Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Ditch the storebought hot chocolate mix! This super easy homemade hot chocolate mix is rich, creamy, and makes some of the best hot chocolate ever!
I can honestly say that this homemade mix is easily as good or better than the kind I buy at the store for my own personal enjoyment.
I think the secret is the addition of white chocolate, of which I’m not a huge fan on it’s own, if I’m being honest.
The Reason White Chocolate Works
But white chocolate works in this homemade hot chocolate mix, because when finely ground with the other ingredients, it adds a fantastic creaminess to the hot chocolate.
The Dry Mix is Easy to Make
Making this homemade hot chocolate mix is as easy as throwing everything into a food processor and letting it blend until well combined (and the chocolate is finely chopped).
The key is to get the white chocolate processed as finely as possible. It’s hard to do this by hand, so a food processor or high-powered blender will really help speed up the simple process.
How to Make a Cup of Hot Chocolate
Here’s how to use the mix:
Add 1/3 cup of the cocoa mix to a mug and pour in 1 cup of hot milk or almond milk. Whisk until well-combined and the hot chocolate mix is thoroughly dissolved. Top with whipped cream and/or marshmallows.
This mix works best with milk (dairy or non-dairy milk). Water can work in a pinch, but the hot chocolate isn’t nearly as creamy, and it lacks depth and flavor.
This homemade hot chocolate mix, packaged in a jar or cellophane bag, continues to be one of our favorite holiday gifts to give to teachers, neighbors, and friends.
I’ve heard from so many people over the years that it makes the best hot chocolate they’ve ever had!
FAQs for Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Its about 9 ounces of white chocolate.
It makes 20 cups of hot chocolate give or take.
It can stay in the freezer for several months and about 2-3 weeks at room temperature in the pantry.
The food processor is really to grind up the white chocolate into powder, so if you have a blender to grind up the white chocolate, you can just use that.
The Best Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Ingredients
- 3 cups (405 g) dry nonfat or whole milk powder (see note)
- 2 cups (228 g) powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups (128 g) cocoa powder, dutch-process or natural unsweetened (see note)
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) finely chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips (see note)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl. Working in two (or more) batches, depending on the size of your food processor, pulse the ingredients in a food processor until the chocolate is finely ground. Store the dry mix in an airtight container for up to 3 months. (If your food processor is large enough, ditch using an extra bowl and throw all the ingredients in the food processor at once.)
- To make hot cocoa, put 1/3 cup of the cocoa mix in a mug and stir in 1 cup of hot milk or almond milk (water works ok but the hot chocolate isn’t as creamy or flavorful). Top with whipped cream or miniature marshmallows, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Brown Eyed Baker, originally from Cook’s Country
I see there is a Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Powder White Chocolate flavored on Amazon. Have you tried that in the hot chocolate mix? Would you recommend it?
I haven’t tried it, Nancy…but it might be worth experimenting!
This is THEE best homemade cocoa mix on the planet! I prefer it to any store bought mix! I like to use milk chocolate instead of white. Just a personal preference. Mel, I love your blog and your site is in my top 3 ‘go-to’ sites for recipes! Thank-you.
Thanks so much, Laurie!
Worst hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. Watery and tastes like dark chocolate.
Mel, I know you have been updating some of your recipes to include weighted ingredients (which I love!). Wondering if we could put this one on the list? I make this every year for friends for Christmas! 🙂
Yes! This one should be updated very soon!
I made a sample batch today – this is the best hot chocolate mix I have ever made! I added one teaspoon of freeze-dried instant coffee granules, which added a boost to the chocolate flavor. It is delicious! I will be making this for friends for Christmas gifts!
If I wanted to make this into Mexican hot cocoa what would I add?
I’m not sure; I haven’t tried that. You might try googling a Mexican hot chocolate recipe and see how it compares and go from there.
add some cayenne for the spice.
Hi! To make it Mexican hot chocolate, add a dash or two of chili powder and cayenne pepper <3 Maybe also don't use white chocolate in it, since Mexican hot chocolate is made with dark cocoa and such. I'd make sample batches and try it with the white chocolate, and then with less white chocolate to your preference.
