This crock pot hot chocolate recipe is a definite crowd pleaser. Bring this spectacularly easy crock pot hot chocolate to your next party – you’ll fill both young and not-so-young souls with warmth and cheer! I know my nieces and nephews have been talking nonstop about our hot chocolate in crock pot since our last gathering!
My husband and I had a winter wedding – it wasn’t snowing, but it was cold enough to where the grass was frosted over, creating a wintery white scenery for our wedding photo backdrop. My toes were starting to freeze in my elegant, but not warm silver-tipped Kate Spade heels.
Thinking back, we definitely would have benefited from a mega big pot of our new crock pot hot chocolate back then! It was the missing “something new” that would have brought some color back into my toes (they had become my “something blue”)!
This delicious hot chocolate in crock pot recipe has passed the taste test of 16 lovely nieces and nephews, so you know it’s amazing! It’s rich, creamy, and chocolatey – perfect to serve in your next party. It’ll definitely win you some extra points from your guests!
Difference Between Hot Cocoa and Hot Chocolate
The most important difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate is the amount of rich and creaminess in each!
Hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, so it lacks some of the rich, ooey, gooey, creaminess. Hot chocolate, on the other hand, is made with melted chocolate. It boasts a creamier texture and tastes like liquid chocolate!
So let’s get one thing clear – this is a hot chocolate recipe. Now you know you’re in for a deliciously creamy, heart-warming treat!
What Is the Best Chocolate for Hot Chocolate?
The best chocolate for making hot chocolate is always your favorite chocolate!
Hot chocolate, because it’s made from melted chocolate, will taste like the chocolate you melt! So it’s absolutely crucial for you to pick a chocolate you love. This is the real key to making the best hot chocolate.
So pick one that’s simple and plain (no nuts, salt, etc.), but is delicious because of its simplicity.
I picked a classic semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate bar – 72% cacao – Intense Dark for our hot chocolate. I recommend choosing a semi-sweet chocolate if you don’t want your hot chocolate to be too sweet. If you love the extra sweetness, go for a milk chocolate bar!
How to Make Hot Chocolate with Cocoa Powder
It’s a bit misleading, huh? After what you now know about hot cocoa vs hot chocolate, it’s a bit misleading that we’re making our hot chocolate with cocoa powder, right? Rest assured, we’re simply adding more of the pure chocolate flavor by using cocoa powder.
That’s why we’ve picked Ghirardelli’s 100% cocoa powder. We are enhancing the taste of our main chocolate bar with our choice of cocoa powder. Ghirardelli’s cocoa powder truly tastes like a powdered version of the chocolate bar, so it’s a perfect pairing!
Also note that this is an unsweetened cocoa powder since we’ll be adding condensed milk later for the hot chocolate’s sweetness.
Key Elements Of This Recipe
- Chocolate: Having delicious chocolate that you can enjoy even on its own is the key to the best hot chocolate recipe. So be sure to pick a favorite chocolate bar!
- Cocoa powder: Cocoa powder will add more chocolate flavor to our crock pot hot chocolate without adding extra dairy or other ingredients used to make a chocolate bar.
- Condensed Milk: This thick ooey, gooey ingredient will add the sweetness and extra creaminess to our hot chocolate.
The Ingredients for Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
- 12 cups Reduced Fat Milk (2%)
- 28 oz Condensed Milk (two 14 oz cans)
- 4 cups Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (or other cocoa powder)
- 4 cups Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Bar coarsely chopped (or any other favorite plain chocolate bar)
Pro Tip: Keep in mind, one 3.5 oz bar of chocolate usually yields a little less than 1 cup of coarsely chopped chocolate!
- 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 bag Marshmallows (or other favorite topping)
Pro Tip: This recipe yields 12-15 cups of delicious hot chocolate. Feel free adjust the amount of ingredients depending on how many cups of hot chocolate you need!
The Equipment Needed
What Is Condensed Milk?
When you evaporate 60% of the water in milk, you’re left with a very viscous liquid, called evaporated milk. When you add sugar to this thick liquid, you’ve created condensed milk.
This ingredient is what’s going to add the sweetness and the extra creaminess to our hot chocolate recipe. No other sugar or sweetener will be added!
How to Prep for Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
I hope you picked a tasty bar of chocolate!
Pull out a cutting board and knife to coarsely chop your chocolate into little pieces. You don’t need to chop the chocolate too finely, but smaller pieces mean it will melt faster in the crock-pot.
Pro Tip: Coarsely chop your chocolate bar into small chocolate pieces so it melts quicker in the crock-pot.
How to Make Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
Now that you’re done prepping, let’s combine the ingredients!
In your crock-pot, combine all ingredients – milk, chocolate, cocoa powder, condensed milk, and vanilla extract.
Bring the heat setting to low and mix in all the ingredients.
Pro Tip: Try using a whisk to get the cacao and milk powders to mix in.
Stir slowly until the chocolate melts and doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
Pro Tip: You can turn the heat setting to high until the chocolate melts, then turn it back down to low.
Let the slow cooker do its magic for 2 hours and that’s it!
Stir the chocolatey concoction before serving with a ladle into your favorite mug cup. Top with marshmallows, chocolate shavings, candy canes, or other favorite toppings! Serve immediately and drink before it gets cold!
This easy crock pot hot chocolate is bound to leave your guests asking for more!
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Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
Equipment
- Silicone Mixing Spoon, (or Whisk)
Ingredients
- 12 cups Reduced Fat Milk, (2%)
- 28 oz Condensed Milk, (two 14 oz cans)
- 4 cups Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, (or other cocoa powder)
- 4 cups Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Bar coarsely chopped, (or any other favorite plain chocolate bar)
- 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 bag Marshmallows, (or other favorite topping)
Instructions
How to Prep for Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
- Pick your favorite chocolate bar!
- Pull out a cutting board and knife to coarsely chop your chocolate into little pieces.
- Pro Tip: Coarsely chop your chocolate bar into small chocolate pieces so it melts quicker in the pot.
How to Make Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
- In your crock-pot, combine all ingredients – milk, chocolate, cocoa powder, condensed milk, and vanilla extract.
- Bring the heat setting to low and mix in all the ingredients.
- Pro Tip: Try using a whisk to get the cacao and milk powders to mix in.
- Stir slowly until the chocolate melts and doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Pro Tip: You can turn the heat setting to high until the chocolate melts, then turn it back down to low.
- Let the slow cooker do its magic for 2 hours and that's it!
- Stir the chocolatey concoction before serving with a ladle into your favorite mug cup.
- Top with marshmallows, chocolate shavings, candy canes, or other favorite toppings!
- Serve immediately and drink before it gets cold!
Notes
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is just an estimate derived by an online calculation tool.
FAQ
How do you make hot chocolate in a crock pot?
Easy! You combine your hot chocolate ingredients in a crock-pot and let it cook on low for about 2 hours. You’re then left with a chocolatey delight that will make your guests come back for seconds!
Can I make hot chocolate with cocoa powder?
If you’re only using cocoa powder, it would technically be a hot cocoa. But yes, you can definitely make a deliciously hot & chocolatey beverage with just cocoa powder. From our recipe, I would substitute the chocolate with cocoa powder and use a fattier milk.
How much sugar do I need in hot chocolate?
For our recipe, we don’t use sugar at all. Instead, we use condensed milk to sweeten our hot chocolate. However, you can always add sugar to taste if you want your hot chocolate to be sweeter.
Becky
I made this for the holiday party I hosted and it was so easy. It’s so great to see an easy recipe since the holidays can be so hectic!
Umamiologist
I’m so glad we could make your holidays a bit more enjoyable!