Homemade Hot Chocolate Truffles
Plopped in a mug of milk and heated, these truffle hot chocolate balls make for some seriously delicious hot cocoa and great gifts.
I love me some hot chocolate. In a big, obsessive way. I love the stuff and may or may not be known to enjoy it year round.
If someone happened to give me truffle hot chocolate balls as a Christmas gift? Well, I’d seriously consider leaving my entire inheritance to them. (The fact that it consists of legos and wooden spoons is an inconsequential matter, I’d say.)
These truffled balls are a combination of divine chocolate and silky cream. The resulting ganache is chilled and then rolled into balls and wrapped.
The glorious mounds of chocolate can be frozen or refrigerated so they can be enjoyed as you like. Plopped in a mug of milk and heated, this makes for some seriously delicious hot cocoa.
Just in case you might benefit from someone’s valuable inheritance, like mine, I wanted to pass this recipe on for rich, decadent hot chocolate balls that make a wonderful holiday gift (or to hoard and devour yourself).
Pile the wrapped balls in a mug, tie with a ribbon and instructions for the hot cocoa, and you are good to go. Your friends will love you.
But only if you ever make it to their house – I can’t emphasize how decadent and delicious the ganache truffles are. And the resulting hot chocolate is to die for.
FAQs for Homemade Hot Chocolate Truffles
You can keep them at room temperature for a few hours after frozen (like if you’re giving them as gifts), but they really should be kept in the fridge for freezer for the most part.
I wouldn’t recommend using these with water- without milk, it wouldn’t have the rich, chocolate creaminess.
My personal preference is that milk chocolate is too sweet….BUT many people love it, so I would definitely follow your chocolate preference on this one and use milk if that is what you like best.
One Year Ago: Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Truffle Hot Chocolate Balls
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips, about 2 cups
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar, optional – I liked the richness of the chocolate without but in another batch, my kids and husband liked the extra sweetness
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring often, until the mixture is combined and very smooth and silky. When you first start stirring, after the first minute or so, you’ll wonder if this mixture will ever come together. It will look grainy and messy but after it heats thoroughly and is whisked to combine, it will magically become beautifully smooth. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate can seize. The trick is to stir often since the mixture will blend together even when it looks like the chocolate chips haven’t melted completely.
- Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes at room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until the ganache mixture is firm and scoopable, about 2-3 hours. Scoop out about 1/4-cup spoonfuls of the mixture and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. My cookie scoop is about 1 1/2 tablespoons. I mounded two of the heaping cookie scoops full of ganache on top of each other to form one ball. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and let the mounds harden slightly, about 15-20 minutes. Roll the chilled mounds into balls and place on squares of plastic wrap (about 4 inches by 4 inches). Pull the sides of the plastic wrap over to cover the ball and place the balls in the freezer until ready to use.
- To make the hot chocolate: pour 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (depending on how rich you like your cocoa) milk into a microwave-safe mug. Carefully drop one truffle hot chocolate ball that has been unwrapped from the plastic in the milk. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir well until the chocolate is combined with the milk. Serve warm!
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Recipe Source: my version of a recipe seen in Cook’s Country
180 Comments on “Homemade Hot Chocolate Truffles”
I have made these with added alcohol for wonderful hot chocolate. This year i am planning to roll them in to balls and chill then dipping them into colored candy coating to make little jingle balls you can just drop into your hot milk!! pretty stoked!
Made this with coconut cream and dairy free gluten free chipits. 5 stars were the reviews my family gave me. Made it for the teachers at school. Big hit.
I have been making these for several years now. We love them! I also discovered that I like to eat them! We roll the balls of chocolate ganache in crushed nuts, or sprinkles/jimmies, or colored sugar, or crushed candy canes, or cocoa powder, or powdered sugar, etc. They are pretty and tasty! <3
This is still my favorite hot chocolate recipe. I used to make it in graduate school years ago, and I still love it! Thanks for posting it!
Mel, do you think the Truffle Hot Chocolate balls would work if you put them in silicone ice cube trays to set up in stead of rolling into balls and wrapping with Saran Wrap. I would like to put a stick in them for hot chocolate on a stick?
Yes – actually, I think someone else mentioned in the comment thread they’ve done just that!
Approximately how many balls does one batch make!
Thank you!