This recipe is very good and satisfied my winter time cravings! I found it to pair very well with my homemade peppermint marshmallows. Keep up the good work!
To make hot chocolate mix creamy, add corn starch
Hi! I am wondering if this could somehow be layered in a 1 quart mason jar to make a pretty gift? Does the chocolate need to be ground? If you scaled this down to fit how would you do it or would you? Thanks 🙂
This mix really does benefit from being mixed/ground because the chocolate needs to be finely chopped.
Mel. I usually love your recipes but was seriously disappointed with this. I ordered the milk you recommended and got the white chocolate you recommended and it was bland with a weird after
Taste. Any suggestions? I have no idea what I did wrong. How could this recipe go wrong? What kind of cocoa powder did you use? I seriously love hot chocolate and was so excited for this.
Hi Natalie – sorry to hear this – what kind of cocoa powder did you use? I usually use half Hershey’s cocoa powder and half Dutch-process cocoa powder.
I used one I got at Costco an organic one. It is pretty dark. I bet that was it now that I think about it. My local winco stopped carrying the Dutch process chocolate. Do you have a brand you like? I usually have
e Hershey’s on hand. I will try it again.
Thanks for replying.
I used an organic one from Costco. I bet that was what it was now that I think about it. I will give it another try! Thanks! I always have Hershey’s on hand. Do you have a brand of Dutch process you like?
I’ve bought so many brands over the years – i like the one from Trader Joe’s as well as Droste.
This is by far the best hot cocoa recipe I have had. I used Nestlé Nido dry whole milk powder (the only whole milk powder I could find) and Rodelle Dutch baking cocoa. I also used Guittard white chocolate chips. I followed the recipe to a T EXCEPT I added 2 teaspoons of corn starch because I read that it makes it really creamy. We used milk, not water when making a cup of it.
This was very flavorful, the perfect amount of sweetness and chocolate. It was so creamy and delicious. My whole family loved it and we made 9 jars to gift to teachers and friends for Christmas. AMAZING!! I will NEVER buy store bought cocoa mix again.
Mel. I usually love your recipes but was seriously disappointed with this. I ordered the milk you recommended and got the white chocolate you recommended and it was bland with a weird after
Taste. Any suggestions? I have no idea what I did wrong. How could this recipe go wrong? What kind of cocoa powder did you use?
I wanted to try something less ‘canned/fake’ tasting for hot chocolate, and wow – this did not disappoint. I cut it down to 1/3 of the recipe, just in case, but definitely didn’t need to! I will be adding this to regular and boozy hot chocolate bombs – thank you so much for the recipe!
Can you leave out the milk powder if you are making the coco with milk instead of water?
I recommend still adding it – leaving it out will make the overall hot chocolate less creamy.
How long is it good for if I made a big batch?
You can freeze it for several months, but well-covered, it can stay at cool room temperature for a couple of weeks.
Made this last week and it is fantastic! I’ve been experimenting with a few different hot cocoa mix recipes and this one was my favorite. Definitely a keeper!
So good! Love it. Makes a very thick and delicious hot chocolate!
Delicious…the white chocolate certainly makes it richer! Thanks!!
Does NIDO Instant Dry Whole Milk from Nestle work well for this recipe?
I haven’t tried that brand, but you can definitely try!
I used Nido and it worked well!
Do you think this recipe would work well with Peppermint Bark, in place of the white chocolate?
Certainly worth a try – sounds yummy!
I made the recipe using regular almond bark instead of the white chocolate and it’s SO good!
I had three bars of Lindt intense orange dark chocolate that I used and it was delicious.
Hi I have been looking into making my own mix and this looks incredible! Is there a reason I have to use powdered sugar tho? Before I saw your recipe I was just going to put some of my pure cane sugar into my small coffee grinder and powder it that way but is there a different reason for it? Also my Mom-in-law says she puts in a little instant coffee when she makes a cup so I bought a little jar of instant espresso I’m going to try! I’ll have to let you all know how it goes. 😛
Yes, you could probably grind granulated/cane sugar and use that (powdered sugar helps the mix dissolve easily into the milk when making hot chocolate).
