step 4: Add hot chocolate mix fillings. Into half of the domes, spoon in 3 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix, mini marshmallows and any other fillings like chocolate chips, ground cinnamon or sprinkles.

Step 5: Seal the spheres. With a pastry brush or small spoon, paint melted chocolate around the edge of an empty half of the chocolate shell and, quickly, press it onto the filled shell. Fill in any gaps with more melted chocolate, being careful not to make the gaps bigger. Set aside until firm.

Repeat as many times as you like or until you’ve used all the remaining chocolate.

Step 6: Decorate. Decorate as you please. Melted chocolate in a piping bag or ziptop bag is great for drizzling chocolate over top. Sprinkle with your desired toppings while the chocolate is still wet.

Step 7: Store, enjoy or give! Then remove the hot chocolate balls from the molds and place in an airtight container. For gifting, place them in cellophane bags or put each one in a cupcake liner inside a gift box or cookie tin!

How to use Hot Cocoa Bombs

Ready to try a hot chocolate bomb? Yay! They are so fun.

First, warm some milk on the stove or in the microwave. Don’t boil it.

Place the hot chocolate bomb in a mug. (A clear glass mug is great for seeing the magic happen!)

Then pour the hot milk over top of the bomb.

Watch as the chocolate shell melts into the milk and the marshmallows and other fillings are released. Marshmallows and sprinkles will float to the top.

Stir it all together to combine the hot cocoa mix with the milk.

If you like, you can add in a boozy boost! I used Kahlua coffee liqueur here.

Then you’re ready to enjoy your special mug of hot cocoa!

Hot Cocoa Bomb Flavors

Milk chocolate bombs are classic, but you can have so much fun creating your own flavor combinations. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Peppermint: Use white chocolate candy melts for the shell and add chopped candy canes to the interior and as a topping.
• Salted caramel: Use caramel wafers for the shell and fill with toffee bits. Add a few flecks of flaky sea salt to the top.
• White chocolate: Use white chocolate wafers for the shell and fill with white hot chocolate mix.
• Dark chocolate: Use dark chocolate wafers for the shell and fill with dark hot chocolate mix.

Feel free to use flavored milk or your favorite dairy-free substitute. Oat milk hot chocolate is one of my favorites!

More warm drink recipes

• Boozy Peppermint Hot Chocolate
• Rose White Hot Chocolate
• Classic Irish Coffee
• Cinnamon Bun Latte
• Pumpkin Spice Latte