The yield is right above the recipe title – it makes about 9-10 truffles. 🙂
My daughter has had a rotten first semester at college due to a roommate situation. She is moving into a new room today before coming home for Christmas. I saw this recipe this morning and knew I had to make some for her new roommate and her RA as a gift. So, I went to the store and bought GOOD chocolate chips, not the generic kind, just in case it mattered and set to work. I got a new stove last week and thought I remembered the salesperson at the store telling me about a melting element on the stovetop. I pulled out the manual and set to finding out how it worked. I located it and read Melt Element. “Turn knob to Melt.” I had to laugh. I do everything the hard way. I always scorch my chocolate even if I melt it in the microwave. Melting is going very smoothly as I have not gotten impatient and turned it past the Melt spot. Of course, making another 9 Creme Brulee French Toasts today has kept me busy while the stove does its best work. Thanks again, my friend, for sharing in your discoveries. If you ever want on my Freezer Meal recipe wall, where I freeze almost all your lovely meals as well as other amazing bloggers, it is called Beth’s Favorite Freezer Recipes on Facebook, where I share my own knowledge of food. I am not brave enough to blog, but I do love to cook. Much love to you and yours this holiday.
This made me laugh, Beth! (The “turn knob to melt” part – good thing they gave such explicit instructions!) I hope these truffles turn out well…your daughter (and her new roommates) deserve a happy little pick-me-up. I think I was part of that facebook group a long time ago, wasn’t I?? Now I can’t remember.
I knew this recipe would be perfect for family coming for the Christmas holidays. I was concerned about making this in the microwave, so instead I used the small crock pot that came with my huge crock pot from Costco many years ago (and which I have never used before). It took 20 minutes, but it was perfect and easy. The balls are in my freezer awaiting grandchildren. Thanks for this!
First of all, big fan of your website address, but I am partial. 🙂
Secondly, I love these truffle balls. I tend to make a double batch (or more) to last me through the cold months. I’m not a coffee person, so these are a perfect morning treat! I While I don’t like coffee, I do put a couple of ice cubes made with leftover coffee into the cocoa if I need a little energy.
I just wanted to let you know that even after you posted this four years ago, I love this recipe and will be using it happily for the rest of my life!
Glad you are still loving these, Melissa!
I made this last Christmas and gave it as a gift in cute little mugs for my sister and brother-in-law and they loved it!! Do you mind if I post this recipe on my blog? I will credit you and post a link as well. Thank you 🙂
randomlovesinlife.wordpress.com
No problem, Tracy.
How long do these last? And can I use boiling wear instead? thanks
They last several weeks in the fridge, longer in the freezer. Using milk makes the hot chocolate much richer and better in my opinion.
Anybody tried replacing part fo the cream with Bailey’s? Or Frangelico? Or coffee liquor? Any idea on the quantity used?
that idea was fantastic I am going to try this with hazelnut topping and chocolate balls. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I had not read through the chip suggestions and blithely proceeded with crappy Nestle’s semisweet chips. I didn’t even wait for the ganache to chill into balls before sampling. I think I was making animal sounds as I sipped the stuff. I would try to put my cup down and then grab it for another tiny sip. Just amazing stuff. I can’t imagine what I would do if I added extracts or candy canes. It was so good I will be making for my dearest friends.
Could you do this with white chocolate? Minus the sugar of course.
Erica – I haven’t tried it with white chocolate…good luck if you do! White chocolate has completely different properties than “real” chocolate and sometimes can melt quite differently.
has anyone tried adding spices at all to these? i was trying to look through comments but didn’t seen anything… just trying to figure out amounts…
do you think this would work with carob? my aunt has heart problems and can’t have real chocolate and really misses it. I made her carob chip cookies and she loved them! So, I was wondering if you have tried this with carob?
Hi Tina, I’ve never tried this with carob so you’ll have to experiment. Good luck!
These look amazing. I am definitely adding chocolate chips and cream to my next shopping list. My daughter is a year-round hot cocoa drinker too. I love the idea of rolling them in crushed candy canes. One of our local stores sold bags of crushed candy canes last year, best thing ever. Saves all the work of unwrapping them and crushing them yourself. Once they past our taste test, I am sure they will be added to our Christmas gifting list.
This is brilliant! I have 2 questions, 1. Can you use regular 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate broken up? 2. What is one cup of heavy cream in milillitres? Thanks!
Hi Izzy – you’ll have to google the conversion from cup to milliliters since I’m don’t know that conversion and yes, you should be able to use the 70% dark chocolate; just keep in mind the truffles won’t be as sweet.
OMG! *FAINTS* I have to try this out 🙂 thank you .
Do you think that non dairy creamer can be substituted for the cream? I always need the lactose free stuff and use the liquid creamer to make hot chocolate.
Barb, I’ve never tried it that way so I don’t know. Have you read through the comment thread? Several others have asked the same question and might have checked back in with results.
I made these with stevia and sugar-free chocolate chips = turned out awesome! Also, I used cupcake liners to put the hot chocolate truffles in and it worked really well. 🙂
These were such a disappointment. Did not set up/freeze solid and is a chocolatey gooey mess. I’m sorry I wasted my time and money on making these.