Delicious! Big hit! Wondering how substitution of dark chocolate instead of white would work?
The white chocolate helps with the creaminess factor (and a bit of sweetness) so I think adding dark chocolate would amp up the chocolate flavor but lessen the creaminess.
Has anyone used this in a hot chocolate bomb? Worried it may be too chocolatey with the added white chocolate inside…
I think if you wanna make a chocolate bomv, check how much chocolate the sphere actually uses and minus that from the white chocolate amount in the recipe. But that’s only my hypothesis since I want to make choco bombs as well as christmas gifts
How much of each coco did you use? I have the Majestic cocoa and Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa. Did you use equal parts for the 1.5 cups or more of one than the other? Thank you!
I have the powdered milk from the cannery. Do you think that would work well or should I pick up whole milk powder?
It works *ok* but there’s a bit of an aftertaste that I don’t get if using whole milk powder.
How shelf stable are these ingredients?
I plan to seal them in Ball jars and need to know when they could possibly deteriorate.
I’m honestly not sure. We keep this mixed up in our pantry for a month or so at a time.
“I’ve examined my life…..”
Great.
I really just want a good hot cocoa mix recipe, it doesn’t need a story.
I guess that’s the benefit of being able to jump on down to the recipe! I’ve examined my life and don’t feel the need to force anyone to read (or pay for) what I have to say. 🙂
That’s a bit rude … almost every recipe on the internet has some type of beginning to it then the recipe itself. Amazing recipe by the way:)
Welcome to the internet, Ed.
Hey Ed…..go buy a cookbook and find a recipe then. I LOVE reading a story 🙂 Thanks Mel for putting your precious time into coming up with and putting this recipe out for all of us ungrateful people. YOU GO GIRL!!!! IT’S AWESOME!!!
It must have surely taken you more time to scroll to the bottom and type out this comment than it would have to simply scrolled straight to the recipe, but thanks for being such a grouch on a hot chocolate recipe (I wish I could roll my eyes here)
It’s called a blog. If you just want a recipe, head on over to myrecipes.com or cooks.com. But this is Mel’s personal site where she may write whatever her heart feels. Yeah, I personally skip by the preface and jump down to the recipe as well. But by no means is there a need to be rude to the author.
Thanks Mel, I can’t wait to try out this recipe! I plan to try using half white chocolate and half dark chocolate 😛
This is truly the best hot chocolate mix! I used suggested ingredients such as Judees whole milk powdered and Droste Dutch Cocoa -made some with Bensdorp which I loved even more than the Droste, also shaved the Ghirardelli white cooking chocolate bars as suggested. Delicious! Thank you!
It’s not dissolving very well. What did I do incorrectly? I used Peak powdered milk. And mixed in warm milk for my cup. It’s a bit chocolately for my personal taste but my kids loved it. I bought a large white chocolate bar and it wasn’t enough. I may add a bit more powdered sugar to fit my personal taste. I should have halved the recipe to make sure it worked well for us.
Awesome taste! I used white chocolate chip by Nestle since this ghirardelli were out of stock. I am curious how much or how many oz of girardelli White Chocolate baking bar you use for mix? I want to try this next time. Thank you!
I use about 9 ounces
Great recipe. I made it using Anthony’s Dutch process cocoa powder only, instead of a mix of cocoa powders, and it was the richest chocolate taste I’ve ever had in hot chocolate. For my second batch, I used 3 cups of Anthony’s confectioners erythritol instead of 2 cups confectioners sugar and it was every bit as amazing as the original batch.
My adult daughter loves my homemade hot cocoa. I was looking for an instant cocoa mix recipe that would taste like my hot cocoa that I could give her. We like ours dark, salted, and lightly sweet. This recipe was perfect! It simply melted into my heated milk, no powder lumps to mash against the cup!
