What is a hot chocolate bomb?
Hot chocolate bombs or hot cocoa bombs are cute lil balls of chocolate that you put into a mug. When you pour hot milk into the mug, the chocolate melts and magically releases the marshmallows and cocoa hiding inside. This is a really fun idea for kids and sharing with guests who come over for the holidays. You can also make them ahead of time and share them as gifts! Also makes a great add on gift with a mug and creates a gift box making it much more special!
It’s super cute and fun and you can make SO many flavor variations!
What you need to make homemade hot chocolate bombs:
1 cup chocolate chips or melting chocolate wafers
4 tbsp hot cocoa mix
4 tbsp mini marshmallows
half circle silicone mold
Hot chocolate bomb flavors/add ins:
Go wild with the flavors.
Oreo – place some crushed up oreos inside and on the outside for decoration.
S’mores – crush some graham crackers inside the bomb and on top for decoration.
Peppermint – crush up some peppermint candies for inside the bomb and on top for decoration.
Pumpkin – put a teaspoon of pumpkin spice in with the hot chocolate mix and sprinkle some on top.
Coffee – add a teaspoon of instant coffee to the inside of the bomb.
Dark chocolate sea salt – sprinkle on some flaky sea salt.
What kind of chocolate for hot chocolate bombs?
Most people use chocolate chips. They are more commonly found in everyone’s pantry and it's one less specialty ingredient to buy! You can also use candy melts which are easy to work or melting chocolate which is formulated to be easy to melt and set.
How to make homemade hot chocolate bombs
- First you need to melt your chocolate. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. Use 15 second bursts, stirring in between until everything is smooth and pourable. It will take about 1-2 minutes.
- Fill the molds. Scoop some chocolate into the mold and use the back of a spoon or pastry brush to push the melted chocolate around the molds, making it thick enough along the sides and edges. 1 heaping tablespoon was the PERFECT amount for each cavity (or about 1½ tbsp). Then, allow the molds to sit and rest for about 5 minutes. This allows the chocolate to thicken up a little bit which will help as you go back to layer up the sides of the mold again. This is a very important step. If you don’t go back in to re-coat the sides, all of the chocolate will pool at the bottom and when you go to take them out the sides will break!
- Once you’ve re-coated the sides, put the molds in the fridge for 30 minutes or freezer for 5-10 minutes to set.
- Remove the chocolate from the molds. The easiest way to remove the chocolate from the molds is to stretch the mold away from the sides by tugging the mold around the cavity. This helps to loosen the chocolate. Then, while you have the side stretched, use your fingers to push the bottom of the cavity up so that the chocolate pops out of the top. You may see a couple of pieces crack off the edge of the bomb, but that’s OK because we’re going to melt the edges a bit anyway.
- Melt the edges. Microwave a microwave safe plate for a minute, you want the plate to be just hot enough to melt the chocolate. Pick up the empty half of the chocolate bomb and place it on the warm plate for a couple of seconds, just until it melts.
- Fill. Add 1 tablespoon hot cocoa powder and mini marshmallows (and any other add-ins you want) to half of the spheres. Pick up another half and melt the edge on the warm plate then push the two sides together to seal.
- Decorate. Drizzle on some extra chocolate, decorate with crushed cookies, candy, or sprinkles!
To store the hot chocolate bombs, keep them in an airtight container in a cool spot in your kitchen or in the fridge.
To serve: Watch the magic happen by placing the chocolate bomb into a mug, pour on hot milk and watch the melt and release the marshmallows and cocoa hiding inside. Stir everything up and enjoy!