I made these as Christmas presents for my roommates and everyone loved them! They make super tasty hot chocolate and they’re simple enough to make that I did just fine in a sparse dorm kitchen. I will definitely be making these again! Thanks so much for sharing.
…has anyone tried boxing and mailing these..?..
I used 1/2 cream and 1/2 Bailey’s (no children were harmed in the preparation or enjoyment of this recipe!) for a girls’ night at my house… and they were FANTABULOUS. I rolled them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and just sat it in the freezer and served from there. 🙂 I’ll say this… I practically had to double the recipe to actually get enough for guests, there was a good amount of sampling going on! Thanks, Mel — delish!!
I thought I’d be clever and use this substitution I saw where I added butter to whole milk to make heavy cream (sounds legit, right?)… buuut after scooping out the “balls” and having them sit in the freezer for 15 minutes, they still aren’t firm enough to hold their shape. I’ll let them sit there longer, but even if I can’t give them away, they’re still delicious!
Marti – I know the comments are cumbersome to read through but I believe that question has been addressed. They get really soft if left at room temperature for too long but they can be taken out of the freezer and be fine for a few hours.
Do they have to be frozen at all times? or can they be left at room temp to be given as a gift?
Hi Joan…sure, that’s worth a try as long as the chocolate mixture doesn’t stick to the ice cube tray.
Could you put in ice cube trap with popsicle stick in it?
I just made these, waiting patiently for them to cool! The ganache is so good!! I added a tsp of vanilla flavoring and only 1 tbsp of sugar. Can’t wait to make some hot cocoa! Thank you for such a great idea/recipe 😉
2cool-Grammy – I would refrigerate these as soon as you make them and freezing them works good, too, so you can make them ahead of time. If they are frozen, they can probably sit tight at room temp for 2-3 hours as long as it is cool and not blazing hot. If you are giving them as gifts, you could instruct the person to refrigerate or freeze them until ready to use.
Rebecca – yes, please unwrap the plastic from the truffle before making it into hot chocolate. If the wording in the recipe is confusing, I apologize. It doesn’t say NOT to unwrap the truffle, it says to drop “one unwrapped truffle hot chocolate ball” in the milk, as opposed to a wrapped truffle ball which would be one that has plastic around it. Unwrapped indicates the truffle should be unwrapped from the plastic. Does that make sense? I’ll edit the recipe to avoid further confusion.
I saw someone else asked this as well, but I was wondering if you take off the plastic wrap before dropping the truffle ball into the warm milk. It says in the recipe not to unwrap them, and I’m just not sure what would happen to the plastic wrap if you didn’t.
Ha ha! I’m assuming this is a joke as it did make me chuckle! If you are serious, I suggest you always take the plastic wrap off of all food before you consume it.
Making these for gifts sounds like a great idea. Being a milk product, how long can it sit out before going bad? Can you make these ahead of time and give as a gift a week later or do they have to sit in the fridge/freezer until you run out the door? I can’t imagine the person receiving them using it right away. Next day maybe.
Yummy!
Looking forward to trying these!!! I’m also going to try white cholocate!!! :):) Yummy!
Hi Jody – I’m not familiar with dairy-free substitutions so I’m afraid you might have to experiment. I think coconut milk sounds like a good try!
Do you have a dairy free version of it? Could I use coconut milk instead of the heavy cream?
I think I may try this with andies mints. I have a feeling this will be a hit this christmas!
Thanks Mel! I have made them by the original recipe and my kids and I love them. My one son said, “oooo so chocolatey” Christmas gifts this year.
Patty – sure!
Hey Mel, could you use Baker’s chocolate instead of chocolate chips?
I tried to make these last night and it was a total flop! They never set up. Even after a night in the freezer and they are still gooey. Total waste of time.
Love these! I have to use almond milk to melt the truffle balls in, due to lactose intolerance. Going out on a llimb using real cream, but so far so good.
I made these yesterday and they are so delicious. I’m trying not to eat them before making the hot chocolate. I used bakers chocolate instead and added stevia to sweeten. I replaced half of the heavy cream with nonfat half and half (because I didn’t have enough). I added a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne. So yummy! I’m thinking they would be good with some instant coffee inside for a mocha 🙂 I liked someone else’s idea rolling them in peppermint candy. Especially because my boyfriend said it looked like I saved my own poop.
I am in LOVE with this idea! I too am a fan, and share in this obsession of hot chocolate come rain or shine. XO!
Has anyone tried this with Andes mints?? I’m wondering if it would work for a minty hot chocolate!
YUM!!! That’s all I have to say!!!