I used dark chocolate chips, and powdered 1/2 tsp salt before adding it to the mix. I thought that would keep the salt from settling to the bottom of the container.
I can’t wait to give a jar to my daughter for Christmas! Thank you for the recipe!
Is there a big difference if you forget to out the salt in… ?
It should be ok…you can stir in a tiny bit of salt after the mix is made.
I love this recipe! It’s sooo much better than store bought and a lot less sugar. I love baking with and only with Ghirardelli chocolate, but I never heard of the Majestic cocoa. I bought some from amazon and I LOVE it! I actually used more of the majestic cocoa than the regular cocoa. Maybe next time I’ll use all majestic cocoa. It’s sooo yummy . I’m back into drinking hot cocoa now! I might grate the white chocolate bars next time.
Thanks for a great recipe!
I have made this for the last two years and have enjoyed it exactly written in the recipe, however if you want to try some really spectacular; add 1 1/4 cup of the Andes Creme De Menthe bits into the food processor! I agree making it with milk instead of water is what the quality of ingredients should be paired with. After all…why would you spend money for n premium ingredients and use water!
I like the idea of using the mint chocolate candy n the mixture! I’m going have to try that!
I’m not sure what I did wrong but mine tastes so bland. I did make it with water, I’ll try it with milk and see if that makes a difference. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because it’s not what I thought it would be and I’m willing to take the blame! LOL
I’ve made mine as listed but add is 50/50 with water and it’s the best! Afraid to try it with milk as I may never enjoy it with water again.
Can you tell me how many of the 4 oz white chocolate bars you use? Just want to make sure I buy enough at the store.
You’ll want about 9 ounces total (but can probably sneak by with two 4-ounce bars).
This is fabulous. I gave my friends a cup after our walk this morning and it passed the taste test. Can’t wait to give this as gifts.
This looks wonderful and I plan to try it for a homemade Christmas gift. Question: Have you experimented with any additions to make, for instance, Mexican hot chocolate (with a chili kick)? Chocolate mint? OK, I could experiment myself but I thought you might save me the time…
I haven’t, sorry!
When you say it makes about 20 cups, do you mean 20 servings or 60 servings (based on your recommendation of 1/3 cup per serving)?
It makes 20 servings (in total, the mix makes about 8 cups).
???Has anyone tried adding malted milk powder to this mix? How much would you add for for a subtle malt taste?
I ended up using one cup of malted milk powder to replace one cup of milk powder, so 2 c of milk powder plus 1 c of malted milk powder. It tastes great. Yum
what can I substitute the powdered milk for? I
Delicious. Tried it with water, and was disappointed – not very creamy. Tried with milk and was absolutely delicious! I used Nestle Nido – powdered whole milk from Amazon, and a mixture of Dutch process and Hershey’s cocoa powder, and chopped up white chocolate chips. Definitely a keeper!!!
Which Ghirardelli cocoa powder do you use?
I’ve used their unsweetened cocoa powder and their majestic cocoa powder.
Do you have nutritional information for this recipe?
I don’t – sorry!
Not enough sugar.
Needs at least a cup more.
I don’t have milk powder in the country where I live. Could I substitute that for baby formula powder? Thanks a
Oh wow, I’m not sure. You’d have to experiment!
I just wanted to say that this makes THE BEST hot chocolate ever! I discovered this recipe a couple of years ago and it’s been life changing. I keep some of this mix on hand at all times throughout the winter. It has completely ruined me to all other hot cocoa mixes – none compare. Thank you for this amazingly delicious recipe!!
Would a regular white chocolate bar, such as Lindt, work?
Yes I think so!
You have saved the day once again for ideas on coworker/neighbor gifts, you genius. I was wondering if you’ve posted a label printable somewhere before I try to be crafty on my own.
Not for this mix…sorry!!
Honestly I love baking and I honestly do not need all the unhealthy treats I love, so I went with making my favorite cold weather drink. I used non fat dry milk along with Hershey white chocolate chips. I used generic brands for everything but the chocolate and it still tastes amazing.